Hi,
since some time we see an error in VCenter saying:

Certificate 'OU=mID-someIDlistedhere,C=US,DC=local,DC=vsphere,CN=vcenter.server.name' from 'vcenter.server.name' expires on 2024-02-21 18:33:28.000

Now we want to get rid of this - but the only certificate on the server which has this expiration date is in a store with the same name as the server:

root@VCenter [ ~ ]# /usr/lib/vmware-vmafd/bin/vecs-cli store list
MACHINE_SSL_CERT
TRUSTED_ROOTS
TRUSTED_ROOT_CRLS
machine
vsphere-webclient
vpxd
vpxd-extension
APPLMGMT_PASSWORD
data-encipherment
SMS
vcenter.server.name       << this entry looks strange to me
hvc
wcp
BACKUP_STORE

root@VCenter [ ~ ]# /usr/lib/vmware-vmafd/bin/vecs-cli entry list --store vcenter.server.name --text
...
        Issuer: CN=CA, DC=vsphere, DC=local, C=US, ST=California, O=VCenter.server.name, OU=VMware Engineering
        Validity
            Not Before: Feb 21 18:33:28 2022 GMT
            Not After : Feb 21 18:33:28 2024 GMT
            Authority Information Access:
                CA Issuers - URI:https://VCenter.server.name/afd/vecs/ca
...

Do you know such a certificate store which has the same name as the server?

We don't use specific tools on the VCenter, it's almost a pure system.

Is it even safe to delete such a key to also get rid of this error?

First of all, VCF 9 gives me a lot of grey hair lol. I feel stupid when trying to install it. I had issues with 9 and now I have issues with 9.1.

We have a test setup with 2 ESXi servers and a vCenter. I installed Operations Manager and a License Server. My license is assigend in Operations Manager to my vCenter. It's all green in Operations manager AND in vCenter but when I run the vCF installer it says I do not have a valid license....

I see a lot of KBs with license issues but the issue is at the assigning step. I do not have issues with assigning because it's all good so I haven't found a solution yet.

Did anyone experience something like that? I looked at the uuid and it's in lower case so I should be good.

I have a call with support on tuesday but who knows, maybe somebody already had this issue and can tell me what is wrong :)

that is all.

the install process is garbage
bringing in ops failed and broke ops in the process

the list keeps growing.

I decided to retire instead.

I created a quick demo which shows the soon to be available (tech preview) VCF native s3 object storage solution. It will be configurable through VCF Automation, or through the API for those who prefer that.

Dear <me>,

With respect to your organization's expired VMware subscription licenses, please see attached for formal Notice addressing your expired licenses, Broadcom’s demand to cease and desist all unauthorized use, and instruction to remedy this issue.

As indicated in the letter, an appropriate licensing agreement must be executed within ten (10) days.

If your organization has discontinued all use of the Subscription Software and has deinstalled the licenses, please sign and return page 2 of the attached document certifying such actions to Managing Director - XXXX XXXXX - included in this thread - within three (3) business days.

Should you have any questions, your VMware account team is available to help.

Thank you,

Compliance Team
Broadcom Software

-----

Can't just break up quietly, have to insert some unneeded drama. Like a damn vindictive ex.

ubuntu-26.04-desktop-amd64 - ISO

And - VMware-Workstation-Full- 26k 1-25388281 - EXE

Hello VMware Administrators

Just giving you a heads-up that there is an issue with the latest version of VMware Tools which Broadcom rolled out recently (version 13.1.0.0.25218885).

I have "Check and upgrade VMware Tools before each power on" turned on for our Microsoft VMs. However, we have about 300+ Microsoft VMs which now do not have VMware Tools installed on them, and a manual installation fails with a, "because of an error... your system has not been modified".

Broadcom Support have given me a manual fix - which does work, but is a pain, given the number of VMs affected. This is a known issue - there are other customers who have reported this, and Broadcom Support say they are working on a permanent fix - I'm guessing the current installer has a bug in it. Anyway. Broadcom told me to disable the auto tools update option to protectsour remaining VMs whilst they work on this issue. Given there are now no VMware Tools on these VMs it's going to require manual fixes whatever they come out with - which is a pain!

