Management Network Stopped Working

[rcvassallo]

I was working with an ESXi 4.0 host today, configuring a new VM using the vCenter console. All was going well until I rebooted the VM and lost connectivity to the host in vCenter.</span>


I tried right clicking the host in vCenter to connect it again, but this resulted in an "unable to connect" error message. I tried to ping the host's management IP but that timed out, so I logged in at the console and used the “Test Management Network” tool. All tests failed, so my next step was to restart the management network. After that I ran the test tool again and it completed successfully, but I was still unable to ping the host or reconnect it to vCenter.</span>


After this I found that I could still access the hosted VMs via remote desktop, so I logged in to each one and shut them down prior to rebooting the host. I was unable to restart the host via the console interface because it stopped responding to input after I used the tools to test and restart the management network, so I physically powered the host off. </span>


The cold boot of the host resolved the issues with the management network which allowed me to ping it and then reconnect to the host in vCenter so I am in good shape again, but if anyone could shed some light more on what may have caused this, please let me know. Is there anything else I could have tried to get the management network to respond?</span></font>

[DSTAVERT]

Hardware is??? (Server/NIC/Switch etc) On the Hardware Compatibility list?? What you can see in the logs???

[rcvassallo]

The server is in the hardware compatibility list. HP ProLiant DL380 G6

IIRC, the host disconnect occured shortly after I rebooted a Windows Server 2008 guest from the vCenter console. That's when I first noticed the disconnected status icon anyway.

The only things I can find in the task&event log are the error from when I attempted to reconnect to this host.

-

---

Reconnect host

vmhost1.texasfirstbank.local

Cannot contact the specified host

(vmhost1.texasfirstbank.local). The

host may not be available on the

network, a network configuration

problem may exist, or the management

services on this host may not be

responding.

3/22/2010 2:47:34 PM

3/22/2010 2:47:34 PM

3/22/2010 2:48:38 PM