ESXI 5.5 U2 -- Random Lock up?

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T_Minus

Build. Break. Fix. Repeat
Feb 15, 2015
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I was checking out my "configuration" for "storage" in vSphere Client when I was disconnected, and apparently ESXI is now frozen. I've also noticed on some boots it takes FOREVER to load and other times its SUPER fast.

Anyone have any advice or logs to check in?
 

mrkrad

Well-Known Member
Oct 13, 2012
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ssh in to the server and check /var/log or dmesg for errors.

You can post a dmesg boot log for us to review!
 
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TuxDude

Well-Known Member
Sep 17, 2011
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In my experience when an ESXi host locks up there's not usually a lot of checking to do. About 99% of the host lock-ups I've seen have involved a PSOD - the error will be displayed on the console of the host (in the text on the PSOD) but at that point filesystems are no longer working and it won't be recorded in any log. If you have persistent logs they might have some details on what happened just before the lock-up, which may or may not be related. If you are booting ESXi off of a small device (thumb-drive, SD-card, etc. I believe anything under 5GB but not sure on that number) there is NO persistent log setup by default.

In the end, the majority of the issues I've seen ended up being related to known issues in NIC/HBA drivers/firmware (usually Emulex) and are resolved after the updates are applied.
 
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T_Minus

Build. Break. Fix. Repeat
Feb 15, 2015
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Yeah, it could be the NVME Card but a reboot and it normally works... it's only happened 2 or 3 times total while testing about 6 different configurations / hardware :)

On one SuperMicro board (v3) 1P it literally took 1hr to boot into ESXI, I thought it froze so I went to eat came back and it was STILL Loading. Updated BIOS on that board and it fixed it... I forget if this was an ESXI Install I just moved to a new box and it had to update drivers or what, but it worked fine after the BIOS update either way :)