After restarting the ESXi host, virtual machine fails to power on with message: The operation is not allowed in the current connection state of the host

Products

• VMware vCenter Server
• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• You cannot power on, deploy a template or clone a virtual machine after restarting the ESXi host.
• Powering on the virtual machine fails with message:
  
  The operation is not allowed in the current connection state of the host
  
  
• In the vpxd log file on vCenter Server, you see entries similar to:

mem> 2013-10-08T18:20:56.244+09:00 [04140 info 'Default' opID=c6651b55] [VpxLRO] -- ERROR task-16454 -- vm-969 -- vim.VirtualMachine.powerOn: vim.fault.InvalidHostConnectionState:

mem> --> Result:

mem> --> (vim.fault.InvalidHostConnectionState) {

mem> --> dynamicType = <unset>,

mem> --> faultCause = (vmodl.MethodFault) null,

mem> --> host = 'vim.HostSystem:host-28',

mem> --> msg = "",

mem> --> }

mem> --> Args:

mem> -->

mem> 2013-10-08T18:20:56.245+09:00 [04140 verbose 'PropertyProvider'] RecordOp ASSIGN: info.completeTime, task-16454

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

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 5.0.x
VMware vCenter Server 5.5.x
VMware vCenter Server 5.1.x
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.5
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.0
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.1

Cause

This issue can occur due to these scenarios:

• During the shutdown process of the ESXi host from vCenter Server
• Shutting down vCenter Server before it detects that the ESXi host is disconnected
• Restarting the ESXi host
• Restarting vCenter Server service
• Starting a virtual machine from vCenter Server, and it fails with the error message:
  
  InvalidHostConnectionState

Resolution

To resolve this issue, wait to shut down vCenter Server until it recognizes that the ESXi host is in a shutdown state.

To work around this issue, disconnect and reconnect the ESXi host that is running the virtual machine to force vCenter Server to retrieve an updated set of data relating to the objects registered to the host.

Additional Information