VxRail: Node Expansion Validation Error That the Host Cpu Is Not Compatible with the Cluster EVC Mode

Summary: For a new node running on VxRail versions from 8.0.320 to 8.0.361, during host first boot, the VxRail manager virtual machine is powered on and configured with Skylake CPU mode. If the cluster Enhanced vMotion Compatibility (EVC) mode is lower than Skylake, then adding the new node to the cluster reports CPU incompatible error. ...

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Symptoms

Node expansion validate shows error "The host CPU is not compatible with the cluster EVC mode."

 Screenshot of error 

You may encounter this issue when:

  • The new node VxRail version is from 8.0.320 to 8.0.361.
  • The VxRail manager virtual machine on the new node is already powered on.
  • The cluster EVC is lower than Skylake, for example Haswell.

Cause

For VxRail versions 8.0.320 to 8.0.361, the VxRail manager virtual machine is configured with a CPU mode set to Skylake during the host's first boot.

However, if the cluster was initially deployed on a version earlier than 8.0.320, the default cluster EVC level would have been set to Haswell. Even if the cluster has been upgraded to a newer version, the cluster EVC level remains at Haswell unless manually changed. As a result, when adding a new node with a virtual machine (VM) running on Skylake CPU mode, which is higher than the cluster's EVC (Haswell), the validation process reports a CPU incompatibility error.

Resolution

Run the following commands on all the to-be-added new nodes to stop the election service and power off the VxRail manager VM.

esxcli daemon control stop -s election

python /opt/vxutils/data/vxrail-primary --stop

 

Note: The election service will power on the VxRail manager VM on other nodes, you must stop the election service on each node before powering off the VxRail manager VM. Do not stop the election service through the UI; 

Additional Information

If the cluster was initially deployed on VxRail 8.0.320 to 8.0.361, the cluster default EVC level is set to Skylake, so you will not hit this issue.

In the future VxRail version higher than 8.0.361, the cluster deployment default EVC level is set to Haswell again, adding a new node running on 8.0.320 to 8.0.361 may also hit this issue.

Affected Products

VxRail, VxRail Appliance Series, VxRail G Series Nodes, VxRail D Series Nodes, VxRail D560, VxRail D560F, VxRail E Series Nodes, VxRail E560, VxRail E560F, VxRail E560N, VxRail E660, VxRail E660F, VxRail E660N, VxRail E665, VxRail E665F, VxRail E665N , VxRail G560, VxRail G560F, VxRail P Series Nodes, VxRail P570, VxRail P570F, VxRail P580N, VxRail P670F, VxRail P670N, VxRail P675F, VxRail P675N, VxRail S Series Nodes, VxRail S570, VxRail S670, VxRail Software, VxRail V Series Nodes, VxRail V570, VxRail V570F, VXRAIL V670F, VxRail VD-4510C, VxRail VD-4520C, VxRail VD Series Nodes, VxRail VE-660, VxRail VE-6615, VxRail VE-670, VxRail VP-760, VxRail VP-7625, VxRail VP-770, VxRail VS-760 ...
Article Properties
Article Number: 000388870
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 18 يونيو 2026
Version:  3
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