6.7 newly created VMs do not retain in inventory list

[lomenop]

Newly created VMs do not retain in the inventory list after shutdown or reboot. They show up fine until a host reboot. They're still in the datastore. Re-register brings them back until another reboot. VMs were brought in with converter, newly created from ISO, and created from existing disk. None are retained. Existing VMs in list return to list after unregistering them. Seems like some sort of write access issue. Any ideas?

[a_p_]

Welcome to the Community,

does your ESXi host boot from an USB/SD device? It seems that it cannot write the configuration to the bootbank anymore.

I assume it's not only VMs which disappear after a reboot, but also other changes, like newly created vSwitches, or port groups.

What you may try is to see whether /sbin/auto-backup.sh shows any errors, and check whether the boot device shows up in the /dev/disks directory.

If it's indeed and USB/SD device that you are booting from, it may be faster to replace it and reinstall ESXi (with preserving the datastore), than to troubleshoot the issue.

André

[IRIX201110141]

Check the event log of your ESX and look for "lost boot device".  I have a couple of Hosts whith older SD cards which seems to small for today 6.5 and up.

What i also have seen in the past is than Admin have use passtrough option to bind the USB(Controller) to a VM so ESXi lost the device short after finish booting.

Regards,
Joerg