Boot error during ESXi upgrade from 7.X to 8.X

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

ESXi upgrade from 7.X to 8.X fails with partition boot error at the beginning of the upgrade

• # esxcli software profile update -d /vmfs/volumes/########-########-####-############/patches/ESXi/8.0/VMware-VMvisor-Installer-8.0.0.update03-24674464.x86_64-Dell_Customized-A04.zip -p DEL-ESXi_803.24674464-A04 --no-
  hardware-warning
   [InstallationError]
   Failed to update bootloader: /vmfs/devices/disks/naa.##############: no boot partition found
        cause = /vmfs/devices/disks/naa.##############: no boot partition found
         vibs = ['VMware_bootbank_esx-base_8.0.3-0.70.24674464']
   Please refer to the log file for more details.

• You will see I/O error while verifying partition table 
  
  • partedUtil getptbl /vmfs/devices/disks/naa.##############

  Error: Input/output error during read on /dev/disks/naa.##############

  Error: The primary GPT table states that the backup GPT is located beyond the end of disk. This may happen if the disk has shrunk or partition table is corrupted. Fix, by writing backup table at the end? This will also fix the last usable sector appropriately as per the new reduced size. diskPath (/dev/disks/naa.##############) diskSize (584843264) AlternateLBA (585937499) LastUsableLBA (585937466)

  Warning: The available space to /dev/disks/naa.############## appears to have shrunk. This may happen if the disk size has reduced. The space has been reduced by (1094236 blocks). You can fix the GPT to correct the available space or continue with the current settings? This will also move the backup table at the end if it is not at the end already. diskSize (584843264) AlternateLBA (585937499) LastUsableLBA (585937466) NewLastUsableLBA (584843230)

  Error: Can't have a partition outside the disk!

  Unable to read partition table for device

  /vmfs/devices/disks/naa.##############

 

Note: The preceding log excerpts are only examples. Date, time, and environmental variables may vary depending on your environment.

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 7.0.x
VMware vSphere ESXi 8.0.x

Cause

This issue arises if OS was installed on a RAID 0 disk on the local disks and after the installation, this RAID 0 disk was changed to a RAID 1 disk

• The size of the ESXi OS boot partition should not be altered, modified, or changed after installation
• Changing from RAID 0 to RAID 1 on most hardware RAID controllers destroys the existing RAID volume. This erases the partition table, makes the ESXi OS unbootable
• Run the following command to verify whether the device is used for booting and to check the RAID level

esxcli storage core device list -d naa.##############

naa.##############
   Display Name: Local DELL Disk (naa.##############)
   Has Settable Display Name: true
   Size: 285568
   Device Type: Direct-Access
   Multipath Plugin: HPP
   Devfs Path: /vmfs/devices/disks/naa.##############
   Vendor: DELL
   Model: PERC H750 Adp
   Revision: 5.21
   SCSI Level: 5
   Is Pseudo: false
   Status: on
   Is RDM Capable: true
   Is Local: true
   Is Removable: false
   Is SSD: false
   Is VVOL PE: false
   Is Offline: false
   Is Perennially Reserved: false
   Queue Full Sample Size: 0
   Queue Full Threshold: 0
   Thin Provisioning Status: unknown
   Attached Filters:
   VAAI Status: unsupported
   Other UIDs: vml.######################
   Is Shared Clusterwide: false
   Is SAS: true
   Is USB: false
   Is Boot Device: true
   Device Max Queue Depth: 128
   No of outstanding IOs with competing worlds: 32
   Drive Type: logical
   RAID Level: RAID1
   Number of Physical Drives: 2
   Protection Enabled: false
   PI Activated: false
   PI Type: 0
   PI Protection Mask: NO PROTECTION
   Supported Guard Types: NO GUARD SUPPORT
   DIX Enabled: false
   DIX Guard Type: NO GUARD SUPPORT
   Emulated DIX/DIF Enabled: false

Resolution

Perform clean ESXi reinstall

Additional Information

It is not possible to recreate the partition without ESXi re-install