vCenter 4.1 fails to enable HA on ESXi 3.5 hosts

[lem9]

Current setup: vCenter 2.5, ESXi 3.5 on two hosts, HA (worked well)

Intermediate setup: vCenter 4.1, ESXi 3.5 on two hosts, HA (which fails)

Future setup: vCenter 4.1, ESXi 4.1 on two new hosts, HA

While preparing for the migration, I have installed vCenter 4.1 + the license server that came on the vCenter 2.5 DVD, in a VM. I then disconnected the two ESXi 3.5 hosts from the vCenter 2.5 and connected them to the new vCenter.

All seems fine, except that enabling HA gives an error for both hosts (which is in French, "Impossible de déterminer la configuration de l'agent HA sur l'hôte" which would translate to "Cannot determine HA agent's configuration on the host").

Thanks,

Marc Delisle

[Troy_Clavell]

we ran into this a few day ago, although it was our 4.1 Hosts.  Maybe the below KB article will help

http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1027628

Also, disconnecting each Host, moving them out of the cluster, then adding them back to the cluster and connecting them one at a time may allow for the HA agent to get updated.  If you don't, make sure all hosts are added into vCenter using FQDN.

[lem9]

Thanks Troy. I followed the given advice to no avail.

[a_p_]

Did you configure the license old server in the vCenter Server licensing settings (e.g. 27000@licsrv.local) and do the hosts see the license server and display the licensed features correctly?

André

[lem9]

Yes, I have configured the old license server on the same VM as the new vCenter (it points to 27000@vcenter.domainname). When adding my host there, it appropriately shows assigned old VI3 licenses:

-VI3 vCenter Agent

-VI3 ESX Server Standard

-VI3 vMotion

-VI3 Vmware HA

Also, from vCenter 4.1, clicking on this host, going to Configuration and looking at the licensing info, I see that ESX, vCenter Agent, vMotion and HA are autorised for 2 CPUs (this is a 2-CPU machine).

However, on this same panel, I see that the source license server is my old license server (running on vCenter 2.5); maybe this is just cosmetic?

PS I used this procedure to install the old license server:

http://terenceluk.blogspot.com/2010/11/problems-installing-vmware-license.html

[bulletprooffool]

Make sure ythat all IP addressing  / host files etc are 100% correct - also verify your DNS.

Once that is done, you may want to verify that the PortGroups and storage used in your ESX cluster are set up identically on all hosts in your cluster.  It may be an odd request, but we once had a cluster that would not enable HA - we verified port groups on all hosts in the cluster (including case sensitivity) and all storage and  simply disabled and re-enabled HA and it resolved the problem.

just 'borro' a script from one of the posts on the community tpo save the legwork . . I think this one should do the trick:

http://virtualization.info/en/news/2010/03/tool-vmware-health-check-report.html - there are also several really good powercli versions

[lem9]

I'm not sure how to verify that IP addressing and host files are correct.

I compared the PortGroups names and VLAN ids on both hosts, they are identical, including case sensitivity. For storage, each host has its own local store and both have access to the same shared store on the SAN.

I installed and ran VMware vSphere Health Check Report 4.1.6 with --type cluster, it reports that "Cluster has problems" with 5 HA configuration issues that I already noticed when adding the hosts to the cluster: each host reports that it cannot configure HA, and the cluster reports some messages (translated by me here):

- insufficient resources for HA failover

- cannot contact HA principal agent

- no VM failover will occur until activation of the relevant option

Thanks.

[Troy_Clavell]

you may also want to review the below article as well.

http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1001596

[bulletprooffool]

Looking at your errors . . I'd fguess the following:

- insufficient resources for HA failover

You are either overcommited on VMs or your HA policy says that it needs more Hosts to be availabel than you actually have available. On you HA settings for the cluster, review Admission Control settings

- cannot contact HA principal agent

Disable HA for the Cluster and re-enable it?

- no VM failover will occur until activation of the relevant option

Are you licensed for HA? Running 3.5 and with a VC I assume yes, but do you have ESX 4 hosts in the cluster that are not licensed and are therefore preventing HA being enabled?

[lem9]

In Admission Control, the main choice is deactivated.

I tried disabling/enabling HA over and over, no luck.

Yes I am licensed for HA. Looking the licenses panel I see that the VI3 HA licensed are assigned to my two hosts.