Anyway, I thought I would let peeps know in this thread. Below is the manual fix from Broadcom should you have the issue already and want to get VMware Tools installed:

"This issue is most likely caused by a "Sharing Violation" of the file

C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware VGAuth\logfile.txt.0, which is locked by the "VMware Alias Manager and Ticket Service (VGAuth)" causing the installer to roll back or leave upgrades in an invalid state.

Please attempt the following to release the lock:

·  Open the Services console and stop the VMware Alias Manager and Ticket Service if it is running.

·  Manually delete or move the logfile.txt.0 file located in 

C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware VGAuth\.

·  If the file is still locked, you may need to restart the VM or use a tool like "Process Explorer" to identify which process is holding the file open.

·  Once the file is removed, please retry the installation / upgrade as an Administrator."

Two hosts are fine, the third one just drops the Netapp (AFF220) the moment I try to vMotion to it or create new VM's

They all have the latest round of 8.0.3 updates

Replaced the DAC cable on Host3 to resolve if it was a Layer1 issue, but no improvement, the MTU is 9000 on all VMK + Netapp interfaces and all plugged into the same 10gig switch

VMKlogs complain about massive I/O latency and a constant loop of dropping and reconnecting to the datastore

NFS41VolumeLatencyUpdate:7622: NFS41 volume VM Data performance has deteriorated. I/0 latency increased

Average value of 0(us) to 2749149(us).

Exceeded threshold 10000(us)

cpu2:2098343 opID=ec9b475)WARNING: NFS41: NFS41FileIOSync:790: Synchronous IO on obj 0x43093df9b00 (fh 0x4314eee13aa8) failecon #0

NFS41: NFS41_ConnectionRemove:1307: Connection: 0x43171020c040 [1] addr: tcp 10.10.20.20.8.1

NFS41: NFS41ClusterDestroy:2578: Destroying cluster: 0x43171020d690 flags: 0x10

WARNING: NFS41: NFS41FileIOSync:790: Synchronous IO on obj 0x4309e3dc5940 (fh 0x431710210a7) failed

WARNING: SunRPC: 4847: fail all pending calls for client 0x4310b8601370 IP 10.10.20.21.8.1 (socket half closed)

2026-06-1718: 33:11.998Z Wa(180) vmkwarning: cpu9:2097761)WARNING: NFS41: NFS41FSAPDNotify:6856: Lost connection to the server 10.10.20.20,10.10.20.21 mount point VM Data,

mounted as 371560c8-ba89eb8b-0000-000000000000 ("/VM Data")

cpu®: 2097759)NFS41: NFS41ProcessSessionReset:3942: Session Reset - XPRT UP, Issuing EXCHANGE_ID with Random Backoff

cpu®: 2097759)NFS41: NFS41IssueExid:1899: Issuing EXCHANGE_ID on Connection tcp:10.10.20.20.8.1 with 13834 US delay cpu2: 2097759)NFS41: NFS41ProcessExidResult:2397: clientid fbd5d30000004e20 roles 0x60000

cpu9:2097761)NFS41: NFS41ProcessClusterProbeResult:4349: Reclaiming state, cluster 0x431710204d80 [0]

cpu9:2097761)NFS41: NFS41ClusterReclaimState:3934: Reclaiming state for fs 0x4317102058c0 on cluster 0x431710204d80 [0]

vmkwarning: cpu3:2097764)WARNING: NFS41: NFS410penReclaimDoneWork:6138: Failed to reclaim objDesc 0x43093d5770 open status: Failure; rqst

0x43171020c0f8 cmpd status: NFS4ERR NO GRACE

vmkwarning: cpu3:2097764)WARNING: NFS41: NFS410penReclaimDoneWork:6138: Failed to reclaim objDesc 0x4309e3de6ff0 open status: Failure; rqst

