vSphere High Availability (HA) unexpectedly powered on a virtual machine (VM) that was in a powered-off state.
Article ID: 387832
Updated On:
Products
Issue/Introduction
fdm.log
2025-01-17TXX:XXZ info fdm[13681285] [Originator@XXXX sub=Invt opID=WorkQueue-XXXX] Vm /vmfs/volumes/XXXX/adXXXXXXX/XX.vmx curPwrState=powered off curPowerOnCount=0 newPwrState=powered on clnPwrOff=false hostReporting=__localhost__
2025-01-21TXX:XXZ verbose fdm[13681285] [Originator@XXX sub=Invt opID=WorkQueue-XXXX] Initialize VmStateChange from inventory for poweredOn vm /vmfs/volumes/vsan:XXXXX/adXXXXX/XX.vmx
Expected
2025-01-31TXX:XXZ info fdm[13681283] [Originator@XXX sub=Invt opID=XXXX Vm /vmfs/volumes/XXX/adXXXXXX/XX.vmx curPwrState=powered on curPowerOnCount=1 newPwrState=powered off clnPwrOff=true hostReporting=__localhost__
Environment
vCenter 6.x,7.x,8.x
Cause
When vSphere HA reports "clnPwrOff=false" in the FDM log, it means that the virtual machine was not cleanly powered off. As a result, vSphere HA will restart the virtual machine. This behavior is different when using the DCUI to shut down the host, where vSphere HA marks the virtual machine as "clnPwrOff=true", indicating that an administrator has powered off the virtual machine, and no restart takes place.
If you want vSphere HA to restart your virtual machines during a host shutdown, it is recommended to use the vCenter Web Client instead of the DCUI
Resolution
-Best Practice to power off VM: Please perform gracefully shutdown VM.
Expected event after gracefully shutdown VM:
2025-01-31TXX:XXZ info fdm[13681283] [Originator@XXX sub=Invt opID=XXXX Vm /vmfs/volumes/XXX/adXXXXXX/XX.vmx curPwrState=powered on curPowerOnCount=1 newPwrState=powered off clnPwrOff=true hostReporting=__localhost__
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