Microsoft Windows-based virtual machine loses network connectivity with the error: Your guest has entered a standby sleep state. Use the keyboard or mouse while grabbed to wake it

Products

• VMware vCenter Server
• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

To resolve Windows VM getting into sleep mode

Symptoms:

• A Windows virtual machine loses network connectivity.
• The VMware Tools status on the virtual machine shows:
  
  Not Running
   
• Under Task and Event in the virtual machine, you see a message similar to:
  
  Your guest has entered a standby sleep state. Use the keyboard or mouse while grabbed to wake it

• The vmware.log for the virtual machine (located at /vmfs/volumes/<Datastore>/<Virtual Machine Directory>/ ) contains entries similar to:
  
  vcpu-0| Your guest has entered a standby sleep state. Use the keyboard or mouse while grabbed to wake it.
  vcpu-0| ---------------------------------------
  vmx| GuestRpcSendTimedOut: message to toolbox timed out.
  vmx| GuestRpcSendTimedOut: message to toolbox timed out.
  vmx| GuestRpc: app toolbox's second ping timeout; assuming app is down

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 5.1.x
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.0
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.5
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.1
VMware vCenter Server 5.0.x
VMware vCenter Server 5.5.x

Cause

This issue occurs when the Microsoft operating system goes in to sleep mode due to power management within the virtual machine and turns off all devices, including the networking card. You can only wake the virtual machine directly from a console session, from vCenter Server or the ESXi host it resides on.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, disable Power Management within the guest operating system.

 

For more information, see the Microsoft TechNet article Enable or disable power management setting in Windows 7 and Windows Vista.

Note: The preceding link was correct as of April 26, 2016. If you find the link is broken, provide a feedback and a VMware employee will update the link.

Workaround:
NA

Additional Information

For more information, see Cannot ping or RDP a Windows 7 virtual machine with Wake on LAN enabled (1030415).


Cannot ping or RDP a Windows 7 virtual machine with Wake on LAN enabled
Microsoft Windows ベースの仮想マシンでネットワーク接続が失われ、次のエラーが表示される：ゲストがスタンバイ スリープ状態になっています。起動するには、グラブ中にキーボードまたはマウスを使用します
基于 Microsoft Windows 的虚拟机失去网络连接并出现错误：您的客户机已进入待机休眠状况。要立即唤醒客户机，请使用键盘或鼠标 (Your guest has entered a standby sleep state. Use the keyboard or mouse while grabbed to wake it)

Impact/Risks:
Unable to ping VM when in sleep mode