Re-adding a host to a cluster

[Both_Roth]

Hello,  I want to start off with I have done a lot of reading and googling ect before coming here to post and just need a little direction. 

I had a Host compute only server that is on esxi 7.0.3 and This host was part of a Vsphere HA cluster.  Its imbedded proprietary HPE dual flash drive that contained the esxi image got corrupted and died basically.

I got that all fixed, got esxi back imaged, got the IP,DNS,gateway, and its vlan back all matching to what it was before.  I did a Remove from inventory of the old host in vsphere since this would re-use the same name/ip ect.  I added this host back to the cluster and it shows up.

This is where I'm getting stuck on my next steps mainly because I wasn't part of this initial setup from the ground up and have ot got the chance to setup Datastores, clusters and HA from scratch as practice to really just good understanding of it asll.

Right now this host does not have the datastores tied to it that the other 2 hosts in the cluster do. It also has a HA configuration error.  The error in vsphere about the HA configuration actually recommends "reconfiguring vsphere HA for the host" "as usually resolving this error".  My question is should I run the reconfiguring vsphere HA for the host first or is this an issue because I don't have the datastores added back yet? I have been kind of stuck on the whole chicken or the egg concept and don't want to do something in the wrong order.  I am sure this is a dumb question and maybe the reconfiguring vsphere HA on this host would resolve both issues.  I just have not been able to find answers yet that make me feel comfortable on my next steps.   

[MeMec]

Hi,

As you are unsure whether to address the missing datastores or the HA configuration error first. I would suggest to go with adding datastores first to the new host before addressing the HA configuration. Then reconfigure vSphere HA,  Once the datastores are added, proceed with "reconfiguring vSphere HA for the host." This will integrate the host into the cluster's HA settings. The reconfiguration process usually addresses common cluster configuration issues, also it will resolve your issue.

[Both_Roth]

thank you for the direction to go.  I did try adding back 1 of the datastore but it gave me an error of.  another caveat is im assuming since we use Simplivity/OMnicubes that is playing into the datastores. I got the following when I tried mounting one of the datastores thats on the other 2 hosts in the cluster to the new host.

"An error occurred during host configuration. Operation failed, diagnostics report: Failed DNS lookup: hostname:   error: -2"

the hostname mentioned the omnicube

[markey165]

@Both_Roth - It seems your ESxi host isn't able to perform DNS resolution properly. I would try the following in order

1. Log into the Web interface of your problem ESXi host and go to Networking > TCP/IP Stacks and click Default TCP/IP stack. Click Edit settings. Check the Primary and Secondary if used) DNS server are set correctly, and check the other settings on this screen are correct
2. Now go to the Host console screen (either locally or remotely) and log into the DCUI interface (the yellow/grey screen). Select Test Management Network and run the test. Make sure it passes all of them successfully. 
3. Now log into the ESXi console via SSH (enable the SSH service in the Web UI - under services if necessary).   Rather than type out the instructions for troubleshooting DNS at the command line, the guide below will help you test connectivity to the DNS server(s) and also test DNS resolution to help narrow down where the problem lies.

https://buildvirtual.net/troubleshoot-esxi-host-dns-and-routing-related-issues

HTH 😊

[Both_Roth]

Thank you for more info! i will try what you suggested.  I did find out I was missing several more vlans i was supposed to add to the host itself in the esxi settings.  I did make some headway today I believe.  I will add to this once i get some more done in the hopes someone else as lost as I was will benefit from my struggles.

[Both_Roth]

An update. I got everything figured out now except.... the shared datastores are not showing up for it.  

I have this compute esxi standard host imaged back with the correct HPE custom image, its in the same cluster as the 2 SimpliVity storage hosts

got all the vlans, kernel-nic, physical-nic, vswitches/tcp-ip stack set back up. Got the OVC IP/hostname set in the hosts file. got the advanced settings for the host in vcenter all done, the enable HPE simplivity datastore sharing checked for all the datastores, got the simplivity-esx-7.x-4.1.0.14 plugin installed. (did a reboot after) 

I followed the steps from the HPE omnistack 4.2.0 vsphere admin guide. (starting at the esxi standard host section) and the 4.2.0 Vsphere Upgrade guide appendix D which goes over the plugin.

This re-imaged compute host was set back up with the exact same IP and same hostname as it was previously so I skipped the section on "Change the IP address on a standard ESXI host" Was i wrong in doing so? Wondering now if i still need to do this since at the end it mentions I should see a mounted datastore.

Procedure
1. If you do not need to add a new VMkernel NIC, skip to step 2. Complete this step if you need to add a new VMkernel NIC
with the new IP address:
a) Add the VMkernel NIC with the new IP address for the standard ESXi host.
b) Create NFS exports for the new VMkernel NIC using the svt-datastore-share command for each shared HPE SimpliVity
datastore.
c) Optional: Delete the original VMkernel NIC with the old IP address.
d) Run svt-datastore-share for each shared HPE SimpliVity datastore to confirm that the old IP address is no longer
valid and remove stale NFS exports for that NIC.
2. If you do not need to add a new VMkernel NIC, do these substeps to modify the vSwitch:
a) Change the IP address for the NIC.
b) Run svt-datastore-share for each shared HPE SimpliVity datastore to ensure that the system recognizes the new IP
address and removes the old IP address. This removes stale NFS exports and creates new NFS exports that use the
new IP.
3. Verify that the standard ESXi host can access the share by checking that the host mounted the datastore.
Standard ESXi

[Both_Roth · Accepted solution]

Solved it.. I am just an idiot and read into things too literally..

so the Admin guide from HPE nor their plugin guide ever actually tell me to click on the Mount datastores to addiotnal hosts in vcenter when going over adding a standard esxi host to a simplivity cluster.  once I did that and told it to reconfigure the vsphere HA it all came back up normal.  

[markey165]

Good news, glad you managed to solve it 👍