License Server Detection Failure in VCF Operations 9.1 Due to Non-Authoritative DNS Configuration

Products

• VCF Operations

Issue/Introduction

In VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.1, the VCF Operations License Server may remain in a "Disconnected" or "Not Configured" state despite a successful appliance deployment. This issue often occurs when the environment uses DNS forwarders (such as dnsmasq) that do not act as the authoritative source for the management network, causing strict pre-flight validation checks to fail.

• License Server appliance shows Service Status: Nominal but Connectivity: DISCONNECTED.
• License Server does not appear under the License Server tab in VCF Operations.
• Forward (A) and reverse (PTR) lookups appear to resolve, but VCF Operations still fails to detect the appliance.

Environment

• VCF Operations 9.1
• VCF License Server 9.1
• VMware vSphere Foundation (VVF) 9.1
• VMware vCenter 9.1

Cause

VCF 9.1 management components enforce strict authoritative DNS requirements. Lightweight DNS forwarders (e.g., dnsmasq) that are not natively authoritative for the management domain often fail to provide the consistent, rapid-response Forward (A) and Reverse (PTR) record resolution required by the VCF Operations pre-flight validation scripts. This results in trust and heartbeat synchronization failures.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, replace non-authoritative forwarders with an authoritative DNS solution (such as Windows DNS or BIND) and verify your zone configuration:

1. Deploy Authoritative DNS: Ensure the DNS servers managing your management domain are authoritative for that zone. Avoid relying on simple DNS forwarders.
2. Verify Forward and Reverse Records:
   • Confirm that a valid A record exists for the License Server FQDN.
   • Confirm that the PTR record for the License Server IP address resolves strictly to the License Server FQDN.
   • Ensure all DNS hostnames and records (A and PTR) follow strict lowercase conventions. Mixed-case records cause certificate trust failures.
3. Validate Authoritative Response: Run the following command from the SDDC Manager or a management node to ensure the response is consistent and authoritative: nslookup [hostname] [dns-server-ip]
4. Redeploy (If Required): If configuration was incorrect, delete the previously deployed License Server VM and redeploy it through the vCenter Server UI or VCF Operations

 

Additional Information

VCF Operations 9.1 fails to detect License Server due to DNS Resolution

Newly deployed License Server not showing up under the License Server tab in VCF Operations

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