To make both connectivity to vCenter and clone operations function with NATd ESX service consoles:

1. In Vmware vCenter client, disable Vmware HA and DRS.
2. In Vmware vCenter client, disconnect the host. The VMs will continue to run.
3. Log in to the ESX service console via SSH and change to root.
$ ssh
$ sudo su –

1. Change the IP address in /etc/hosts to the public IP.
$ vi /etc/hosts
$ cat /etc/hosts
127.0.0.1 localhost
::1 localhost
33.33.22.22 esxhost.example.com esxhost

1. Verify the hostIP address is the public IP, and add preserveServerIp in /etc/opt/vmware/vpxa/vpxa.cfg .
$ vi /etc/opt/vmware/vpxa/vpxa.cfg

…
33.33.22.22
…

true

1. Restart the VPXA service.
$ service vmware-vpxa restart

1. Log out of the ESX service console.
2. In Vmware vCenter client, reconnect the host. You may need to re-enter the root user�s credentials.
3. In Vmware vCenter client, enable Vmware HA and DRS.