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mmadsenl3h
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VM Autostart broken for clusters?

If a VM configured to autostart is migrated to a host where autostart is not enabled, that VM will no longer autostart!

Is it really not possible to enable autostart for a cluster? Why would migrating an autostarting VM to another host not automatically enable autostart on that host?

When looking at VM startup/shutdown table from vCenter, there seems to be no indication that autostart is disabled for the host. The VM will still appear to be configured for autostart, it isn't until you click the "edit" button that you can actually see that autostart is not enabled for that host.

Am I missing something, doing it wrong?

Is there a bug in here somewhere, or is this just by design?

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depping
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this feature has never been supported in a vSphere cluster unfortunately. It should be greyed out in a cluster, it has been problematic for years. Let me raise it again with product management and engineering!

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depping
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this feature has never been supported in a vSphere cluster unfortunately. It should be greyed out in a cluster, it has been problematic for years. Let me raise it again with product management and engineering!

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depping
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Just checked the UI for vSphere 7, and the H5 interface does state that it is not supported

Screenshot 2020-03-26 at 08.47.01.png

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StephenMoll
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It would seem that autostart is not supported in clustered hosts by design.

It is a feature we wanted on our systems, which we have covered off by some scripting on some hosts, placed in the local.sh.

We did this because our systems are routinely powered down, and need to be operated by lightly trained personnel.The main system management functions need to power on and become available automatically on power up. We also wanted the VMs that form part of the management functions to be protected by HA, which implied that the hosts be clustered.

It is probably not something needed in a 'traditional' datacentre, at least not often enough to warrant the feature being developed. I would have though looking at HA that it could be augmented to provide something close. I.e. HA having a trigger added so that VMs can be restarted after a host is power up too.

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depping
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Yes, that is a feature request I still have open with the Product team.

StephenMoll
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That is great news!

What is the best channel for feature requests by the way?

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