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vmrulz
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

SD-Cards and ESXi 7 - beware

Anybody else been bit by this bug? Luckily we only have one cluster on 7.x but it is still a pain. VMware support told me they are releasing a fix for it by mid August. 

https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/70788

https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/83376

https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2149257

Apparently due to replacing vfat with ntfs-l on boot media there is a lot more IO generated against /bootbank vmfs partitions which eventually renders an APD and the host disconnects from vcenter.

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vmrulz
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

NM I should have searched first.. obviously plenty of people have hit this bug.. get that patch released VMWARE!

https://communities.vmware.com/t5/ESXi-Discussions/SD-Boot-issue-Solution-in-7-x/m-p/2852850#M276630

 

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JM010101
Contributor
Contributor

YES !!!!!

5 Hosts upgraded to 7.x before i caught this. It has been a nightmare!!! Booting from usb/sd/etc was ESXi's strong point. If this isnt fixed, we'll be considering other alternatives.

I have 4 hacks now: Logs, Scratch, swap and the new one, RamDiskTools. I have also started moving to U3 high endurance sd in hopes the patch gets done!!!!!!!

ps...there is a World filled with Hosts booting sd and/or usb.

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drtv
Contributor
Contributor

Where is the update to fix this!?!?!?!?!??!?!?

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Srijithk
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

This issue will be fixed by the last week of August 2021 by 7.0 P03

Thanks,
Srijith Karamchander
Technical Support Engineer
Global Support Services, VMware Inc.
Office Hours: Monday - Friday 8 AM - 5 PM EST
Review your Support Requests Online: http://support.vmware.com/selfsupport/

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Srijithk
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

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JM010101
Contributor
Contributor

This will be very, very Welcome news if true !!

I will certainly check this out, and see about applying! Thank You!!

 

JM

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JM010101
Contributor
Contributor

pkvmw-

Can you (or anyone else here) provide the basic process to test this on one host that is:

1. air-gapped

2. Running the Dell customized 7.0.u2

I was able to find the depot .zip file for u2c, but since this is not the Dell spin, I am not sure if applying the update via ssh is the right thing to do.

Any help appreciated.

JM

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a_p_
Leadership
Leadership

Most hardware vendors support patching their customized images using e.g. the VMware offline bundle as long as you stay within the same "Update".
For you air-gapped host the esxcli software profile update command (as shown in the release notes) should be fine.

André

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