NSX: Host preparation step fails with status ‘Not ready’

Product: NSX 6.3 on ESXi 6.5 hosts

Issue: After installing NSX manager and controllers, the host preparation step fails with error ‘VIB module for agent is not installed on host <hostname> (_VCNS_xxx_Cluster_VMware Network Fabri)’. The GUI keeps showing host status as not ready.

Solution: Solution in the KB Article 2053782 did not worked for me. I followed the following manual install method to work around the issue.

1. Get the VIB download paths for corresponding versions:
https://<NSX-Manager-IP>/bin/vdn/nwfabric.properties

2. Download the VIB from the path obtained from previous step:
https://<NSX-Manager-IP>/bin/vdn/vibs-6.3.0/6.5-4987428/vxlan.zip

3. Copy the vib files alone from above zip, to esxi host’s /tmp directory and install:
esxcli software vib install -v /tmp/VMware_bootbank_esx-vxlan_6.5.0-0.0.4987428.vib –force
esxcli software vib install -v /tmp/VMware_bootbank_esx-vsip_6.5.0-0.0.5534171.vib –force

(without –force command, the installation throws up error ‘VIB VMware_bootbank_esx-vsip_6.5.0-0.0.5534171 requires nsx-api = 2.1, but the requirement cannot be satisfied within the ImageProfile)

4. No reboot is required. Hit resolve under host preparation tab if the status is not updated. Once done the status shows the installation status as green with the correct version.

Off we go to the next step!