Red Hat VM boot error

[Mizzou_RobMan]

Host: ESX 3.5 update 1

VM: Red Hat EL

After our Linux Admins updated the vmtools we now receive the following two errors:

"Mounting local filesystems: Error: cannot mount filesystem: Protocol error" ...occurs when the system is trying to mount local filesystems after mounting / in read/write

AND

"Mounting other filesystems VMware hgfs: HGFS is disabled in the host Error: cannot mount filesystem: Protocol error"...occurs when netfs attempts to start

All of the filesystems mount, but after the error is issued.

The errors are not causing any problems, but if its 2am and the VM has to be rebooted, we are afraid someone might be alarmed at the error and forget about the error not being an issue. Can the following lines in /etc/fstab be remarked out and that will keep the errors from appearing?

#Beginning of the block added by VMware software

.host:/ /mnt/hgfs vmhgfs defaults,ttl=5 0 0

Thanks, Rob

[Texiwill]

Hello,

VMHGFS is not supported on ESX so you can easily ignore the error. To prevent the error remove the line from /etc/fstab.

Best regards,

Edward L. Haletky

VMware Communities User Moderator

====

Author of the book 'VMWare ESX Server in the Enterprise: Planning and Securing Virtualization Servers', Copyright 2008 Pearson Education.

CIO Virtualization Blog: http://www.cio.com/blog/index/topic/168354

As well as the Virtualization Wiki at http://www.astroarch.com/wiki/index.php/Virtualization

[mhanby]

Sorry for the 'captain obvious' question, but why does the ESX version of VMware tools add that option to the /etc/fstab if vmhgfs isn't supported on ESX 3.x? I've been using the rpm (VMwareTools-3.5.0-123629.i386.rpm) and not the tar.gz installer, so possibly this is only part of the rpm.

[mcowger]

Its because they now realease 1 version of the tools for everyproduct, rather than 1 version of tools for Server, another for workstation and a 3rd for ESX....

--Matt

[mhanby]

Thanks for the info, that makes life easier on the admin. Now I don't have to host multiple client installers to use during the kickstart process