VMware Cloud Community
IT_Architect
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

ESXi 5.1 - Shows running on console, launches terminal window, but no login prompt.

Shows running on console, launches terminal window, but no login prompt.  If I try to access the logs, it freezes.  vSphere client will not connect.  SSH does not work.  VMs also are not contactable.  I rebooted the server.  ESXi seemed to load up fine.  The only difference is for some reason I am in WinSCP but am not able to do the same with PuTTY. 

Reply
0 Kudos
8 Replies
SureshKumarMuth
Commander
Commander

What do you see on console while rebooting ? Is the OS loading or it is completely blank ? Try migrating the VM to another host and check if you are able to see anything.

Regards,
Suresh
https://vconnectit.wordpress.com/
Reply
0 Kudos
IT_Architect
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

>What do you see on console while rebooting ?<
Look absolutely perfect during boot.

>Try migrating the VM to another host<

This is vSphere stand-alone, so there is no ability to migrate.

Thanks!

Reply
0 Kudos
IT_Architect
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

For some reason, I can get in now WinSCP, puTTY, AND the vSphere client.  Things are far from right, but I am able to get all but one of the VMs running.

Reply
0 Kudos
SureshKumarMuth
Commander
Commander

Is the VM available in network ? Since the booting is fine, I suspect something wrong inside the guest OS. Was there any recent crash or power failure which caused the VM to go down abruptly ?

Can you boot with OS CD and check if the filesystem inside the VM are fine. While booting with OS CD and if you are able to drive via console then I dont think it is an issue at ESXi level.

Regards,
Suresh
https://vconnectit.wordpress.com/
Reply
0 Kudos
IT_Architect
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

"Was there any recent crash or power failure which caused the VM to go down abruptly ?"
No, however, replication of the VMs between servers was occurring at that time, as they have every night for years.


Update:

- All VMs are now running, but one VM, a Windows server that exports and NFS volume for the backups, took forever to boot, but is running fine now.  This has never happened before.

- At the console, I can now get to the logs, however, something is still something very wrong because I still cannot login with the <alt-F1> command prompt.  It opens the terminal window, but then seems to hang.  There is no user prompt, and keyboard input will not display on screen.

Reply
0 Kudos
IT_Architect
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

I found some large snapshots that don't show up in the client.  They are all consolidated, but maintenance mode <alt+F1> still does not work right.   The terminal window immediately pops up, but I get no login prompt nor can I type in the terminal window.  When I do <alt+F2>, it closes the terminal window as it should.  The other servers do not have that problem.

Reply
0 Kudos
SureshKumarMuth
Commander
Commander

Are you able to take putty session to the host ? If yes, can you type the command DCUI and try to login from there . This will help us to isolate if there is something related to browser.

Regards,
Suresh
https://vconnectit.wordpress.com/
Reply
0 Kudos
IT_Architect
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Are you able to take putty session to the host ?

Yes, I can log in puTTY with no issues.  Same with WinSCP. 

...can you type the command DCUI and try to login from there

dcui works, but the problem is getting the <alt> key to work to do <alt><f1> and launch the terminal session, as does happen from the browser.  The problem comes after the terminal session launches.  It does not request credentials, and any keystrokes do not display while typing.  <alt><f2> closes the session.

This will help us to isolate if there is something related to browser

This is at the console.  As mentioned, this is the only server with the problem, and this one was originally cloned from one that works fine.  With this one, the terminal window opens and displays at the top of the terminal window:

ESXi 5.1.0 http://www.vmware.com

Copyright (c) 2007-2012 VMware, Inc.

<flashing cursor>

Thanks!

Reply
0 Kudos