Virtual Machine failed to power on - Missing Device "pciPassthru"

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi
• VMware vCenter Server 7.0
• VMware vCenter Server 8.0

Issue/Introduction

 

• Powering on the VM fails from vCenter server UI, host client and also via host CLI.
• Following error message in the vCenter server UI," Insufficient resources. One or more devices (pciPassthru0, pciPassthru1, pciPassthru2) required by VM VM_Name are not available on host host.xxx.com."
• Error messages in the ESXi host logs,
  
  

  Log File: /var/run/log/hostd.log:

  [YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS] verbose hostd[2107901] [Originator@6876 sub=Vmsvc.vm:/vmfs/volumes/Datastore_Name/VM_name/VM_name.vmx opID=vim-cmd-ee-d554 user=root] PowerOn request queued
[YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS] verbose hostd[2107901] [Originator@6876 sub=Vigor.Vmsvc.vm:/vmfs/volumes/Datastore_Name/VM_name/VM_name.vmx opID=vim-cmd-ee-d554] Power On message: Module 'DevicePowerOn' power on failed.
-- > Failed to start the virtual machine.

• vmware.log of the VM:
  
  [YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS] In(05) vmx - AH Failed to find suitable device for pcipassthruo
[YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS] In(05) vmx - AH pciPassthru: failed to get instance ID for 0000:46:00.5
[YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS] In(05) vmx - AH Faild to get instance ID for pciPassthru0 device 0000:46:00.5
[YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS] In(05) vmx - Module 'DevicePowerOn' power on failed

[YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS] In(05)+ vmx - Power on failure messages: Module 'DevicePowerOn' power on failed.
[YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS] In(05)+ vmx - Failed to start the virtual machine.

 

• In the Virtual Machine Edit settings it will show a error "PCI hardware  not available"

Select the VM --> Right click Edit settings --> Virtual Hardware --> Expand the PCI device

 

Environment

vCenter server 7.x

vCenter server 8.x

Cause

This issue occurs when the host is having trouble finding or assigning a PCI device to a virtual machine through PCI passthrough.

Resolution

Steps to be followed:

     1. Check the status of the PCI device in the host,

• • Click on the host, Go to “Configure” -> “Hardware” -> “PCI Devices”

     2. Ensure to have the "Passthrough" status as "Enabled".

     3. If the Passthrough status of PCI device is in disabled state, Click on “Toggle Passthrough” and it changes to enabled state

 

 

     4. Once the passthrough status is enabled in host, PCI device to a virtual machine through PCI passthrough will be automatically enabled in the Virtual Machine as follows,

    5. Power on the Virtual Machine

Additional Information

If the above option has not resolved the issue, check the below:

1. Check if the VMD feature is enabled on the ESXi Host BIOS.
   When we leave it turned on, VMD acts like a middleman that scoops up your individual NVMe drives and hides them from your main operating system.
   Since the virtualization software can't actually see the raw drives anymore, it physically can't pass them through to your virtual machines.
2. Follow the steps to disable VMD feature:
   1. Reboot the physical host and enter the Hardware BIOS/Platform settings.
   2. Navigate to the CPU or Storage configuration menu and locate the Intel VMD settings.
   3. Set VMD Support to Disabled.
   4. Save changes and reboot the host into ESXi.
   5. Verify that the PCI device count now reflects the expected