Applying a patch on ESXi with FCoE or iBFT boot from SAN LUN using VMware vCenter Update Manager fails with the error code: 15

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• Cannot apply a patch on an ESXi host with FCoE or iBFT boot from SAN LUN using VMware vCenter Update Manager.

• Applying a patch on an ESXi with FCoE or iBFT boot from SAN LUN fails with the error:
  
  error code:15. The package manager transaction is not successful. Check the Update Manager log files and esxupdate log files for more details.
  

• Storage adapters show all paths to boot LUN are dead.

• CLI shows that the /bootbank symbolic link points to the /tmp directory.

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 5.0
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.5
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.1

Cause

This issue occurs if the boot device discovery process takes more than 1 minute to complete and the ESXi host symbolic link /bootbank points to /tmp directory instead of correct boot LUN.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, ensure that your host can see the boot LUN and then increase the bootDeviceRescanTimeout value suitable to your environment.

To increase the bootDeviceRescanTimeout value:

1. Navigate to Advanced Settings > VMkernel > Boot > bootDeviceRescanTimeout.
2. Increase the bootDeviceRescanTimeout value from 1 minute to a timeout value suitable to your environment, such as 5 minutes. Try increasing the timeout value in increments of 1 minute and retry the boot after each increase..
   

The bootDeviceRescanTimeout parameter is added in ESXi 5.1 (Build #1483097), Patch ESXi510-201401201. This is ESXi 5.1 Update 2. If you are using an ESXi 5.1 versions prior to this build, upgrade the ESXi host to this build or a later version to implement this solution and prevent further patching failure.

Additional Information

For more information on LUN connectivity issues, see Troubleshooting LUN connectivity issues on ESXi hosts