ESX 3.0.2: vmxnet unloaded before unmonting of network filesystems

[Sitron]

Hi,

We run VMware Infrastructure / ESX 3.0.2 on a server, where we have installed (among others) a Debian Etch Linux as a guest-os. The installation of wmware-tools on this guest-os was no problem and everything works, except for one small problem:

When we halt or reboot the box, the vmware-tools init.d script kicks in and removes the vmxnet module. And this is a problem, for later on the Linux-systems try to unmount some network-filesystems, like cifs and samba. But since vmxnet is gone, the network is down and the unmount never happens, and we have an unclean reboot/halt.

I did run a "sh -x /etc/init.d/vmware-tools stop" and logged the output. It's huge, so I just skip to the last lines:

+ return 0
+ exitcode=0
++ is_vmxnet_needed
++ cat /proc/bus/pci/devices
++ grep -qi '^[0-9a-f]* 15ad0720        '
++ '[' 1 -eq 0 -a yes = yes ']'
+++ vmware_hwVersion
+++ /usr/sbin/vmware-checkvm -h
+++ grep hw
+++ cut -d ' ' -f 5
++ local hwver=4
++ cat /proc/bus/pci/devices
++ grep -qi '^[0-9a-f]* 10222000        '
++ '[' 0 -eq 0 -a yes = yes -a 4 -ge 4 ']'
++ echo yes
+ '[' yes = yes ']'
+ '[http://' -x /etc/init.d/network '|http://' -x /etc/init.d/network ']'
+ '[http://' -x /etc/init.d/networking '|http://' -x /etc/init.d/networking ']'
+ /etc/init.d/networking stop
ESC[33m*ESC[39;49m not deconfiguring network interfaces: network shares still mounted.
+ vmware_exec 'Guest vmxnet fast network device:' vmware_stop_vmxnet
+ local 'msg=Guest vmxnet fast network device:'
+ local func=vmware_stop_vmxnet
+ shift 2
+ echo -n '   Guest vmxnet fast network device:'
   Guest vmxnet fast network device:+ '[' '' = yes ']'
+ '[' 0 -gt 0 ']'
+ vmware_success
++ type -t echo_success
+ '[' '' = function ']'
+ echo -ne 'ESC[71G done'
ESC[71G done+ echo

Have anyone else this problem, or a solution/suggestion?

[Texiwill]

Hello,

CHange the order in which vmware-tools does its work to after the network shuts down. This way there is no collision. The # used to give kill order put the vmware-tools rather early in the shutdown process, it should be later.

Best regards,

Edward L. Haletky, author of the forthcoming 'VMWare ESX Server in the Enterprise: Planning and Securing Virtualization Servers', publishing January 2008, (c) 2008 Pearson Education. Available on Rough Cuts at http://safari.informit.com/9780132302074

[Sitron]

That is one possibility, I know. But the problem is that "vmware-tools"-command stop should not remove the vmxnet-module, since it has just figured out it is needed. Even so, it removed the module.

I guess I have to file a bug-report.

However, I have moded the K08vmware-tools to S35vmware-tools in rc0 and rc6. It did work, in the sense that they do not run at all. But, thats better than before

[Texiwill]

Hello,

I agree with you, that this is a bug. I will make a note of this on my VMware Tools wiki as well.... http://www.astroarch.com/wiki/index.php/VMware_Tools.

Another option is to use NFS 'soft' mounts instead of the default 'hard' mounts. The system should not hang if the network goes away.

Best regards,

Edward L. Haletky, author of the forthcoming 'VMWare ESX Server in the Enterprise: Planning and Securing Virtualization Servers', publishing January 2008, (c) 2008 Pearson Education. Available on Rough Cuts at http://safari.informit.com/9780132302074