Migrating a vSAN Stretch cluster to a redeployed vCenter as vCenter couldn't be recovered / Correcting a stretch cluster not displaying correctly in vCenter after migration

Products

• VMware vSAN

Issue/Introduction

To provide steps to bring vCenter and ESXi in sync for vSAN Stretch Cluster Status

Symptoms:

• The vCenter was failed and had to be redeployed.
• The vSAN stretch cluster wasn't turned off prior to migration.
• The cluster is fully formed / data objects are healthy / the unicastagent list is complete, etc., via CLI.
• The Fault Domains are correct, however, no witness/stretched cluster is configured via vCenter.
• An alarm is active for “vSphere and vSAN Cluster Members Match” in relation to the witness.
• One cannot select the current witness via Cluster -> Configure -> vSAN -> Fault Domains -> Stretched Cluster -> Configure (Current witness not available via wizard)

Environment

VMware vSAN 6.x

Cause

• The vSAN stretched cluster has moved to a new vCenter without first turning off stretch cluster.
• The vCenter failed and had to be redeployed.

Resolution

1) Run the following on the current Witness - Witness will leave the cluster, however, unicastagent list does not update and objects remain healthy:

• # esxcli vsan cluster leave 

2) Configure stretched cluster in vCenter -> Witness should now be available for selection

3) This task appears to fail, however, vCenter now views the cluster as stretched with the original witness – health checks succeed, etc.

Additional Information

Additional steps for moving a stretched cluster include: 
 

1. Copy all VDS settings to new cluster
2. Enable vSAN on new cluster
3. Disable stretched cluster
4. Move each host
5. Move witness
6. Re-enable stretched cluster

Moving a vSAN cluster from one vCenter Server to another (2151610)

Impact/Risks:
vCenter and ESXi out of sync regarding vSAN Stretch cluster status