VMware ESXi 5.0, Patch ESXi500-201305401-BG: Updates esx-base
Article ID: 334620
Updated On:
Products
Issue/Introduction
Release date: May 15, 2013
| Patch Category | Bugfix |
| Patch Severity | Important |
| Build | For build information see KB 2051211 |
| Host Reboot Required | Yes |
| Virtual Machine Migration or Shutdown Required | Yes |
| Affected Hardware | N/A |
| Affected Software | N/A |
| VIBs Included | esx-base |
| PRs Fixed | 1028935 |
| Related CVE numbers | N/A |
Environment
Resolution
Summaries and Symptoms
This patch is intended to provide relief from purple diagnostic screen (PSOD) related to a bad Translation Lookaside Buffer (TLB) mapping while VMware and Intel continue to work to root cause. The default value of the monitor control flag monitor_control.disable_flexpriority has been changed from 0 to 1 so that flexpriority is disabled by default. This change has been shown in several cases to prevent PSOD with error messages similar to the following related to a bad TLB mapping:
#PF Exception 14 in world wwww:WorldName IP 0xnnnnnn addr 0xnnn
SP_TryLockIRQWithRA@vmkernel#nover+0xnn
CpuSchedRebalancePcpuMigrateIdleInt@vmkernel#nover+0xnn
CpuSchedRebalance_PcpuMigrateIdle@vmkernel#nover+0xnn
CpuSchedChooseAndSwitch@vmkernel#nover+0xnn
CpuSchedDispatch@vmkernel#nover+0xnn
Or
#PF Exception 14 in world wwww:WorldName IP 0xnnnnnn addr 0xnnn
TimerAlloc@vmkernel#nover+0xnn stack: 0xnn
Timer_AddTCWithLockDomain@vmkernel#nover+0xnn stack: 0xnn
Timer_AddTC@vmkernel#nover+0xnn stack: 0xnn
NOTE: If you have modified the Cpu.PcpuMigrateIdlePcpus value to 0 as a workaround this issue in the past then you should manually revert this back to default value of 4 either before or after applying this patch. The setting is no longer needed after the patch has been applied and it is highly preferred to make sure this setting doesn't linger around.
The patch also implements fix to the Extended Page Tables (EPT) context logic.
Patch Download and Installation
The typical way to apply patches to ESXi hosts is through the VMware Update Manager. For details, see the Installing and Administering VMware vSphere Update Manager.
ESXi hosts can be updated by manually downloading the patch ZIP file from the VMware download page and installing the VIB by using the esxcli software vib command. Additionally, the system can be updated using the image profile and the esxcli software profile command. For details, see the vSphere Command-Line Interface Concepts and Examples and the vSphere Upgrade Guide.
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