'Initiate guest OS shutdown task' fails with 'A general system error occurred: Invalid fault'

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

• 'Initiate guest OS shutdown' task failed with 'A general system error occurred: Invalid fault' after 30 seconds of execution time.

• 'Cannot shut down the guest OS' error event (vim.event.VmFailedToShutdownGuestEvent) can also be seen. 

• In the vmware.log file, you see entries similar to:
  
  ####-##-##T##:##:##.###Z In(05) vmx - Tools: Timed out waiting for state change status.
####-##-##T##:##:##.###Z In(05) vmx - Vix: [mainDispatch.c:4123]: VMAutomationReportPowerStateChange: Reporting power state change (opcode=2, err=0).
####-##-##T##:##:##.###Z In(05) vmx - VigorTransport_ServerSendResponse opID=mb7l3uo0-74267-auto-1lb1-h5:70023561-4f-17-5e29 seq=2805: Completed PowerState request with messages.
####-##-##T##:##:##.###Z In(05) vmx - Tools: Changing running status: 2 => 1.

 

• In the hostd.log file, you see entries similar to:
  
  ####-##-##T##:##:##.###Z info hostd[1051735] [Originator@6876 sub=AdapterServer opID=mb7l3uo0-74267-auto-1lb1-h5:70023561-4f-17-5e29 user=vpxuser:VSPHERE.LOCAL\Administrator]
AdapterServer caught exception; <<52dc618f-e783-2127-ecec-75f12f591172, <TCP '127.0.0.1 : 8307'>, <TCP '127.0.0.1 : 43340'>>, 24, vim.VirtualMachine.shutdownGuest>, N3Vim5Fault20GenericVmConfigFault9ExceptionE(Fault cause: vim.fault.GenericVmConfigFault
--> )
--> [context]zKq7AVICAgAAAKjoRgEOaG9zdGQAANJCF2xpYnZtYWNvcmUuc28AAZp27WxpYnZpbS10eXBlcy5zbwCBA4oHAYFD5gcBgUagAwECEPNRaG9zdGQAAoY2ywF3ivECSptSAMzHLQBUAy4AAhE/Azt9AGxpYnB0aHJlYWQuc28uMAAEbdEObGliYy5zby42AA==[/context]
####-##-##T##:##:##.###Z info hostd[1051735] [Originator@6876 sub=Vimsvc.TaskManager opID=mb7l3uo0-74267-auto-1lb1-h5:70023561-4f-17-5e29 user=vpxuser:VSPHERE.LOCAL\Administrator] Task Completed : haTask-24-vim.VirtualMachine.shutdownGuest-2543346 Status error
####-##-##T##:##:##.###Z info hostd[1051735] [Originator@6876 sub=Solo.Vmomi opID=mb7l3uo0-74267-auto-1lb1-h5:70023561-4f-17-5e29 user=vpxuser:VSPHERE.LOCAL\Administrator] Activation finished; <<52dc618f-e783-2127-ecec-75f12f591172, <TCP '127.0.0.1 : 8307'>, <TCP '127.0.0.1 : 43340'>>, 24, vim.VirtualMachine.shutdownGuest>
####-##-##T##:##:##.###Z info hostd[1051735] [Originator@6876 sub=Solo.Vmomi opID=mb7l3uo0-74267-auto-1lb1-h5:70023561-4f-17-5e29 user=vpxuser:VSPHERE.LOCAL\Administrator] Throw vim.fault.GenericVmConfigFault
####-##-##T##:##:##.###Z info hostd[1051735] [Originator@6876 sub=Solo.Vmomi opID=mb7l3uo0-74267-auto-1lb1-h5:70023561-4f-17-5e29 user=vpxuser:VSPHERE.LOCAL\Administrator] Result:
--> (vim.fault.GenericVmConfigFault) {
-->    faultMessage = (vmodl.LocalizableMessage) [
-->       (vmodl.LocalizableMessage) {
-->          key = "msg.vigor.poweroff.fail.unknown",
-->          message = "Failed to power off the virtual machine.",
-->       }
-->    ],
-->    reason = "Failed to power off the virtual machine.",
-->    msg = "Failed to power off the virtual machine.
--> "
--> }
####-##-##T##:##:##.###Z error hostd[1051735] [Originator@6876 sub=Req@internalvim25... opID=mb7l3uo0-74267-auto-1lb1-h5:70023561-4f-17-5e29 user=vpxuser:VSPHERE.LOCAL\Administrator] Method vim.VirtualMachine.shutdownGuest threw undeclared fault of type vim.fault.GenericVmConfigFault
  
  

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi

Cause

Shutdown task fails if VMware Tools custom script for guest OS shutdown takes more than 30 seconds to run.

Resolution

Edit the VM setting and add the following advanced configuration parameter to increase the timeout value:

Name : tools.statechange.status.timeout  
Value : 60

OR

Edit the .vmx file using vi command and add the following line:
tools.statechange.status.timeout = "60"

The value should be determined by the time it takes for the custom script to complete.

Additional Information

Tips for editing a .vmx file