During the installation of ESXi 7.0U3 on a Dell PowerEdge R960 server, users may encounter an issue where the local disk is not visible. This problem is also observed in other versions, including ESXi 7.0 U3c, 8.0 U1, and 8.0 U2.
However, the local disk appears normally when using version 8.0 U3. The issue seems to be linked to the server’s RAID configuration, interrupt resource limits, and other technical aspects.
This article outlines the environment, cause, and resolution to address the issue.
This issue occurs due to an ESXi limit on interrupt resources. When PCI Passthrough devices request many interrupts to be allocated, it is possible that this limit has been reached which causes the issue.
vmkernel.log:
2024-06-14T14:20:51.491Z In(182) vmkernel: cpu120:2098126)bcm_mpi3_0000:5b:00.0: mpi3_setup_interrupts: 2821: Current msix vectors = 128, CPUs in the system = 128
2024-06-14T14:20:51.493Z Wa(180) vmkwarning: cpu120:2098126)WARNING: IntrCookie: 1458: Unable to find a free interrupt number
Reference: How to increase maxIntrCookies if default limit is reached in ESXi ? (broadcom.com)
2024-06-14T14:20:51.494Z Wa(180) vmkwarning: cpu120:2098126)WARNING: VMK_PCI: 593: 0000:5b:00.0: failed to allocate 128 MSIX interrupts
2024-06-14T14:20:51.494Z Wa(180) vmkwarning: cpu120:2098126)WARNING: bcm_mpi3_0000:5b:00.0: mpi3_setup_interrupts: 2832: failed to allocate interrupts. status=Out of resources.
Additionally, the ESXi system limit on interrupt resources, particularly concerning the ‘maxIntrCookies’ parameter, may be contributing to the failure to detect local disks.
After setting the "maxIntrCookies" to 4096, you will be able to see the local datastore and proceed with installation on it.
Once the ESXI is booted, maxIntrCookies is set to default. So, the bootbank is pointed to /tmp. You won't be able to view the local datastore in both UI/CLI.