Attempting to reconnect an ESXi host that appears as Disconnected in vCenter Server fails with the error: Timed waiting for vpxa to start

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

• The ESXi host appears as disconnected in vCenter Server
• Attempting to reconnect the host fails
• You see the error:

A general system error occurred: Timed waiting for vpxa to start

 

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 5.0
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.1

Cause

This issue occurs if one or more virtual machines on the host are running on a large number of snapshots. The maximum number of snapshots supported is 32. For more information, see Adding an ESXi 5.0 host to vCenter Server 5.0 fails with the error: A general system error occurred (2009217).

Notes:

• This issue may also occur when adding an ESXi 5.1 host to vCenter Server 5.0. This is not supported. For more information, see the VMware Product Interoperability Matrixes.
• This issue may also occur if there is not enough free disk space on your ESX/ESXi host. For more information, see Investigating disk space on an ESX or ESXi host (1003564).

Resolution

To resolve this issue:

1. Restart the Management agents on host. For more information, see Restarting the Management agents on an ESX or ESXi host (1003490).
2. Log in to the host directly using the vSphere Client.
3. Right-click the virtual machine and click Remove from Inventory.
4. Restart the Management agents on the host.
5. Right-click the host in vCenter Server and click Reconnect.

Note: If the problem persists after trying the steps in this article, file a support request with Broadcom Support.For more information, see How to open a case with Broadcom.

Additional Information

To find out how many snapshots exist for a virtual machine(s):

1. Log in as root to one of the ESXi host through SSH or Command Line Interface (CLI) that has access to the VMFS datastore(s) where the virtual machine(s) resides on.
2. Run this command:
   
   find /vmfs/volumes/*/* -iname *delta*

Restarting the Management agents in ESXi
Best practices for using snapshots in the vSphere environment
Adding an ESXi 5.0 host to vCenter Server 5.0 fails with the error: A general system error occurred