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Configuring VMware High Availability fails with the error: Cannot complete the configuration of the HA agent on the host

Symptoms

Configuring VMware High Availability (HA) fails
The vSphere Client may show one service console, however running the esxcfg-vswif -l command while logged into the ESX service console, reveals additional service consoles
You may see one or more of these error:
- Cannot complete the configuration of the HA agent on the host. See the task details for additional information.
- Misconfiguration in the host network setup
- Cannot complete the configuration of the vSphere HA agent on the host Misconfiguration in the host setup
  
  Note: You may also see this error if you need to accept the SSL thumbprint when adding adding a new host to a vSphere 5.0 cluster. To enable SSL certificate checking, see Configuring HA after upgrading to vCenter Server 5.0 fails with the error: Cannot complete the configuration of the vSphere HA agent on the host. Misconfiguration in the host setup (2006729).

Resolution

This issue occurs if all the hosts in the cluster do not share the same service console or management network configurations. Some hosts may have service consoles using a different name or may have more service consoles than other hosts.

For example, this error may also occur if the VMkernel gateway settings are not the same across all hosts in the cluster. To reconfigure the setting, right-click on the hosts with this error and select Reconfigure for HA.

Address the network configuration differences between the hosts if you are going to use the Shut Down or Power Off isolation responses because these options trigger a VMware HA isolation in the event of Service Console or Management Network failures.

If you are using the Leave VM Powered on isolation response, the option to ignore these messages is available in VMware VirtualCenter 2.5 Update 3.

To configure VirtualCenter to ignore these messages, set the advanced option das.bypassNetCompatCheck to true:

Note: When using the das.bypassNetCompatCheck option, the heartbeat mechanism during configuration used in VirtualCenter 2.5 only pairs symmetric IP addresses within subnets across nodes. For example, in a two node cluster, if host A has vswif0 “Service Console” 10.10.1.x 255.255.255.0 and vswif1 “Service Console 2” 10.10.5.x and host B has vswif0 “Service Console” 10.10.2.x 255.255.255.0 and vswif1 “Service Console 2” 10.10.5.x, the heartbeats only happen on vswif1. Starting in vCenter Server 4.0, they can be paired across subnets if pings are allowed across the subnets. However, VMware recommends having them within subnets.

Right-click the cluster, then click Edit Settings.
Deselect Turn on VMware HA.
Wait for all the hosts in the cluster to unconfigure HA.
Right-click the cluster, and choose Edit Settings.
Select Turn on Vmware HA, then select VMware HA from the left pane.
Select Advanced options.
Add the option das.bypassNetCompatCheck with the value True.
Click OK on the Advanced Options screen, then click OK again to accept the cluster setting changes.
Wait for all the ESX hosts in the cluster to reconfigure for HA.

Additional Information

For detailed information on how to setup and configure VMware HA, see the Availability Guide.

Note: HA uses these ports:

Incoming port: TCP/UDP 8042-8045
Outgoing port: TCP/UDP 2050-2250

This Article Replaces

1019724

Update History

08/04/2010 - Added content from KB 1019724. 04/29/2010 - Added VirtualCenter 2.5 to Products; added link to Availability Guide. 05/26/2010 - Expanded Resolution steps.

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