Error :Running VMware ESX in a virtual machine requires the outer virtual machine

[Goldtipu]

We are currently running Vmware ESX  5 on a Virtual machine in test environment in ESX 4.x  and unable to start Virtual machine on Vmware ESX 5  . with following error.

Error:-

Running VMware ESX in a virtual machine requires the outer virtual machine to be configured for running a VMware ESX guest operating system. You may not power on a virtual machine until the outer virtual machine is reconfigured.

We have found following KB

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=103028...

Howerver i am not able to find the option

1. Select the virtual machine that is running ESX.
2. Go to VM > Settings.
3. Click the Options tab.
4. Select the General settings.
5. Under Guest operating system, select VMware ESX.
6. Click OK.

We are not able to find this option in ESX 4 so we can run that VM .

Please help urgently ..

Kind Regards

[admin]

ESX as a guest hypervisor is not officially supported under ESX, so it does not appear as a guest OS selection.  However, you can edit the configuration file by hand to make this selection.

Just change the guestOS line to read:

guestOS = "vmkernel"

Note that you will only be able to run 32-bit nested VMs under ESX as a guest hypervisor under ESX 4.1.

Please see javascript:;.

[Goldtipu]

Thanks for the reply. I have made following changes in my Windows xp Guest in VMX file and still have the same error. .

.encoding = "UTF-8"

config.version = "8"

virtualHW.version = "8"

pciBridge0.present = "TRUE"

pciBridge4.present = "TRUE"

pciBridge4.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"

pciBridge4.functions = "8"

pciBridge5.present = "TRUE"

pciBridge5.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"

pciBridge5.functions = "8"

pciBridge6.present = "TRUE"

pciBridge6.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"

pciBridge6.functions = "8"

pciBridge7.present = "TRUE"

pciBridge7.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"

pciBridge7.functions = "8"

vmci0.present = "TRUE"

hpet0.present = "TRUE"

nvram = "Win.nvram"

virtualHW.productCompatibility = "hosted"

powerType.powerOff = "soft"

powerType.powerOn = "hard"

powerType.suspend = "hard"

powerType.reset = "soft"

displayName = "Win"

extendedConfigFile = "Win.vmxf"

floppy0.present = "TRUE"

numvcpus = "4"

scsi0.present = "TRUE"

scsi0.sharedBus = "none"

scsi0.virtualDev = "lsisas1068"

memsize = "516"

scsi0:0.present = "TRUE"

scsi0:0.fileName = "Win.vmdk"

scsi0:0.deviceType = "scsi-hardDisk"

ide1:0.present = "TRUE"

ide1:0.clientDevice = "TRUE"

ide1:0.deviceType = "cdrom-raw"

ide1:0.startConnected = "FALSE"

floppy0.startConnected = "FALSE"

floppy0.fileName = ""

floppy0.clientDevice = "TRUE"

ethernet0.present = "TRUE"

ethernet0.virtualDev = "e1000"

ethernet0.networkName = "VM Network"

ethernet0.addressType = "vpx"

ethernet0.generatedAddress = "00:50:56:b3:69:80"

disk.EnableUUID = "TRUE"

guestOS = "vmkernel"

uuid.bios = "42 33 5c 2f ff 51 df 1c-75 6c 24 4d ca 25 6a 94"

vc.uuid = "50 33 1b 8e 2b f3 3a 6d-2c dd 0c e4 39 f1 6e 34"

still have the same error .

Do i need to change this in ESXi 5 which is a guest of ESX 4 ?

Thanks

[admin]

Yes, you need to change the guest OS type of your ESX guest.  You should change your XP guest back.

[Goldtipu]

Ok sir i have done this on my with guest ESX 5 VM and created a new xp  VM on ESX 5 and still have same issue while trying to start xp vm .

here is vmx file for ESX 5 VM. do need to change anything further i realy apriciate your help . if this will not work i will then go ahead and install this ESX 5 on Physical server to get it working .

#!/usr/bin/vmware

.encoding = "UTF-8"

config.version = "8"

virtualHW.version =

"7"

pciBridge0.present = "true"

pciBridge4.present = "true"

pciBridge4.virtualDev

= "pcieRootPort"

pciBridge4.functions = "8"

pciBridge5.present = "true"

pciBridge5.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"

pciBridge5.functions = "8"

pciBridge6.present = "true"

pciBridge6.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"

pciBridge6.functions = "8"

pciBridge7.present = "true"

pciBridge7.virtualDev =

"pcieRootPort"

pciBridge7.functions = "8"

vmci0.present = "true"

nvram = "ESX

Vmware 5.nvram"

deploymentPlatform = "windows"

virtualHW.productCompatibility =

"hosted"

