Linux virtual machine (including vCenter) fails to respond after a mounted CDROM is disconnected.

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

When you disconnect the virtual CD/DVD drive without unmounting inside guest OS, you experience these symptoms:

• Linux virtual machine stops responding.
• vCenter server stops responding, pings to vCenter fail.
• When connected, vCenter server fails to find available updates on patch ISO
• Virtual machine does not respond until you answer the question:

 

If possible, eject the CD-ROM from inside the guest before disconnecting. Disconnect anyway and override the lock?

Example from vmware.log: 

         VMware.log

YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) vmx - [msg.cdromdisconnect.locked] The guest operating system has locked the CD-ROM door and is probably using the CD-ROM, which can prevent the guest from recognizing media changes. If possible, eject the CD-ROM from inside the guest before disconnecting.
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS  In(05)+ vmx -
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS  In(05)+ vmx - Disconnect anyway and override the lock?
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS  In(05) vmx - ----------------------------------------
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS  In(05) vcpu-0 - Tools: Tools heartbeat timeout.
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS  In(05) vmx - Timing out dialog 322651
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS  In(05) vmx - MsgQuestion: msg.cdromdisconnect.locked reply=1
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS  In(05) vmx - VigorTransport_ServerSendResponse opID=lx4cp1ps-1023236-auto-lxj9-h5:70279172-b7-01-ab-a50d seq=5231080: Completed Disk request with messages.
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS  In(05) vcpu-0 - Tools: Running status rpc handler: 1 => 0.
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS  In(05) vcpu-0 - Tools: Changing running status: 1 => 0.
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS  In(05) vcpu-0 - Tools: [RunningStatus] Last heartbeat value 9475470 (last received 240s ago)
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS  In(05) vmx - VigorTransportProcessClientPayload: opID=CdrsLoadBalancer-6aXaX69X-42fX33Xd-01-X1-e2-Xf10 seq=5231098: Receiving Bootstrap.MessageReply request.
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS  In(05) vmx - VigorTransport_ServerSendResponse opID=CdrsLoadBalancer-6aXaX69X-42fX33Xd-01-X1-e2-Xf1 seq=5231098: Completed Bootstrap request.
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS  In(05) vcpu-0 - Tools: Running status rpc handler: 0 => 1.
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS  In(05) vcpu-0 - Tools: Changing running status: 0 => 1.
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS  In(05) vcpu-0 - Tools: [RunningStatus] Last heartbeat value 9475471 (last received 0s ago)
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS  In(05) vcpu-1 - Vix: [mainDispatch.c:4123]: VMAutomationReportPowerStateChange: Reporting power state change (opcode=2, err=0).
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS  In(05) vcpu-1 - TOOLS Received tools.set.version rpc call, version = TOOLS_VERSION_UNMANAGED, type is unknown
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS  In(05) vcpu-1 - TOOLS Setting toolsVersionStatus = TOOLS_STATUS_UNMANAGED
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS  In(05) vcpu-1 - Tools_SetVersionAndType did nothing; new tools version (2147483647) and type (0) match old Tools version and type
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS  In(05) vcpu-0 - Guest: *** WARNING: GuestInfo collection interval longer than expected; actual=324 sec, expected=30 sec. ***

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 6.x
VMware vCenter Server 7.x
VMware vCenter Server 8.x

Cause

The guest operating system has locked the CD-ROM door and is probably using the CD-ROM, which can prevent the guest from recognizing media changes.

Resolution

This is an expected behavior when a CD/DVD drive is locked by virtual machine. 

To work around this issue, use one of these options:

Unmount the CD/DVD drive in the virtual machine before disconnecting.

For example, run this command for Guest OS RHEL7:

eject cdrom

Add these entries to the vmx file to answer the question automatically: 

To force disconnect CD/DVD drive regardless of locking drive by virtual machine: 

cdrom.showIsoLockWarning = "FALSE"
msg.autoanswer = "TRUE"

Note: For more information, see Tips for editing a .vmx file (345489).

Additional Information

^{For vCenter Server run this following command} 

^{eject /dev/cdrom before unmountingthe CD/DVD}