Powering on a virtual machine fails with the error: Error : 'ethernet0.filter0.onFailure': DVFilter onFailure 'null' must be 'failOpen' or 'failClosed'

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• Unable to power on a virtual machine.
• The virtual machine fails to start.
• You see the error:
  
  Error : 'ethernet0.filter0.onFailure': DVFilter onFailure 'null' must be 'failOpen' or 'failClosed'
  
  
• Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS) cluster fails.
• vSphere Storage vMotion fails at 78%.
• The ethernet entries in the .vmx file are null.
  
  ethernet0.filter0.name = "null"
  ethernet0.filter0.onFailure = "null"
  ethernet0.filter0.param0 = "null"
  ethernet0.filter0.param2 = "null"
  ethernet0.filter0.param1 = "null"
  
  
• The vmware.log contains entries similar to:
  
  03-15T01:32:03.162Z| vmx| I120: DISKLIB-VMFS : "/vmfs/volumes/5001f788-e2423acb-5e9e-1cc1deec7e33/FS2/FS2-flat.vmdk" : closed.
  03-15T01:32:03.167Z| vmx| I120: WORKER: asyncOps=5 maxActiveOps=4 maxPending=0 maxCompleted=4
  03-15T01:32:03.179Z| vmx| I120: Vix: [17912 mainDispatch.c:3867]: VMAutomation_ReportPowerOpFinished: statevar=1, newAppState=1873, success=1 additionalError=0
  03-15T01:32:03.179Z| vmx| I120: Msg_Post: Error
  03-15T01:32:03.179Z| vmx| I120: [msg.dvfilter.onFailure.invalid]'ethernet0.filter0.onFailure': DVFilter onFailure 'null' must be 'failOpen' or 'failClosed'
  03-15T01:32:03.179Z| vmx| I120: [msg.moduletable.powerOnFailed] Module DevicePowerOn power on failed.
  
  
  Note: The .vmx and vmware.log files are located at the /vmfs/volumes/datastore name/vmname/ folder of the virtual machine.

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 5.1

Cause

This issue occurs if the ethernet entries in the .vmx file of the virtual machine have a null value.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, remove null entries from the configuration file of the virtual machine.

To remove null entries from the configuration file of the virtual machine:

Note: Take a back up of your . vmx file. Cut and paste the section you need from the backup copy into the current file. Do not replace an entire .vmx file with an older backup.

1. Shut down or power off the virtual machine.
2. Log in to the ESXi host as root using SSH.
3. Change to the virtual machines directory.
4. Open the . vmx file of the virtual machine using a text editor.
   
   Note: For more information on editing files on an ESXi host using a vi editor, see Editing files on an ESX host using vi or nano (1020302) and Tips for editing a .vmx file (1714).
   
   
5. Comment out these entries in the . vmx file:
   
   ethernet0.filter0.name = "null"
   ethernet0.filter0.onFailure = "null"
   ethernet0.filter0.param0 = "null"
   ethernet0.filter0.param2 = "null"
   ethernet0.filter0.param1 = "null"
   
   Note: The .vmx file and vmware.log are located in the virtual machine folder ( /vmfs/volumes/datastore name/vmname/)
   
6. Save and close the .vmx file.
7. Reload the virtual machine's .vmx file. For more information, see Reloading a vmx file without removing the virtual machine from inventory (1026043).
8. Power on the virtual machine.

Additional Information

Editing files on an ESX host using vi or nano
Reloading a vmx file without removing the virtual machine from inventory
Tips for editing a .vmx file
仮想マシンの起動が、次のエラーで失敗する：Error : 'ethernet0.filter0.onFailure': DVFilter onFailure 'null' must be 'failOpen' or 'failClosed'