VM went to a suspended state suddenly without any warning/information - FAQ

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

• VM found in a suspended state without any information in the tasks.
• May encounter a VM in a suspended state, with the task not providing sufficient information.
• Users may assert that no suspended tasks were initiated by them.

Cause

• If the log signature matches the below then the VM was placed in suspended state by right clicking the VM and selecting "export system logs":
vmware*
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS vmx - Setting log_vmsample: 1
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS  vmx- Setting log_vmsample: 1
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS vmx-(VCPU 0) VMSAMPLE: cs=0x10, rip=0xffffffff81a13e5e halted progress=412268022690046
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS- vmx-Setting log_vmsample: 0
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS vmx - Setting log_vmsample: 0
  

  YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS vmx - SUSPEND: Start suspend (flags=0)

  YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS vcpu-0 - SUSPEND: Completed suspend: 'Operation completed successfully' (0)
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) vmx - Stopping VCPU threads...
  
  hostd.*
  YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(166) Hostd[2099700]: [Originator@6876 sub=Vimsvc.CgiServiceManager opID=CGI-server-3d0a sid=528b9e04] Validating CGI ticket for URL '/cgi-bin/vm-support.cgi?listmanifests=1' 
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(166) Hostd[2099700]: [Originator@6876 sub=Vimsvc.CgiServiceManager opID=CGI-server-3d0a sid=528b9e04] Ticket URL pair is valid
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(166) Hostd[2099698]: [Originator@6876 sub=Vimsvc.CgiServiceManager opID=CGI-server-3d70 sid=52ce22a6] Validating CGI ticket for URL '/cgi-bin/vm-support.cgi?manifests=VirtualMachines:CoreDumpHung HungVM:Send_NMI_To_Guest HungVM:Suspend_VM'

Resolution

It is an expected behaviour has if VM logs are exported then the VM will enter suspended state.

Additional Information

• The log collection was started by right clicking the VM and selecting "export system logs"
  
• Then these options were selected and log generation was started
  
  
• This should only be done in case you intend to troubleshoot a hung VM; else this will result in downtime for the VM.