ESXi host disconnecting frequently from VCenter and VM's may go in hung state

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms: 

• The ESXi host appears as Not Responding in vCenter Server.
• The host remains accessible through DCUI.
• Restarting the ESXi management agents restores connectivity to vCenter Server.
• VM's may go in hung state due to constant I/O Abort

Environment

VMWare ESXi 8.x

Cause

The issue is caused by repeated aborts occurring on a Fibre Channel (FC) fabric switch port associated with a specific HBA adapter. Continuous command aborts from a single port can disrupt I/O operations and lead to host or datastore access instability

Verify whether multiple aborts are originating from a single HBA adapter.

Log path :/var/run/logvmkernel.log 

2025-10-04T03:22:46.460Z Wa(180) vmkwarning: cpu97:2098270)WARNING: lpfc : vmhba4 lpfc_abort_fcp_cmpl:7403: 3096 Abort  completion for abort cmd iotag x398 xri:0xb37req_tag x398, status x0, hwstatus x0
2025-10-04T03:22:46.460Z In(182) vmkernel: cpu0:2549315)NMP: nmp_ThrottleLogForDevice:3893: Cmd 0xc0 (0x45#########, 2097272) to dev "naa.########" on path "vmhba4:C0:T0:L13" Failed:
2025-10-04T03:22:46.460Z In(182) vmkernel: cpu97:2098270)lpfc: lpfc_handle_status:4260: vmhba4 3271: FCP cmd xc0 failed <0/15> sid x024940, did x01ed40, oxid xb5b iotag xe81 Abort Requested Host Abort Req
2025-10-04T03:22:46.460Z Wa(180) vmkwarning: cpu97:2100294)WARNING: lpfc : vmhba4 lpfc_abort_fcp_cmpl:7403: 3096 Abort  completion for abort cmd iotag x397 xri:0xb5breq_tag x397, status x0, hwstatus x0
2025-10-04T03:22:46.464Z In(182) vmkernel: cpu0:2549315)NMP: nmp_ThrottleLogForDevice:3893: Cmd 0xc0 (0x4#########, 2097272) to dev "naa.#########" on path "vmhba4:C0:T0:L15" Failed:
2025-10-04T03:22:46.464Z Wa(180) vmkwarning: cpu53:2548315)WARNING: lpfc : vmhba4 lpfc_validate_fcp_abort:7544: 3111 Outstanding FCP I/O Abort Request still pending on io_buf 0x45db23f52430, xri xb83   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>and usually indicates that an abort command sent to terminate a pending I/O request has not completed yet 
2025-10-04T03:22:46.465Z In(182) vmkernel: cpu97:2100294)lpfc: lpfc_handle_status:4260: vmhba4 3271: FCP cmd xc0 failed <0/17> sid x024940, did x01ed40, oxid xb83 iotag xea9 Abort Requested Host Abort Req
2025-10-04T03:22:46.465Z Wa(180) vmkwarning: cpu97:2098270)WARNING: lpfc : vmhba4 lpfc_abort_fcp_cmpl:7403: 3096 Abort  completion for abort cmd iotag x396 xri:0xb83req_tag x396, status x0, hwstatus x0
2025-10-04T03:22:46.466Z In(182) vmkernel: cpu97:2100294)lpfc: lpfc_handle_status:4260: vmhba4 3271: FCP cmd xc0 failed <0/18> sid x024940, did x01ed40, oxid xb42 iotag xe68 Abort Requested Host Abort Req

State in doubt message appear in logs

2026-01-07T06:58:23.526Z cpu32:2098204)WARNING: NMP: nmp_DeviceRequestFastDeviceProbe:237: NMP device "naa.####################" state in doubt; requested fast path state update...
2026-01-07T06:58:23.526Z cpu32:2098204)WARNING: NMP: nmp_DeviceRequestFastDeviceProbe:237: NMP device "naa.####################" state in doubt; requested fast path state update...

FC aborts observed in logs 

2026-01-07T06:58:23.526Z cpu43:2098093)lpfc: lpfc_handle_status:5613: 0:(0):3271: FCP cmd x2a failed <3/3> sid x011300, did x012100, oxid x2ad iotag x5d3  Returning Host Busy
2026-01-07T06:58:23.526Z cpu43:2098093)WARNING: lpfc: lpfc_sli_cancel_iocbs:1329: 0:0x0x########## iotag 1565 idx 0 flag 516
2026-01-07T06:58:23.526Z cpu43:2098093)lpfc: lpfc_handle_status:5613: 0:(0):3271: FCP cmd x2a failed <3/3> sid x011300, did x012100, oxid x2f7 iotag x61d  Returning Host Busy
2026-01-07T06:58:23.526Z cpu43:2098093)WARNING: lpfc: lpfc_sli_cancel_iocbs:1329: 0:0x########## iotag 3067 idx 0 flag 516
2026-01-07T07:12:45.108Z cpu36:2097603)WARNING: lpfc: lpfc_sli_issue_abort:10923: 0:(0):3169 Abort failed: Abort INP: Data: xf06 x122c x3 x98
2026-01-07T07:12:45.216Z cpu36:2097603)WARNING: lpfc: lpfc_sli_issue_abort:10923: 0:(0):3169 Abort failed: Abort INP: Data: xeb6 x11dc x6 x98

NMP Throttle devices events observed .

2026-01-07T06:58:23.526Z cpu32:2098204)NMP: nmp_ThrottleLogForDevice:3867: Cmd 0x2a (0x45d9e1e05ac8, 2101735) to dev "naa.#################" on path "vmhba2:C0:T2:L2" Failed:
2026-01-07T06:58:23.526Z cpu32:2098204)NMP: nmp_ThrottleLogForDevice:3875: H:0x2 D:0x0 P:0x0 . Act:EVAL. cmdId.initiator=0x########## CmdSN 0x360
2026-01-07T06:58:23.526Z cpu32:2098204)NMP: nmp_ThrottleLogForDevice:3798: last error status from device naa.################### repeated 10 times

This is followed up with more aborts seen.

2026-01-07T06:58:23.533Z cpu63:2098277)WARNING: lpfc: lpfc_sli_issue_abort:10923: 0:(0):3169 Abort failed: Abort INP: Data: xef0 x1216 x3 x98
2026-01-07T06:58:23.533Z cpu63:2098277)WARNING: lpfc: lpfc_sli_issue_abort:10923: 0:(0):3169 Abort failed: Abort INP: Data: xf04 x122a x3 x98

Devloss warning's observed in logs after the aborts .

2026-01-07T06:58:23.527Z cpu43:2098093)WARNING: lpfc: lpfc_start_devloss:4559: 0:(0):3248 Start 10 sec devloss tmo WWPN ##:##::##::##::##::##::##::##: NPort x013000
2026-01-07T06:58:23.528Z cpu43:2098093)WARNING: lpfc: lpfc_start_devloss:4559: 0:(0):3248 Start 10 sec devloss tmo WWPN ##::##::##::##::##::##::##::##: NPort x013100

Resolution

• Check the SAN switch ports for any connectivity or performance issues affecting the HBA path.

• If a problematic or unstable port is identified, disable the affected switch port after validating the redundancy. 

• After making the change, verify the ESXi host status and confirm that storage paths and I/O activity return to normal.