vMotion fails at 82% with the error: General system error occurred: Source detected that destination failed to resume

Products

• VMware vCenter Server
• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• VMware vMotion fails at 82%
• VMware vMotion fails after a recent BIOS firmware upgrade of the physical server
• In VMware vCenter Server, you see the error:
  
  General system error occurred - Failed to resume. A general system error occurred: Source detected that destination failed to resume.
   
• In the /var/log/vmware/hostd.log log file, you see errors similar to:
  
  verbose 'vm:/vmfs/volumes/########-####-########4afe/VM/VM.vmx']VMotionLastStatusCb: Failed with error 7: Source detected that destination failed to resume.
  verbose 'vm:/vmfs/volumes/########-####-########4afe/VM/VM.vmx']VMotionResolveCheck: Operation in progress
  verbose 'vm:/vmfs/volumes/########-####-########4afe/VM/VM.vmx'] VMotionStatusCb:Completed
  verbose 'vm:/vmfs/volumes/########-####-########4afe/VM/VM.vmx']VMotionResolveCheck: Firing ResolveCb
  info 'VMotionSrc (1309881328052149)'] ResolveCb: VMX reports needsUnregister = false for migrateTypeMIGRATE_TYPE_VMOTION
  info 'VMotionSrc (1309881328052149)'] ResolveCb: Failed with fault: (vmodl.fault.SystemError) {
  dynamicType = <unset>, faultCause = (vmodl.MethodFault) null, reason = "Source detected that destination failed to resume.", msg = "",}
   
• In the vmware.log file located at the working directory of the virtual machine, you see entries similar to:
  
  Jul 05 14:43:18.964: vmx| Guest CPUID differences from hostCPUID.
  Jul 05 14:43:18.964: vmx| guestCPUID level 80000008, 0: 0x00003028 0x00000000 0x00000000 0x00000000
  Jul 05 14:43:18.964: vmx| Msg_Post: Error
  Jul 05 14:43:18.964: vmx| [msg.cpuid.genericFeatureMissing] The processor does not support a required feature for this virtual machine. The virtual machine cannot be powered on.----------------------------------------
  Jul 05 14:43:18.979: vmx| Module CPUID power on failed.
  Jul 05 14:43:18.979: vmx| VMX_PowerOn: ModuleTable_PowerOn = 0
  Jul 05 14:43:18.980: vmx| MigrateSetStateFinished: type=2 new state=11
  Jul 05 14:43:18.980: vmx| MigrateSetState: Transitioning from state 10 to 11.
  Jul 05 14:43:18.980: vmx| Migrate_SetFailure: The VM failed to resume on the destination during early power on.
  Jul 05 14:43:18.980: vmx| Msg_Post: Error
  Jul 05 14:43:18.980: vmx| [msg.migrate.resume.fail] The VM failed to resume on the destination during early power on.

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 5.0
VMware vCenter Server 4.1.x
VMware vCenter Server 5.0.x
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Embedded
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Installable
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.1
VMware ESXi 4.0.x Embedded
VMware ESXi 4.0.x Installable
VMware vCenter Server 5.1.x
VMware ESX 4.1.x
VMware vCenter Server 4.0.x
VMware ESX 4.0.x

Cause

This issue occurs if Virtualization Technology (VT) is disabled on the destination host, probably after a recent BIOS firmware upgrade.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, you must enable Virtualization Technology (VT) in the BIOS settings of the physical server.

 

For more information, see Determining if Intel Virtualization Technology or AMD Virtualization is enabled in the BIOS without rebooting (1011712)

Additional Information

Ensuring Virtualization Technology is enabled on your VMware host
Determining if Intel Virtualization Technology or AMD Virtualization is enabled in the BIOS without rebooting