Empty list is shown in the “Select a network for the virtual machines to use.” in XenDesktop 5.6 while adding a VMware vCenter host

Problem

You’re setting up a new VMware vCenter host in XenDesktop 5.6 but as you navigate through the Desktop Deployment wizard, you notice that the Select a network for the virtual machines to use. list is empty:

You’ve confirmed that the port groups exist in vCenter.

Solution

I’m not exactly sure why but I’ve never had any luck when I assign the XenDesktop service account, that is used to connect to the vCenter, to the cluster node as shown in the following:

Sorry about the boxes blocking the names but take my word that I assigned the sa_XenDesktop account to the cluster node.

What I notice is that the networks show up when I assign it to the datacenter node:

I haven’t had the time to test this a bit more but will update this post when I do.