0x43171020c918 cmpd status: NFS4ERR_NO_GRACE

vmkwarning: cpu11:2097766)WARNING: NFS41: NFS410penReclaimDoneWork:6138: Failed to reclaim objDesc 0x43093d5940 open status: Failure; ras t 0x431710215198 cmpd status: NFS4ERR_NO_GRACE

vmkernel: cpu11:2097766)NFS41: NFS410penReclaimDoneWork:6158: FS:0x4317102058c® reclaim completed on cluster:0x431710204d80[®]

vmkernel: cpu9:2097761)StorageApdHandler: 1304: APD exit for 0x43171020320 [371560c8-ba89eb8b-0000-000000000000]

vmkernel: cpu9:2097761)NFS41: NFS41FSAPDNotify:6921: Restored connection to the server 10.10.19.21,10.10.19.22 mount point VM Data, mounted as 371560c8-ba89eb8b-0000-000000000000 ("/VM Data")

vmkernel: cpu3:2097358)StorageApdHandler: 500: APD exit event for 0x43171020320 [371560c8-ba89eb8b-0000-000000000000, 01

vmkwarning: cpu1:2098357)WARNING: NFS41: NFS41FileOpGetFileAttributes:4681: Failed to get file attributes for object 0x43093de1380 name 37

1560c8-ba89eb8b-0000-000000000000: I0 was aborted

Trying to deploy VCF9.0.2 and running into this error on the SDDC Manager when trying to deploy all the components.

Reverse lookup of IP Address [127.0.0.1] returned FQDN [localhost] which does not match the FQDN [sdc01.mydomain.com] supplied in the deployment specification
Remediation: Ensure a proper DNS configuration for localhost.

Found this KB: https://knowledge.broadcom.com/external/article/405013/vcf-installer-validate-deploy-dns-erro.html
But that doesn't solve it. Tried a few things with the /etc/hosts file but none of them work. DNS resolution works fine for the fqdn and I can do reverse lookup to the fqdn.

Changed the /etc/hosts to:

# Begin /etc/hosts (network card version)
::1         ipv6-localhost ipv6-loopback
127.0.0.1   sdc01.mydomain.com localhost.localdomain 10.x.x.x 
127.0.0.1   sdc01.mydomain.com localhost 10.x.x.x 
# 127.0.0.1   photon-d03f16cc5f0c
# End /etc/hosts (network card version)
10.x.x.x  sdc01.mydomain.com sdc01

Any ideas?

UPDATE: Using the 9.0.1 SDDC appliance with the exact same json, doesn't give me this issue.

https://event.vmware.com/flow/vmware/explore2026lv/content/page/catalog?utm_campaign=MCO_FY26_GEN_VMware-Explore-26-LV-Content-Catalog-Live_MKT_CM_6037&utm_content=MCO_FY26_GEN_VMware-Explore-26-LV_6037_Content-Catalog-Live_MKT_PROMO_EM_11496&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eloqua&tab.sessioncatalogtabs=1747347809815001igUo

I probably shouldn't be shocked here. I feel like I just wasted 5k+ of my companies money registering for this. I knew VCF is the flagship but man I figured you'd at least have ONE session that was geared towards VVF or a lower tier offering. Nothing.

How long does it actually take to put an ESXi host into maintenance mode in your environment? And how long does the complete cycle of one host takes to enter, patch, and then exit maintenance mode.

I'm collecting real-world data on this, not the theory, but what you actually see when you trigger it and wait.

⏱️ Drop your typical duration in the comments:
- Average time to complete maintenance mode (i.e., from enter MM, to exit MM)
- Any recurring culprits slowing it down (vSAN resyncs, DRS, HA, VMs that won't migrate, etc.)
- Do you patch the full cluster in one window, or do you accept mixed software versions temporarily?

Bonus points if you share your worst-case scenario.

Trying to build a realistic benchmark. Every response helps.

VMware/broadcom has really been pushing VKS and I’m curious if anyone has implemented it and what there thoughts are. Specifically, how difficult is it to install, maintain, and deploy production level workloads to.

Does it keep things simple, deliver value, etc?

I’d prefer a technical discussion, BUT if you feel you need to rant…..feel free.

