Virtual machine shuts down with the message: Could not allocate 2097152 bytes of anon memory: No space left on device

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• Virtual machine shuts down and reports the message:
  
  Could not allocate 2097152 bytes of anon memory: No space left on device
  
  
  
• vCenter Server reports the error:
  
  Could not allocate 2097152 bytes of anon memory: No space left on device. Module PCI power on failed. Cannot suspend <VM name>: A General system error occurred:
  
  
  
• In the hostd logs, you see entries similar to:
  
  info 'vm:/vmfs/volumes/4bfad5bf-04903650-2dcd-00215e560cd4/VM1/VM1.vmx'] Disconnect check in progress.
  info 'vm:/vmfs/volumes/4bfad5bf-04903650-2dcd-00215e560cd4/VM1/VM1.vmx'] Question info: Could not allocate 2097152 bytes of anon memory: No space left on device. Module PCI power on failed., Id: 2 : Type : 3, Default: 0, Number of options: 1
  verbose 'vm:/vmfs/volumes/4bfad5bf-04903650-2dcd-00215e560cd4/VM1/VM1.vmx'] Retrieved current VM state from foundry 10, 136
  verbose 'vm:/vmfs/volumes/4bfad5bf-04903650-2dcd-00215e560cd4/VM1/VM1.vmx'] MKS ready for connections: true
  'vm:/vmfs/volumes/4bfad5bf-04903650-2dcd-00215e560cd4/VM1/VM1.vmx'] No Upgrade required
  info 'vm:/vmfs/volumes/4bfad5bf-04903650-2dcd-00215e560cd4/VM1/VM1.vmx'] Disconnect check in progress.
  verbose 'Vmsvc'] VixVM_AnswerMessage returned 0

Environment

VMware ESX 4.0.x
VMware ESXi 4.0.x Installable
VMware ESXi 4.0.x Embedded

Resolution

This issue occurs because of insufficient memory reservation in the virtual machine's overhead memory, resulting in memory allocation failure.

To resolve this issue, upgrade to ESX/ESXi 4.0 Update 3.

To download ESX/ESXi 4.0 Update 3, see the VMware Download Center.