Powering on a VM (from vCenter, direct UI, or shell) causes the host to disconnect from vCenter and Hostd to restart.
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Powering on a VM (from vCenter, direct UI, or shell) causes the host to disconnect from vCenter and Hostd to restart.

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Article ID: 316555

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Updated On:

Products

VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:
  • Powering on a VM (from vCenter, direct UI, or shell) causes the host to disconnect from vCenter and UI services to restart.
  • It also creates /var/core/hostd-worker-zdump.000


Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 7.0.0
VMware vSphere ESXi 6.7
VMware vSphere ESXi 6.0
VMware vSphere ESXi 6.5

Cause

  • This usually happens because of an invalid entry in the VM's configuration file (VMX). 
  • In some cases you may find sched.swap.derivedName = " " 
  • Sometimes this can be caused by the source ova/ovf (by 3rd party).

    Resolution

    • Check the VM's VMX file for any invalid or unusual attributes.
    • Take a backup from the VMX file before making any edits.
    • Edit the VM's .vmx file and add # at the beginning of the invalid attribute to comment it out.
      • Example:  #sched.swap.derivedName = " "


    Additional Information

    Impact/Risks:
    Impacts: 
    • Cannot power on the VM in question.
    • Each time you power on this VM "Hostd" service will crash.