VM power on fails with error "Disconnected from virtual machine. Remote connection failure. Failed to establish transport connection"

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

VM replicated fails to power on and fails with the error "Disconnected from virtual machine. Remote connection failure. Failed to establish transport connection"

• The VM crashes while powering on and creates a dump while powering on - 

/vmfs/volumes/DS_NAME/VM_name/vmware.log -

YYYY-MM-DD Wa(03) vmx - Caught signal 11 -- tid #####(addr ##)
YYYY-MM-DD[+0.000] Cr(01) vmx - PANIC: Unexpected signal: 11.
YYYY-MM-DD[+0.331] Wa(03) vmx - A core file is available in "/var/core/vmx-zdump.xx"

• In the VMX file of the VM, the parameter ethernet1.addressType is set to static. This can be validated using the command - 

less /vmfs/volumes/DS_NAME/VM_name/VM_Name.vmx | grep "ethernet1.addressType"

Output :

ethernet1.addressType = "static"

Environment

VMware vSphere 

Cause

The issue is encountered due to an invalid MAC address getting assigned to the VM upon power-on through the e1000e adapter. Due to replication, a duplicate MAC address is assigned to the VM, and since it is static, it will not change, and the VM power-on fails. 

 

Resolution

Change the adapter type to "Generated" - 

1. Power off the VM. 
2. Take an SSH session to the ESXi host with the root user. 
3. Navigate to the VMX of the VM -

  cd /vmfs/volumes/DS_NAME/VM_Name

4. Backup the VMX file -

   cp vm_name.vmx vm_name.vmx.bck

5. Edit the file -

    vi vm_name.vmx

6. Navigate to the parameter -
   
   ethernet1.addressType = "static"

7. Change the type from static to generated -
   
   ethernet1.addressType = "generated"

8. Reload the VMX, follow the steps - Reloading a vmx file

9. Power on the VM