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
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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

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Article ID: 326587

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Updated On:

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 selectionimage.png
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


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