VMware ESXi 7.0u2 – Cannot shutdown/power off VMs, cannot run virtual console, no way to power down VMs via ESXi.
Its few days ago, which i deployed the brand new DELL R540 server with atest DellEMC custom image – VMware-VMvisor-Installer-7.0.0.update02-17630552.x86_64-DellEMC_Customized-A00.iso.
The ESXi is installed on the dual internal SD modules configured in RAID 1 from the factory. I installed the server on the customer site at friday, but in monday he call me, that he has some issue with ESXi node, he cannot connect to VMs virtual console. From UI console VMs get eternally stuck (you cannot power off, restart, reboot). So i decided to restart hostd and vpxa agents, but ESXi stuck. So we have go to the iDRAC and reboot the esxi node from iDRAC. All VMs running on the SSD LUN, there is no CPU activity or IO activity no RAM issues.
Where is the problem?
If you have ESXi 7.0u2 (DELL, HP, Lenovo, etc) and your server running on an SD Card, the SD Card simply lost connection and ESXi host freezes, because there is no access to the SD Card and system hangs. All VMs continue work but you are not able to power down, power up, migrate it to another host.
The resolution ?
The VMware announced that at end of august release the update 3, where this issue is fixed. But workaround exist:
- esxcfg-rescan -d vmhba32
- esxcfg-rescan -a vmhba32 (You will need to run the first command a couple of times until it finishes without an error.)
Then perform a restart of the management agents by running the following commands
- /etc/init.d/hostd restart
- /etc/init.d/vpxa restart
More about this issue you can read at ProVirtualZone
Update 24. 8. 2021
the patch with updated vmkusb driver was relased. Its version ESXi-7.0U2c-18426014-standard (Build 18426014) and you can update it ! -no more SD cards problems !
the resolved problem with SD cards: