vMotion fails with a connection error

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Examples of connectivity related vMotion errors; 

• Example 1

Failed to start migration pre-copy. Error: Connection reset by peer.
VMotion [-1062693184:1279397837393509] failed to send init message to remote host <##.###.##.##.###>
VMotion [-1062693184:1279397837393509] (0-71480066970184) failed to receive 68/68 bytes from remote host <##.###.##.##.###>: Connection reset by peer
Migration transfer failed during receive operation to socket 71471309916928: received 0/68 bytes: Connection reset by peer

• Example 2

Failed to start migration pre-copy. Error: Connection closed by remote host, possibly due to timeout.
VMotion [167772162:1280090451957875] failed to send init message to remote host <##.###.##.##.###>
VMotion [167772162:1280090451957875] (0-71485435682904) failed to receive 68/68 bytes from remote host <##.###.##.##.###>: Connection closed by remote host, possibly due to timeout

• Example 3

Failed waiting for data. Error 195887137. Timeout. 2025-04-07T13:06:50.910276Z The migration transfer failed during the receive operation to socket 73803569338080: received 0/36 bytes: Connection reset by peer. vMotion migration [-1062716130:7100916802933743411] failed to read stream keepalive: Connection reset by peer Migration to host <192.168.##.##> failed with error Connection reset by peer (195887179). 2025-04-07T13:06:53.796048Z vMotion migration [-1062716130:7100916802933743411] (16-73802816854608) failed to receive 4828/4828 bytes from the remote host <192.168.##.##>: Timeout

• In the vmkernel.log log file on the ESXi host, you may see messages similar to:

Tcpip_Vmk: 97: arp: ##:##:##:##:##:## is using my IP address ##.###.##.##.### on vmk0!

Environment

VMware vSphere 6.x
VMware vSphere 7.x
VMware vSphere 8.x

Cause

This issue occurs if there is a network connectivity issue between the source ESXi host and the destination ESXi host for the vMotion. These errors may occur because the destination host refuses the source's initial network handshake message, suggesting that it is not connecting to the destination host over the vMotion network due to problems like IP address conflicts within the vMotion network, the two hosts sharing the same IP address, or MTU configuration issues between them, among others.

 

Resolution

 

If you experience this issue, double-check vMotion network configuration.

 

To check the health of the vMotion network:

• Check for IP address conflicts on the vMotion network. Each host in the cluster should have a vMotion vmk, assigned a unique IP address.
• Check for packet loss over the vMotion network. Try having the source host ping (vmkping) the destination host's vMotion vmknic IP address for the duration of the vMotion.
• Check that each vMotion vmkernel port group have the same security settings. A security mismatch can cause a vMotion operation to fail. For example, a failure occurs if a source vmkernel portgroup is set to allow promiscuous mode and the destination vmkernel portgroup is set to disallow promiscuous mode.
• Check the network connectivity between the two hosts. Try having the source host ping (vmkping) the destination host's vMotion vmknic IP address.
• If the Jumbo frames (MTU values above 1500) are configured, check that vmkping's with '-s' value over 1500 and the 'do not fragment' (-d) flag set are successful between the two hosts. 

Note: To test connectivity using the vmkping command when Jumbo Frames are configured, run the command with the -s option. For more information on running the vmkping command, see Testing VMkernel network connectivity with the vmkping command (1003728).

Additional Information

For more information on running the vmkping command, see Testing VMkernel network connectivity with the vmkping command.