ESXi 5.0 Update 1 breaks VM Autostarts on free ESXi

by     at
In the VMware Communities an issue with ESXi 5.0 Update 1 was reported that is important for everyone who uses the free (VMware vSphere Hypervisor) version of ESXi 5.0:  Apparently VM autostarts do not work anymore after installing Update 1 if the host runs with a free license. The VM autostart function will automatically power on a defined list of VMs in a defined order when the system boots. This is probably used by a lot of people who run standalone ESXi hosts with the free license.

I was able to reproduce this issue in my home lab, and currently there is no workaround or solution. So if you rely on this functionality then you should postpone the installation of Update 1 until a fix for this is released. If you have already installed Update 1 and want to make it undone due to running into this issue then you can roll back to the previous installation (without Update 1) by pressing Shift-R at the ESXi boot prompt.

Update (2012-07-14): VMware has released a patch for ESXi 5.0 on July 12th that fixes this problem.


Labels: , ,

7 comments:

  1. Andreas PeetzMarch 21, 2012 at 8:37 AM

    Good point, Donnie. Yes, the AutostartManager also handles proper shutdown of the VMs when the host is being shut down. And this is also broken with Update 1.

    ReplyDelete
  2. p2v.org.uaMarch 23, 2012 at 12:32 AM

    http://p2v.org.ua/2012/03/23/fix-%D0%B4%D0%BB%D1%8F-esxi-5-update-1-%D0%BD%D0%B0-%D0%B0%D0%B2%D1%82%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%82-%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%80%D1%82%D1%83%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%BD%D1%8B%D1%85-%D0%BC%D0%B0%D1%88%D0%B8/

    ReplyDelete
  3. p2v.org.uaMarch 23, 2012 at 12:33 AM

    FIX autostart VM
    http://p2v.org.ua/

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownJune 28, 2012 at 7:54 AM

    i have the same problem
    with a fresh installation

    can i rool back also if is a new installation ?

    if not what cai i try ?

    thanks Alberto

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Andreas PeetzJune 28, 2012 at 9:30 AM

      Hi Alberto,
      you can not roll back a new installation, because there is nothing to roll back to. You need to follow these steps:
      1. Back up the ESXi configuration (see http://professionalvmware.com/2010/05/how-to-backup-esxi-configuration-the-missing-piece/ for instructions)
      2. Re-install the server with ESXi 5.0 (without U1). Use the option to NOT overwrite existing VMFS data partitions to preserve your VMs.
      3. Restore the configuration saved in step 1.
      4. Re-register your VMs using the vSphere client.

      Delete
  5. UnknownJune 29, 2012 at 3:30 PM

    thanks Andreas

    where can i download Esxi 5.0 without u1?

    thanks Alberto

    ReplyDelete
  6. UnknownJuly 2, 2012 at 11:41 AM

    Thanks again Andrea

    only a problem when i try to save my esxi configuration with this command: vicfg-cfgbackup.pl –save –server 192.168.15.253 –username root –password password backup.bak
    the command ask me for user and password ( singular because is in the already in the script)
    and end with this error
    Enter username:
    Enter password:
    Error connecting to server at 'https://localhost/sdk/webService': Perhaps host i
    s not a vCenter or ESX server

    can be a syntax error of the script ?

    thanks again Alberto

    ReplyDelete

***** All comments will be moderated! *****
- Please post only comments or questions that are related to this post's contents!
- Advertising and link spamming will not be tolerated!

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)