VMware: QueryNetworkHint("") raises NotFound, so no CDP/LLDP data is read (sync_host_cables and CDP descriptions do nothing) #580

Description

With sync_host_cables: True no cables are created, and no attempt to create one shows up in the log, even at DEBUG2. The host interface descriptions also never get the (conn: <switch> - <port>) suffix, although the ESXi hosts do see CDP neighbors.

Cause

In module/sources/vmware/connection.py (add_host) the network hints are queried like this:

try:
    for hint in obj.configManager.networkSystem.QueryNetworkHint(""):
        pnic_hints[hint.device] = hint
except Exception:
    pass

QueryNetworkHint takes an optional list of device names. Passing "" makes vCenter look up a NIC with an empty name, and it raises vim.fault.NotFound for every host. The bare except Exception: pass hides the error, so pnic_hints is always empty. That means:

• no CDP info is added to the pNIC descriptions (since [Feature Request] Add/Import CDP Cabling Data from pnics #350)
• get_pnic_neighbor() never returns a neighbor, so add_cable_to_neighbor() is never called

Direct pyVmomi calls against the same host:

Fix

-            for hint in obj.configManager.networkSystem.QueryNetworkHint(""):
+            for hint in obj.configManager.networkSystem.QueryNetworkHint():
                 pnic_hints[hint.device] = hint
-        except Exception:
-            pass
+        except Exception as e:
+            log.debug(f"Unable to query network hints (CDP/LLDP) of host '{name}': {e}")

With this change, the next run created the expected cables:

INFO: Created new cable object: vmnic5 (esxi01) <> Ethernet1/23 (switch-a)
INFO: Created new cable object: vmnic7 (esxi01) <> Ethernet1/23 (switch-b)

and the CDP neighbors show up in the pNIC descriptions again.

The existing tests in tests/test_vmware_host_cables.py did not catch this. They feed in made-up hint objects and never exercise the QueryNetworkHint call itself.

Environment

• netbox-sync: v1.9.0 (also present on main)
• vCenter: 8.0.3 (build 25600417)
• NetBox: 4.7.2
• pyvmomi: 9.1.1.0
• Python: 3.13.5
• Links: standard vSwitch, CDP in listen mode, Cisco switches