Note that using the Vmconfig::on('connectionName') works. I am complicating things by taking the database connection name dynamically, but is there a way to use that with Eloquent relationships?

Note the following inline comments

public function vmdetail($vcenter, $vm)
	{
        $vmData = Vm::on($vcenter)->where('NAME', $vm)->first()->vmconfig;
        var_dump($vmData);
        #this returns the correct ID '2556'

        var_dump($vmData->vmconfig);
        #this returns null. is there a 'on' or 'connection' parameter that is needed here?

        $vmConfig = Vmconfig::on($vcenter)->find($vmData->VMID);
        var_dump($vmConfig);
        #this returns the correct data