Inactive smart card readers and other USB devices might frequently disconnect from the VMware Remote Console

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi 8.0

Issue/Introduction

If the smart card readers and other USB devices connected by the VMware Remote Console didn't been used for more than two hours,
these devices will be intermittently disconnect status.
These devices could not be detected from the guest OS, but they remain visible as connected from the VMware Remote Console.

Environment

VMware ESXi 8.0

Cause

The issue occurs because the Envoy reverse proxy on ESXi does not correctly apply TCP Keep-Alive socket options to accepted connections.
It led the connection to be time out during periods of inactivity.

Resolution

This issue is resolved in the VMware ESXi 8.0 Update 3i (Build 25205845)

The fix ensures that Keep-Alive settings are correctly inherited and pings are sent on accepted sockets to maintain active connections during idle periods. The fix prevents idle timeout in the Envoy proxy for tunneled connections that the VMware Remote Console uses.

Additional Information

VMware ESXi 8.0 Update 3i Release Notes
https://techdocs.broadcom.com/us/en/vmware-cis/vsphere/vsphere/8-0/release-notes/esxi-update-and-patch-release-notes/vsphere-esxi-80u3i-release-notes.html