ESX host disconnects from vCenter Server and hostd logs contain the error: Exception: Not Reached: @ bora/vim/hostd/vmsvc/vmMisc.cpp:1610

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• ESX host disconnects from vCenter Server.
• The /var/log/vmware/hostd.log file contains the error:
  
  Exception: Not Reached: @ bora/vim/hostd/vmsvc/vmMisc.cpp:1610
  
  
• Attempting to restarting the management services fails, and the error message is repeated.
  
  

Environment

VMware ESX 4.0.x
VMware ESX Server 3.5.x

Resolution

This issue occurs if the configuration file of a virtual machine contains an invalid entry.

To workaround this issue, fix the entry in the configuration file.

To fix the entry:

1. Log into the ESX host as root. To log in as root using SSH, see Unable to connect to an ESX host using Secure Shell (SSH) (1003807).
2. Review the /var/log/vmware/hostd.log file to identify the virtual machine that was being accessed at the time of the failure. The events leading up to the failure may appear similar to:
   
   [2009-05-07 11:48:01.173 F64CFB90 verbose 'vm:/vmfs/volumes/484f28b2-436e2ef0-68c1-0030485cd2e4/test-vm2/test-vm2.vmx'] Get null or empty snapshot tree.
   [2009-05-07 11:48:01.173 F64CFB90 verbose 'vm:/vmfs/volumes/484f28b2-436e2ef0-68c1-0030485cd2e4/test-vm2/test-vm2.vmx'] Time to gather Snapshot information ( read from disk, build tree): 15 msecs.
   [2009-05-07 11:48:01.173 F64CFB90 verbose 'vm:/vmfs/volumes/484f28b2-436e2ef0-68c1-0030485cd2e4/test-vm2/test-vm2.vmx'] Time to gather snapshot file layout: 0 (msecs)
   [2009-05-07 11:48:01.213 F64CFB90 error 'App']
   
   Exception: Not Reached: @ bora/vim/hostd/vmsvc/vmMisc.cpp:1610
   
   Note: The section /vmfs/volumes/484f28b2-436e2ef0-68c1-0030485cd2e4/test-vm2/test-vm2.vmx identifies the full path to virtual machine configuration file.
   
3. Verify that the configuration file contain the text scsi0.virtualDev = "lsilogic1680" by running the command:
   
   grep -i lsilogic1680 <VMconfig>
   
   Where <VMconfig> is the full path to the configuration file identified in step 2.
   
4. If the file contains the entry, modify scsi0.virtualDev = "lsilogic1680" so that it reads scsi0.virtualDev = "lsilogic", and save the changes. For more information on editing the .vmx file, see Editing configuration files in VMware ESX (1017022).
5. Restart the management agents. For more information, see Restarting the Management agents on an ESX or ESXi Server (1003490)