Virtual machine shows invalid status due to incorrect latency sensitivity value

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

• Virtual machine fails to resume after vMotion or restart and displays an invalid status in vCenter.
• Attempting to re-register the virtual machine results in a GenericVmConfigFault
• ESXi host client > Virtual Machines:

• From /var/run/log/hostd.log:
  • YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ssZ In(166) Hostd[20###40]: [Originator@6876 sub=Vimsvc.TaskManager opID=<OP_ID> sid=52####b2 user=<username>] Task Created : haTask-ha-folder-vm-vim.Folder.registerVm-1###1
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ssZ Db(167) Hostd[20###74]: [Originator@6876 sub=Vigor.Vmsvc.vm:/vmfs/volumes/<datastore>/<<vm_name>>/<<vm_name>>.vmx opID=<OP_ID> sid=52####b2 user=<username>] Get vigor fields VigorCpp::Devices::Sched::Shared message: Valid values: high, medium, normal, low, auto, undef or a positive number
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ssZ Db(167) Hostd[20###50]: --> Virtual machine latency sensitivity (FALSE) is invalid.
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ssZ Db(167) Hostd[20###50]: -->
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ssZ In(166) Hostd[20###74]: [Originator@6876 sub=Vmsvc.vm:/vmfs/volumes/<datastore>/<<vm_name>>/<<vm_name>>.vmx opID=<OP_ID> sid=52####b2 user=<username>] Error encountered while retrieving configuration. Marking configuration as invalid: N3Vim5Fault20GenericVmConfigFault9ExceptionE(Fault cause: vim.fault.GenericVmConfigFault
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ssZ In(166) Hostd[20###50]: --> )
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ssZ In(166) Hostd[20###50]: --> [context]zKq7AVICAgAAANVUewEXaG9zdGQAAPPJR2xpYnZtYWNvcmUuc28AgU+BHQFsaWJ2aW0tdHlwZXMuc28AAWF26ILlkxEBaG9zdGQAgvvdEAGCH98QAYIt4BABgp/gEAECLjL9ApoW/QKvO/mCf6wAAYJvEgEBgtPqBgECWRWxAukasYFAMxYBApekYgAe2ywA4P8sAEtQUgNSeABsaWJwdGhyZWFkLnNvLjAABD9SD2xpYmMuc28uNgA=[/context]
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ssZ In(166) Hostd[20###74]: [Originator@6876 sub=Vmsvc.vm:/vmfs/volumes/<datastore>/<<vm_name>>/<<vm_name>>.vmx opID=<OP_ID> sid=52####b2 user=<username>] State Transition (VM_STATE_INITIALIZING -> VM_STATE_OFF)
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ssZ In(166) Hostd[20###74]: [Originator@6876 sub=Vmsvc.vm:/vmfs/volumes/<datastore>/<<vm_name>>/<<vm_name>>.vmx opID=<OP_ID> sid=52####b2 user=<username>] Initialized virtual machine /vmfs/volumes/<datastore>/<<vm_name>>/<<vm_name>>.vmx
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ssZ In(166) Hostd[20###74]: [Originator@6876 sub=Vmsvc.vm:/vmfs/volumes/<datastore>/<<vm_name>>/<<vm_name>>.vmx opID=<OP_ID> sid=52####b2 user=<username>] Marking VirtualMachine invalid
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ssZ In(166) Hostd[20###74]: [Originator@6876 sub=Vmsvc.vm:/vmfs/volumes/<datastore>/<<vm_name>>/<<vm_name>>.vmx opID=<OP_ID> sid=52####b2 user=<username>] State Transition (VM_STATE_OFF -> VM_STATE_INVALID_CONFIG)
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ssZ Er(163) Hostd[20###44]: [Originator@6876 sub=Vmsvc.vm:/vmfs/volumes/<datastore>/<<vm_name>>/<<vm_name>>.vmx] Invalid transition requested (VM_STATE_INVALID_CONFIG -> VM_STATE_OFF): Invalid state
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ssZ Wa(164) Hostd[20###44]: [Originator@6876 sub=Vmsvc.vm:/vmfs/volumes/<datastore>/<<vm_name>>/<<vm_name>>.vmx] Caught exception Fault cause: vim.fault.InvalidState
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ssZ Wa(164) Hostd[20###50]: -->  while on power state change.

 

Environment

• VMware vSphere ESXi 7.X
• VMware vSphere ESXi 8.X

Cause

• Presence of an unsupported boolean value (e.g., "TRUE" or "FALSE") for the sched.cpu.latencySensitivity parameter in the .vmx configuration file.
• The ESXi host daemon requires specific string values and fails to parse the configuration when a boolean is used.
• The only supported values for this parameter are: high, medium, normal, low, auto, undef or a positive number.

Resolution

To resolve this edit the vmx file to manually set the parameter to any supported value as per the requirement:

1. Access the ESXi host where the virtual machine is registered via SSH using root credentials.
2. Navigate to the absolute directory path of the virtual machine datastore:

   • cd /vmfs/volumes/<datastore>/<vm_folder>

3. Create a backup subdirectory and copy the existing configuration state:
   

   • mkdir temp

   • cp <vm_name>.vmx ./temp/

4.  Open the .vmx configuration file using vi editor

   • vi <vmx_name>.vmx

5. Go to Insert Mode in the editor:
   • Press I button
6. Change sched.cpu.latencySensitivity to reflect a supported value .
   • Example:

     • sched.cpu.latencySensitivity = 'normal'

7. Save the file:
   • Press ESC and type :wq!
8. Right-click the invalid virtual machine in the vCenter Server inventory and select Remove from Inventory. 
9. Browse the datastore path via the vSphere Client, right-click the modified <vm_name>.vmx file, and select Register VM. Complete the wizard to return the object to the inventory and initiate a clean power-on sequence
   
   • Add or Register a Virtual Machine (VM) in vCenter Server

If the issue persists, contact Broadcom Support