NSX-T Data Center Installation Failure on ESXi 8.0.3 in vLCM-Enabled Cluster

Products

• VMware NSX

Issue/Introduction

• NSX-T Data Center installation or upgrade fails on ESXi 8.0.3 hosts managed by vSphere Lifecycle Manager (vLCM). The installation status remains in "Install Failed" or "Partial Success," and VIBs fail to load correctly.
• NSX transport node installation status is "Install Failed" or "Partial Success" in the NSX UI.
• VIB incompatibility errors during installation.
• Log analysis indicates failures when deploying kernel modules on vLCM-managed hosts.

Environment

• VMware ESXi 8.0.3
• NSX-T Data Center
• vSphere Lifecycle Manager (vLCM) enabled cluster

Cause

The NSX-T installation process conflicts with the vLCM image enforcement policies for specific host configurations. When vLCM manages the host image, the standard NSX VIB installation process may be interrupted or blocked by the compliance monitor.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, isolate the affected hosts from the vLCM-managed cluster to allow the NSX VIBs to install.

1. Remove the ESXi host from the vLCM-enabled cluster and add it to a temporary cluster with vLCM disabled.
2. Ensure the host is in maintenance mode.
3. Verify that no stale NSX VIBs are present by running the command: esxcli software vib list | grep -i nsx
4. If stale VIBs are present, remove them manually: nsxcli -c del nsx
5. Trigger the NSX installation from the NSX Manager UI for the host in the non-vLCM cluster.
6. Once the installation is successful and the transport node status is "Up," the host may be moved back to a cluster. Note: If the target cluster uses vLCM, verify that the host image compliance is met with vendor-certified images before moving.
7. Coordinate with hardware vendors (Cisco/Dell/####) to ensure the ESXi image utilized is the vendor-customized version for ESXi 8.0.3.

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