Boot up sequence fails with error: “Operating System not found” when NICs are removed/added

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:
You see these symptoms after adding or removing virtual NICs:

• A virtual machine cannot boot to the operating system
• Booting fails with the error:

Operating System not found

• A virtual machine goes to a PXE boot.

Environment

VMware vSphere 6.x

Cause

When NIC PCIe is added or removed, it breaks the way BIOS remembers which boot device is selected and changes boot device to PXE or other device.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, change the boot order of the virtual machine using vmx options. For more information, see https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2011654?lang=en_US

Additional Information

https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2011654?lang=en_US