An administrator is able to manage an ESXi 6.x host connected to vCenter Server using the vSphere Web Client but is unable to connect to the host directly. Which action should the administrator take t

Restarting management agents resolves issues where the hostd or vpxa services have become unresponsive, but does not change or disable Lockdown Mode configuration.

When Lockdown Mode is enabled, ESXi refuses direct connections via SSH, vSphere Client, or host UI, while vCenter Server-based management remains fully operational. Disabling Lockdown Mode through vCenter Server removes this restriction and restores direct host connectivity without requiring a reboot or other changes.

Unloading the ESXi firewall with esxcli is an extreme and insecure action that would not override a Lockdown Mode restriction preventing direct access.

Rebooting the ESXi host preserves Lockdown Mode settings and would not restore direct connectivity after the host comes back online.