Summary tab shows multiple network port groups that are not used by the virtual machine

Products

VMware vCenter Server VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:
When viewing the Summary tab of a virtual machine in the Inventory, you experience these symptoms:

The virtual machine's virtual NICs are not connected to one or more of the port groups listed.
The total number of reported portgroups exceeds the number of virtual NICs on the virtual machine.
You see a discrepancy in the number of network port groups shown in the Summary tab and the actual number of virtual NICs on the virtual machine.
A direct connection to the ESXi host using the vSphere Client does not show the excess port group(s).
Removing and re-adding the relevant port groups to the virtual machine has no impact.

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 6.5.x
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.0
VMware VirtualCenter 2.5.x
VMware vCenter Server 6.7.x
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.5
VMware vSphere ESXi 6.0
VMware vSphere ESXi 7.0.0
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Installable
VMware ESXi 3.5.x Installable
VMware vCenter Server 5.1.x
VMware vCenter Server 6.0.x
VMware ESXi 3.5.x Embedded
VMware ESX 4.1.x
VMware vSphere ESXi 6.5
VMware ESXi 4.0.x Embedded
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.1
VMware vCenter Server 4.1.x
VMware ESX 4.0.x
VMware vCenter Server 5.5.x
VMware vCenter Server 4.0.x
VMware ESXi 4.0.x Installable
VMware vCenter Server 7.0.x
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Embedded
VMware ESX Server 3.5.x
VMware vCenter Server 5.0.x

Cause

This issue occurs if a snapshot of the virtual machine is taken when it is connected to one of the listed port groups and is subsequently connected to another port group later. If the snapshot is not consolidated, the virtual machine continues to report as being connected to this portgroup because the virtual machine could theoretically revert to this portgroup connection if the virtual machine state in the snapshot is restored.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, if the snapshot is no longer required, remove it from within Snapshot Manager. For more information on consolidating snapshots, see Consolidating snapshots in ESX/ESXi 3.x and 4.x (1007849) or Consolidating snapshots in vSphere 5.x (2003638).

If there are no snapshots listed in Snapshot Manager, see Committing snapshots when there are no snapshot entries in the Snapshot Manager (1002310).

Additional Information

This issue is commonly observed after a network migration from one vSwitch to another, or from a vNetwork Standard Switch to a vNetwork Distributed Switch. If the virtual machine had a snapshot prior to the migration, it displays both the old and the new Port Group in it's Summary Tab.

This issue is also commonly observed during upgrades to new versions of vSphere, where virtual machines with existing snapshots are being moved from an old environment to a new environment. For example, you may remove virtual machines from Inventory on an ESX 3.5 host using vNetwork Standard Switches and then re-register them in a new 5.1 environment using vNetwork Distributed Switches. In this situation, both the old vSS and the new vDS Port Groups will be listed under the Summary Tab.

Notes:

To revert to a previous snapshot taken while the virtual machine was on the old Port Group, you may need to correct the port group to which the virtual NIC is connected to once the revert is completed.
A similar behavior can occur with datastores displaying in the summary tab as well. This can be caused by ISOs connected as CD-ROM devices when the snapshot was taken.

Committing snapshots when there are no snapshot entries in the Snapshot Manager
Consolidating snapshots in ESX/ESXi 3.x and 4.x
How to consolidate snapshots in vSphere 5.x/6.x