VxRail: vMotion fails with error "Unable to prepare migration. Network address is not valid for translation"

Summary: How to fix a vMotion issue which gets failed in the initial stage due to network validation error even though vMotion VMkernel port is properly configured.

This article applies to This article does not apply to This article is not tied to any specific product. Not all product versions are identified in this article.
Check out other resources

Symptoms

Downtime does not involve performing workaround of this issue.
Restart of the vpxa service would be required in order to apply the implemented changes on the identified ESXi host.

Migrating a virtual machine fails with error: 
 Unable to prepare migration. Network address is not valid for translation.

Similar entries can be found in the vmware.log file.

vmware.log: 
2019-04-22T10:31:00.410Z| vmx| I125: VigorTransportProcessClientPayload: opID=ju2ei8q0-213690-auto-4kvv-h5:70071372-69-01-b7-7b41 seq=2144: Receiving Migrate.PrepareSource request.
2019-04-22T10:31:00.410Z| vmx| I125: MigrateVMStrToIpAddr: Invalid IP address vxrail03.xyz.com specified.
2019-04-22T10:31:00.410Z| vmx| I125: MigrateVMXdrToSpec: type: 1 srcIp=<192.168.20.113> dstIp=<192.168.20.115> mid=4b2cdde2919b8679


Underneath entries can be seen in hostd.log file of the ESXi host where the virtual machine is registered.

hostd.log: 
opID=ju2ei8q0-214059-auto-4l64-h5:70071467-cd-01-9f-7e16 user=vpxuser:VSPHERE.LOCAL\Administrator] VMotionPrepare: srcMgmtIp=192.168.x.x
2019-04-22T10:38:24.616Z info hostd[2100849] [Originator@6876 sub=Vmsvc.vm:/vmfs/volumes/vsan:52fb3189d1ada8ae-cf21c9911c958035/ede1b75c-a8af-6988-3359-e4434b4db68c/VFM-CRM.vmx opID=ju2ei8q0-214059-auto-4l64-h5:70071467-cd-01-9f-7e16 user=vpxuser:VSPHERE.LOCAL\Administrator] VMotionPrepare: dstMgmtIp=vxrail03.xyz.com
2019-04-22T10:38:24.616Z info hostd[2100849] [Originator@6876

Cause

This issue occurs if the source management IP parameter or destination management Ip parameter is updated with an ESXi hostname, instead of IP address.

Resolution

Workaround:

Log in to the ESXi host through ssh

Run the following commands in order.

  cd /etc/vmware/vpxa/
  cp vpxa.cfg vpxa_backup.cfg
  vi vpxa.cfg
Locate the <hostIp> YOURHOSTNAME</hostIp> line and modify the hostname to IP address of the host.
Type Esc followed by :wq!
Restart the VPXA service.
Article Properties
Article Number: 000040071
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 29 May 2025
Version:  4
Find answers to your questions from other Dell users
Support Services
Check if your device is covered by Support Services.