vGPU enabled VM fails to migrate from ESXi 7.0 U3 to ESXi 8.0U3e or newer with the error "PCIPassthru: Failed to adjust IOMMU for VM: Not supported"

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

• The virtual machines (VMs) are configured with vGPU.
• The source ESXi host is running version 7.0 U3.
• The destination ESXi host must be running ESXi version 8.0 U3e or later.
• Migration of non-vGPU VMs works without issues.
• Cold migration is possible for vGPU-configured VMs.
• The vmware.log for these VMs contains the following entries:
  
  YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.653Z In(05) vmx - Received migrate 'from' request for mid id 570#######314, src ip <source_host_IP>.
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.654Z In(05) vmx - MigrateSetInfo: state=MIGRATE_FROM_VMX_INIT srcIp=<source_host_IP> dstIp=<destination_host_IP> mid=570#######314 uuid=5####a-8##a-13##ec-####-#######priority=high
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.446Z In(05) worker-2105807 - PCIPassthru: Failed to adjust IOMMU for VM: Not supported
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.446Z Cr(01) worker-2105807 - PANIC: VERIFY bora/devices/pcipassthru/pciPassthru.c:3694
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.446Z In(05) worker-2105807 - VMIOP: informing the plugin vmiop-display of Panic
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.197Z Wa(03) worker-2105807 - A core file is available in "/var/core/vmx-zdump.000"

Environment

• vSphere ESXi 7.x
• vSphere ESXi 8.x

Resolution

Currently, there is no fix yet

Workaround

Option1

• Initial Upgrade:
  Upgrade ESXi hosts from 7.0 U3 to 8.0 U3 GA (General Availability) first.

  • This version supports vMotion of vGPU-configured VMs between ESXi 7.0 U3 and 8.0 U3 GA.

• Subsequent Patching:
  After successfully upgrading to 8.0 U3 GA, apply patches to update ESXi hosts to 8.0 U3e or later.

  • vMotion functions correctly between ESXi 8.0 U3 GA and 8.0 U3e or later.

Option2

• Virtual Machines can be cold-migrated (migrated while powered off) across versions, including from 7.0 U3 to 8.0 U3e or later.

• Note: Cold migration may result in VM downtime depending on production dependencies.

Additional Information

Impact:

• Not able to migrate VMs after patching/upgrading the ESXi to 8.0U3e which impacts the upgrade process.