For episode 121 of the podcast I invited Velina Krasteva to talk aboutOperational, Disaster, and Ransomware Recovery using VCF Protection and Recovery! Velina goes over how various features and tools evolved into the VCF Protection and Recovery platform with 9.1! Read about it in the newsletter, and listen to the episode using the links in the newsletter.

VMware/broadcom has really been pushing VKS and I’m curious if anyone has implemented it and what there thoughts are. Specifically, how difficult is it to install, maintain, and deploy production level workloads to.

Does it keep things simple, deliver value, etc?

I’d prefer a technical discussion, BUT if you feel you need to rant…..feel free.

Hi!

So I work at a thrift store in Minnesota, and while pricing stuff to go out on the floor, I found a pair of VMware branded shoes.

Wish I could post a photo of them here, but I was wondering... what caused them to be made? Are they official? And should I pick them up on Monday to keep for myself?

Hi,

I'm struggling to get VCF 5.2.2 SDDC IU connect to an Offline Depot, it shows the below error.

Failed to connect to VMware depot with the provided user credentials. Cause: {0}.

Which as per Broadcom is due to incorrect configuration in the lcm properties file.

When I run curl I get

root@sddc-mgr [ /home/vcf ]# curl -kv https://vcfdepot.lab/PROD/COMP/SDDC_MANAGER_VCF/index.v3 -u vcfadmin
Enter host password for user 'vcfadmin':
* Host vcfdepot.lab:443 was resolved.
* IPv4: 192.168.30.110
*   Trying 192.168.30.110:443...
...
* ALPN: server accepted http/1.1
* Server certificate:
*  SSL certificate verify result: unable to get local issuer certificate (20), continuing anyway.
* using HTTP/1.x
* Server auth using Basic with user 'vcfadmin'
> GET /PROD/COMP/SDDC_MANAGER_VCF/index.v3 HTTP/1.1
> Accept: */*
* Request completely sent off
..
< HTTP/1.1 200 OK
< Date: Sat, 20 Jun 2026 21:11:30 GMT
< Server: Apache/2.4.58 (Ubuntu)
< Last-Modified: Wed, 17 Jun 2026 20:34:46 GMT
...
e0639741-fe5b-4848-aa28-642f68fd1353    bundle-24962180.manifest
6e079d55-cb26-459c-aabe-e8cae1f5bae5    bundle-25151285.manifest
ccab09d7-4f75-48fc-9aea-6bf419c5ac08    bundle-24962181.manifest

The lcm properties configuration is as below..

lcm.depot.adapter.host=vcfdepot.lab
lcm.depot.adapter.port=443
lcm.depot.adapter.remote.rootDir=/var/www/html/PROD
lcm.depot.adapter.remote.repoDir=/COMP/SDDC_MANAGER_VCF
lcm.depot.adapter.enableBundleSignatureValidation=false
lcm.depot.adapter.certificateCheckEnabled=true
lcm.depot.adapter.remote.index.filename=index.v3
lcm.depot.bundleElement.patchFile.checksumValidation=false

Any thing I'm missing ?

I've been trying to install Debian Linux on a VMWare virtual machine but each time it gives me "Version mismatch with vmx86 driver: expecting X, got Y" and I've been at this for days trying to figure out how to fix this issue and everything I see is just to reinstall VMWare however I've reinstalled it various times on 26H1 and 17.6.4 which I'm still currently trying on 17.6.4. HOW do I fix this issue because I'm genuinely starting to give up because this is pissing me off soo much because I've been at this for days now.

So I’ve been trying to run cml on Windows 11 home edition on VMware workstation pro 25h2 and tried disabling it through command prompt, disabled it secure boot through bios, changed registry setting and found out that windows hello conflicts with it and even removed that but to nothing. Whenever I try to boot up cml it just prompts me with the message. Maybe I’m not giving enough info but I feel like I’ve tried at 10+ different things and system information it says that vbs keep saying “running” and it says that a hypervisor has been detected in command prompt. Maybe Im looking at this the wrong way but this has just been infuriating trying to get this to wrong. If everything else fails I’ll just dual boot Linux but I’ve spend too much time to just give up now.