SMP Linux guests with VMXnet3 network devices configured with a virtual distributed switch may boot with a link down status
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SMP Linux guests with VMXnet3 network devices configured with a virtual distributed switch may boot with a link down status

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Article ID: 309168

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Updated On:

Products

VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

This article describes a specific issue. If you experience all of the above symptoms, consult the sections below. If you experience some but not all of these symptoms, your issue is not related to this article. Search for your symptoms or Open a Support Request.


Symptoms:

When Linux guests are running on ESX/ESXi 4.1, with a virtual distributed switch (vDS) configured for network connections, and a VMXnet3 network adapter is configured on the guest, you may experience these symptoms:

  • Linux guests may report a link down status when powered on
  • You see the error:

    DHCPv4 eth0 - Timed Out.
    dhcp: DHCP Configuration failed.

  • After booting the guest, the /var/log/messages file contains entries similar to:

    kernel: eth0: intr type 2, mode 0, 1 vectors allocated
    kernel: eth0: NIC Link is Up 10000 Mbps
    kernel: eth0: NIC Link is Down

  • The interface may come up if you run the service network restart command, but this command does not always resolve the issue

windows-linux linux-guest-networking

Environment

VMware ESX 4.1.x
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Embedded
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Installable

Resolution

This issue occurs if IPv6 is enabled when using vmxnet3 in an SMP Linux GuestOS.

This issue is resolved in the patch release for ESX/ESXi 4.1. For more information, see:

To workaround this issue, when you do not want to apply the patch, try one of these options:



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