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vbabic
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Centos virtual machine won't boot with 42 GB of RAM

Hi,

I have a strange issue with some of our virtual machines. They are configured with 42 GB of RAM and when they are first powered on, everything is ok. First reboot is also ok but after the second reboot, the virtual machine hangs immediately after the grub screen.

The issue is easily reproduced (power on and first reboot are always ok, second reboot always hangs).

What we found out is that everything is ok if we change the amount of RAM to anything else (we tried 32, 33, 40, 41, 43 GB).

The VMs are deployed from the same template as a lot of other VMs which don't have such issues.

Did anyone else find this problem?

Of course, now we have an easy workaround, but still, it is an interesting issue..

OS is Centos 7, ESXi version is 5.5 Update 3b (build 3343343)

Kind regards, Vjeran

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8 Replies
LucianoPatrão

Hi,

Do you have the latest VMware tools installed in this VMs?

Also are they using any resource limits, or Pools etc??

Luciano Patrão

VCP-DCV, VCAP-DCV Design 2023, VCP-Cloud 2023
vExpert vSAN, NSX, Cloud Provider, Veeam Vanguard
Solutions Architect - Tech Lead for VMware / Virtual Backups

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vbabic
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Hi,

Openvm tools version 9.10.2 are installed. We tried installing VMWare Tools latest version (10.0.6), no change.

There are no resource pools, limits or reservations, also, there is no contention for memory on the host (around 40% memory used)

Kind regards, Vjeran

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vHaridas
Expert
Expert

are you able to fix this?

To simulate your issue, I deployed CentOS 7.1 with minmal packages and GUI. with 2 GB RAM. 2 vCPU.

After first successful boot, I configured RAM to 42 GB and VM powered on without any issue.

Did multiple reboot, power off, Power on and did not observed any issues.

Try install latest updates of CentOS in VM.

below is my config -

Kernel - Linux Centostest 3.10.0-229.el7.x86_64

OS - CentOS 7.1 x86_64

Open VM tools installed.

vCenter 5.5 and ESXi 5.5 Build 2143827

Thanks,

Haridas

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vbabic
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Hi,

Thanks for your response.

No, I did not find a solution.

My environment is similar, but not identical: vCenter is 6.0 Update 1, ESXi is 5.5 Build 3343343, and linux kernel is 3.10.0-327.13.1.el7.x86_64.

Originally, openvmtools were installed, I tried with VMWare Tools (latest version) but there was no change.

Just to confirm, did you do guest os reboots (two in a row), either using VMtools or from "inside" the guest os? Because "hard" reboots work every time for me.

Kind regards, Vjeran

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vHaridas
Expert
Expert

yes, I did multiple reboot from within Guest OS and from VMware Client.

I don't see this as a VMware issue, check your Guest/CentOS settings, update kernel...etc.

Thanks,

Haridas

Please consider awarding points for "Correct" or "Helpful" replies. Thanks....!!! https://vprhlabs.blogspot.in/
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vbabic
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Hi,

I am not sure if it is a VMWare or Linux issue.. I tried the same thing with a Windows VM and it works ok, but they also tried a Centos VM on KVM and it works ok..

And it's not like we have support for Centos to raise a case Smiley Wink

Thanks anyway

Vjeran

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EngAdmins
Contributor
Contributor

I am seeing the same issue but with any amount of memory larger than 64GB and have been able to reproduce it consistently on ESXi 5.5 up to build 4178633 with both CentOS 6 and CentOS 7. I am not having the issue in ESXi/vCenter 6.0.

Environment:

Dell PowerEdge R730

128GB Memory

ESXi 5.5 builds 3116895 & 4178633

CentOS 6 & CentOS 7

Symptoms:

Power on = OK

1st Reboot = OK

2nd Reboot = Hang

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wila
Immortal
Immortal

Hi,

As it hangs immediately after grub, I don't think it has much to do without VMware Tools.

The thing I would check are:

- CPU masks if you have applied any

- The virtual hardware version, use at least version 8.

--

Wil

| Author of Vimalin. The virtual machine Backup app for VMware Fusion, VMware Workstation and Player |
| More info at vimalin.com | Twitter @wilva
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