Generate a Pre-Remediation Check Report

When you generate a pre-remediation check report, vSphere Lifecycle Manager generates a list with actions that you must perform to ensure successful remediation of the hosts in your cluster.

The remediation pre-check report contains information about issues at the cluster, host, and VM level that might prevent the completion of remediation.

For information about the possible issues that might prevent successful remediation, see Remediation Pre-Check Report.

Procedure

In the vSphere Client, navigate to the vSphere Lifecycle Manager compliance view for an individual host or a container object.
1. Navigate to a host, cluster, or a container object.
2. Click the Updates tab.
Select Host > Baselines.
In the Baselines pane, click Pre-Check Remediation.
The Remediation Pre-check dialog box opens.
Review the results from the pre-check and click Done.
In the bottom pane of the Remediation Pre-check dialog box, you see a list of issues at the host and virtual machine level.

Results

The Remediation Pre-check dialog box lists the issues with cluster, hosts, and virtual machines that might prevent successful remediation of the selected object.

In the upper pane of the Remediation Pre-check dialog box, you see a list of issues at a cluster level.

In the bottom pane of the Remediation Pre-check dialog box, you see a list of issues at the host and virtual machine level.

What to do next

Fix all issues that vSphere Lifecycle Manager identifies during the pre-remediation check and remediate the selected object.

Remediation Pre-Check Report

The remediation pre-check report shows the results of a check that is performed on a cluster or a host before remediation. During that check, vSphere Lifecycle Manager identifies possible issues that might prevent successful remediation. Depending on the type of issue, vSphere Lifecycle Manager suggests actions that you must take to fix the issue or resolves the issue automatically.

You can generate a pre-check remediation report in the vSphere Lifecycle Manager compliance view for an object.

Table 1. Cluster Issues
Current Configuration/Issue	Recommended Action	Details
DRS is deactivated on the cluster.	Enable DRS on the cluster.	DRS enables vCenter Server to place and migrate virtual machines automatically on hosts to attain the best use of cluster resources.
vSAN health check fails during the pre-check.	Navigate to the vSAN Health page and address any health issues before proceeding with remediation.	The vSAN health check performs a series of tests on the hosts in the vSAN cluster. The vSAN health check must succeed to ensure the hosts are successfully remediated. If you start a remediation task in a vSAN cluster that failed the vSAN health check during the remediation pre-check, the hosts enter maintenance mode, get upgraded, but might fail to exit maintenance mode. The remediation eventually fails.
Insufficient licenses for one or multiple ESXi hosts in the cluster.	Ensure that you have multiple licenses for the ESXi hosts that have more than 32 cores per CPU.	One CPU license covers up to 32 physical cores. If a CPU has more than 32 cores, you must assign additional CPU licenses to the respective ESXi host. For more information, see https://www.vmware.com/company/news/updates/cpu-pricing-model-update-feb-2020.html.
DPM is enabled on the cluster.	None. vSphere Lifecycle Manager deactivates DPM automatically.	If a host has no running virtual machines, DPM might put the host in standby mode before or during remediation and vSphere Lifecycle Manager cannot remediate them.
HA admission control is enabled on the cluster.	None. vSphere Lifecycle Manager deactivates HA admission control automatically.	HA admission control prevents the migration of virtual machines with vSphere vMotion and the hosts cannot enter maintenance mode.

Table 2. Host Issues
Current Configuration/Issue	Recommended Action	Details
A CD/DVD drive is attached to a virtual machine on the ESXi host.	Disconnect the CD/DVD drive.	Any CD/DVD drives or removable devices connected to the virtual machines on a host might prevent the host from entering maintenance mode. When you start a remediation operation, the hosts with virtual machines to which removable devices are connected are not remediated.
A floppy drive is attached to a virtual machine on the ESXi host.	Disconnect the floppy drive.	Any floppy drives or removable devices connected to the virtual machines on a host might prevent the host from entering maintenance mode. When you start a remediation operation, the hosts with virtual machines to which removable devices are connected are not remediated.
Fault Tolerance (FT) is enabled for a virtual machine on the ESXi host.	Deactivate FT for the virtual machine.	If FT is enabled for any of the virtual machines on a host, vSphere Lifecycle Manager cannot remediate that host.
A powered on virtual machine is configured to use Virtual Flash Read Cache.	Deactivate Virtual Flash Read Cache before proceeding with the upgrade.	Virtual Flash Read Cache is not supported. During an upgrade operation, vSphere Lifecycle Manager removes Virtual Flash Read Cache for all virtual machines on the host. Before remediation, consult https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2057840.
VMware vCenter Server is installed on a virtual machine on the ESXi host and DRS is deactivated on the cluster.	Enable DRS on the cluster and ensure that virtual machines can be migrated with vSphere vMotion.	One of the virtual machines in the cluster runs the vCenter Server instance that you currently use. If you enable DRS on the cluster, vSphere vMotion can migrate the virtual machine where vCenter Server runs to ensure that the remediation of the hosts is successful.
An ESXi host in the cluster has a CPU with more than 32 cores and requires multiple licenses.	Assign as many licenses as the host needs.	One CPU license covers up to 32 physical cores. If a CPU has more than 32 cores, you must obtain additional CPU licenses. For more information, see https://www.vmware.com/company/news/updates/cpu-pricing-model-update-feb-2020.html.