Knowledge Base

This happens even if you are just trying to add new NICs to the current VMotion virtual switch.

There are exceptions in which this error may not occur, but it is still recommended that you follow the procedure below if you need to reconfigure a virtual switch that involves your VMotion NICs in any way.

Note: VMotion NICs are not the only possible sources of this error message.

If the host has a virtual switch using NICs that are not involved in your desired configuration or if you can create such a switch, then use VirtualCenter to temporarily select that switch for VMotion. Then perform your desired operations and, afterward, use VirtualCenter to select the correct switch for VMotion.

If the above solution is not possible, edit the /etc/vmware/hwconfig file on your host. Find the lines that specify tcpip.gatewayAddr, tcpip.ipAddr, and tcpip.nicName (these are usually at the end of the file), note the values of tcpip.gatewayAddr and tcpip.ipAddr, and then delete those lines from the file. Reboot the host. This completely disables migration with VMotion support on that host. After performing your desired operations, use VirtualCenter to enable migration with VMotion on the host; you probably want to continue using the same VMotion IP and gateway addresses that were used before.

Note that using VirtualCenter to disable VMotion for the host (through the host properties dialog box) does not work, as that is primarily a VirtualCenter bookkeeping function.