Management vmkernel interface randomly being tagged for vMotion

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• vMotion and Management traffic are configured on separate vmkernel interfaces.
   
• Randomly, vMotion might be enabled on Management vmkernel as well.
   
• vMotion fails since vMotion tagged for management network which is on different VLAN.
   
• In the /var/log/vmkernel.log file, you see the entries similar to:
  
  T cpu2:68922)Config: 866: "Vmknic" = "vmk1,vmk4", Old value: "vmk4" (Status: 0x0)
T cpu3:67216)MigrateNet: 767: Set vMotion to AUTOBIND mode
T cpu3:67216)Tcpip_Vmk: 124: INFO: sosetopt set SO_AUTOBIND
T cpu3:68940 opID=d1809345)World: 12230: VC opID HB-SpecSync-host-80@442-1be52c15-cd-fb7b maps to vmkernel opID d1809345
T cpu3:68940 opID=d1809345)Config: 706: "HostLocalSwapDirEnabled" = 0, Old Value: 0, (Status: 0x0)
T cpu3:68940 opID=7e84daf9)World: 12230: VC opID EditVirtualNicDialog-apply-180733-ngc-f2-9d-fbbd maps to vmkernel opID 7e84daf9
T cpu3:68940 opID=7e84daf9)Config: 866: "Vmknic" = "vmk1", Old value: "vmk1,vmk4" (Status: 0x0)
T cpu0:67216)MigrateNet: 767: Set vMotion to AUTOBIND mode
T cpu0:67216)Tcpip_Vmk: 124: INFO: sosetopt set SO_AUTOBIND
T cpu26:68951 opID=2515f6a0)World: 12230: VC opID EditVirtualNicDialog-apply-180758-ngc-24-e-fbd9 maps to vmkernel opID 2515f6a0
T cpu26:68951 opID=2515f6a0)Config: 866: "Vmknic" = "", Old value: "vmk1" (Status: 0x0)
T cpu0:67216)MigrateNet: 767: Set vMotion to AUTOBIND mode
T cpu0:67216)Tcpip_Vmk: 124: INFO: sosetopt set SO_AUTOBIND
T cpu24:68954 opID=18336669)World: 12230: VC opID EditVirtualNicDialog-apply-180786-ngc-73-b3-fbf3 maps to vmkernel opID 18336669
T cpu24:68954 opID=18336669)Config: 866: "Vmknic" = "vmk4", Old value: "" (Status: 0x0)
T cpu0:67216)MigrateNet: 767: Set vMotion to AUTOBIND mode
T cpu0:67216)Tcpip_Vmk: 124: INFO: sosetopt set SO_AUTOBIND
T cpu18:68935)Config: 866: "Vmknic" = "vmk1,vmk4", Old value: "vmk4" (Status: 0x0)
T cpu0:67216)MigrateNet: 767: Set vMotion to AUTOBIND mode
T cpu0:67216)Tcpip_Vmk: 124: INFO: sosetopt set SO_AUTOBIND
  
  Note: In above example, vmk1 is used for Management traffic and vmk4 for vMotion

 

Note: The preceding log excerpts are only examples. Date, time, and environmental variables may vary depending on your environment.

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 6.0
VMware ESXi 6.7.x
VMware vSphere ESXi 6.5

Resolution

This is a known issue affecting ESXi 6.0 and 6.5.

Currently there is no resolution for 6.0.

For ESXi 6.5, the fix has been delivered in 6.5 update 1 and ESXi 6.7.

Workaround:

To work around this issue, remove /adv/Migrate/Vmknic from esx.conf file:

1. Take a backup of esx.conf file by running this command:
   
   cp /etc/vmware/esx.conf /etc/vmware/esx.conf.bak
    
2. Edit esx.conf by running this command:
   
   vi /etc/vmware/esx.conf
    
3. Find line /adv/Migrate/Vmknic and remove it.
    
4. Save the changes and close the file by running this command.
   
   :wq!
    
5. To ensure the change is backed up, run the below command:
   
   auto-backup.sh
    
6. Reboot the host.

For more information, see Networking Best Practices for vSphere vMotion.