Confirming whether a virtual machine is unresponsive
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Confirming whether a virtual machine is unresponsive

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Article ID: 310992

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Updated On:

Products

VMware vCenter Server VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

This article provides tests to assist in determining whether a virtual machine running on VMware ESX/ESXi is non-responsive or otherwise inaccessible. These tests must be done while the issue is occurring. The tests might not assist with any past issues.

The services a virtual machine provides may become unresponsive or unreachable due to a number of causes, including problems with the applications or Guest OS within the virtual machine, problems with the virtual machine monitor or virtual devices, resource contention on the ESX/ESXi host, or issues with underlying storage or networking infrastructure.

For steps to isolate and address the cause of the virtual machine’s inaccessibility, see Troubleshooting a virtual machine that has stopped responding (1007819).

NOTE:- When Troubleshooting Hung Virtual Machines use the KB article :- 200583, These steps in the Knowledge Base article should only be followed for troubleshooting Virtual Machine issues like Unresponsiveness / Hang etc. This Knowledge Base article steps does not capture the Guest Operating system Logs from within the Guest OS.


Symptoms:



Environment

VMware ESXi 4.0.x Installable
VMware ESXi 3.5.x Installable
VMware ESX 4.1.x
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Installable
VMware ESXi 3.5.x Embedded
VMware VirtualCenter 2.5.x
VMware VirtualCenter 2.0.x
VMware ESX Server 3.5.x
VMware ESX Server 3.0.x
VMware vCenter Server 4.1.x
VMware ESXi 4.0.x Embedded
VMware vCenter Server 4.0.x
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Embedded
VMware ESX 4.0.x

VMware ESXi 6.7,7.x,8.x

Resolution

If any of these tests succeed, the virtual machine is still partially functional. The tests which succeed or fail indicate which layers are functional or which must be invetigated more closely. This narrows the scope of potential causes of an issue.

  1. Determine whether the virtual machine is powered on. For more information, see Determining whether an ESX/ESXi virtual machine is powered on (1003737). If the virtual machine is not powered on, see Determining why a virtual machine was powered off or restarted (1019064).
     
  2. Open the console for the virtual machine, and determine the level of functionality:
     
    • If the console cannot be opened or reports an error, then the virtual machine might be experiencing an issue, or network connectivity to the host might be interrupted. The virtual machine's responsiveness is indeterminate.
    • If the console is blank or static, then the virtual machine's responsiveness is indeterminate.
    • If there is any movement on the console, then the virtual machine is running but the guest OS may be unresponsive to input.
    • If the guest OS responds to keyboard or mouse interaction, then the virtual machine and guest OS is functioning correctly, though may not be reachable via other channels.
  3. Attempt to ping the guest OS. Perform this test first from another virtual machine on the same vSwitch Portgroup, and then from a resource external to the ESX/ESXi host. If the guest OS can respond to network traffic, it is running. For more information, see Testing network connectivity with the ping command (1003486).
     
  4. Attempt to establish a remote console connection to the guest OS using an appropriate method, such as Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) or Secure Shell (SSH). Perform this test first from another virtual machine on the same vSwitch Portgroup, and then from a resource external to the ESX/ESXi host. Use these guidelines to analyze the results:
     
    • If the guest OS can respond to a remote connection, it is running.
    • If there is an authentication failure, and connections fail differently for credentials that are known to be invalid compared to credentials that are known to be valid, there may be a problem within the guest OS or with access to disk- or network-based credential stores.
    • If remote connectivity fails but local authentication succeeds, there may be a problem with network connectivity to the virtual machine, or with the authentication configuration within the guest OS.
    • If remote connectivity succeeds, the unresponsiveness may be application- or service-specific or tied to performance.
       
  5. Attempt to interact remotely with services that applications in the guest OS provide. Perform this test first from another virtual machine on the same vSwitch Portgroup, and then from a resource external to the ESX/ESXi host. The specific method will be tied to the services running within the virtual machine. For example, use a client to request a response to an HTTP, DNS or DHCP server.
     
  6. Attempt to evoke a change on the running virtual machine container, such as creating a snapshot or performing a vMotion. For more information, see the Virtual Machine Administration Guide for your version of vSphere. Use these guidelines to analyze the results:
     
    • If tasks performed upon the virtual machine complete successfully, the virtual machine container is functioning correctly.
    • If tasks do not complete successfully there may be a problem with either the virtual machine or the management layer, but this does not prove that there is a VMM issue.
  7. If the virtual machine is unresponsive via both the console and network communication, determine whether the ESX/ESXi host is unresponsive too. If the host is unresponsive as well, the scope is larger than initially assumed. For more information, see Determining why an ESX/ESXi host does not respond to user interaction at the console (1017135).
     
  8. Review the realtime performance data in the client or using esxtop or resxtop. Determine whether the virtual machine is:
     
    • Producing any outbound network traffic. Make note of the Network Rate (Mbps) Transmitted and Network Packets Transmitted metrics.
    • Sending any SCSI commands to disk. Make note of the Disk Rate (KBps) and Disk Requests metrics.
    • Using any CPU time. Make note of the CPU % Usage and CPU % Ready metrics.
    • Using an active working set of memory. Make note of the Active (MB) or Active Guest Memory metrics.


Additional Information

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