unity.customColor = "|23C0C0C0"

tools.upgrade.policy = "useGlobal"

powerType.powerOff = "default"

powerType.powerOn = "default"

powerType.suspend =

"default"

powerType.reset = "default"

displayName = "ESX Vmware 5"

extendedConfigFile = "ESX Vmware 5.vmxf"

numvcpus = "4"

scsi0.present = "true"

scsi0.sharedBus = "none"

scsi0.virtualDev = "lsilogic"

memsize = "2052"

scsi0:0.present = "true"

scsi0:0.fileName = "ESX Vmware 5.vmdk"

scsi0:0.deviceType = "scsi-hardDisk"

ide1:0.present = "true"

ide1:0.fileName =

"/vmfs/volumes/4c3a0c08-35260898-3736-b8ac6f815971/VMvisor5.iso"

ide1:0.deviceType = "cdrom-image"

ethernet0.present = "true"

ethernet0.virtualDev = "e1000"

ethernet0.networkName = "Virtual Machine

Network"

ethernet0.addressType = "vpx"

ethernet0.generatedAddress =

"00:50:56:b3:69:7c"

ethernet1.present = "true"

ethernet1.virtualDev = "e1000"

ethernet1.networkName = "Virtual Machine Network 2"

ethernet1.addressType =

"vpx"

ethernet1.generatedAddress = "00:50:56:b3:69:7d"

chipset.onlineStandby =

"false"

guestOS = "vmkernel"

uuid.bios = "42 33 75 84 83 51 d7 69-b6 93 e7 e1 bd

b9 53 42"

vc.uuid = "50 33 b2 46 b4 4f 54 43-aa 3f c3 ca c1 83 d0 52"

snapshot.action = "keep"

sched.cpu.min = "0"

sched.cpu.units = "mhz"

sched.cpu.shares = "normal"

sched.mem.minsize = "0"

sched.mem.shares = "normal"

cpuid.coresPerSocket = "1"

floppy0.present = "FALSE"

ide1:0.startConnected =

"FALSE"

tools.syncTime = "FALSE"

uuid.location = "56 4d b7 2c dd 18 11 75-f4 8e

2a ef 96 03 9b fc"

cleanShutdown = "TRUE"

replay.supported = "FALSE"

sched.swap.derivedName = "/vmfs/volumes/4c3a0c08-35260898-3736-

b8ac6f815971/ESX Vmware 5/ESX Vmware 5-224444a1.vswp"

debugStub.linuxOffsets =

"0x0,0xffffffff,0x0,0x0,0x0,0x0,0x0,0x0,0x0,0x0,0x0,0x0,0x0,0x0"

scsi0:0.redo =

""

vmotion.checkpointFBSize = "4194304"

pciBridge0.pciSlotNumber = "17"

pciBridge4.pciSlotNumber = "21"

pciBridge5.pciSlotNumber = "22"

pciBridge6.pciSlotNumber = "23"

pciBridge7.pciSlotNumber = "24"

scsi0.pciSlotNumber = "16"

ethernet0.pciSlotNumber = "32"

ethernet1.pciSlotNumber = "33"

vmci0.pciSlotNumber = "34"

vmci0.id = "-

1111927998"

tools.remindInstall = "TRUE"

hostCPUID.0 =

"0000000b756e65476c65746e49656e69"

hostCPUID.1 =

"000106e5001008000098e3fdbfebfbff"

hostCPUID.80000001 =

"00000000000000000000000128100800"

guestCPUID.0 =

"0000000b756e65476c65746e49656e69"

guestCPUID.1 =

"000106e500010800809822010febfbff"

guestCPUID.80000001 =

"00000000000000000000000128100800"

userCPUID.0 =

"0000000b756e65476c65746e49656e69"

userCPUID.1 =

"000106e500100800009822010febfbff"

userCPUID.80000001 =

"00000000000000000000000128100800"

evcCompatibilityMode = "FALSE"

[admin]

Did you remove the ESX 5 VM from your Virtual Center inventory before editing the configuration file?  See http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1714 for some important tips.

[Goldtipu]

I have completely removed the both hosts from my VCS . still have the same issue after reconiguring i have attached screen shots just incase to provide more information . Many thanks again for your help .

[admin]

Please post the vmware.log file for your ESX 5 VM.

[Goldtipu]

Please find the log as requested thanks

[admin]

The log file shows:

guestOS = rhel5-64

You need to shutdown the ESX 5 VM, remove it from the inventory of your VC server, and then edit the configuration file to change guestOS to vmkernel.

Then you can add the ESX 5 VM back to your inventory and power it on.

[Goldtipu]

Here is what i have done and still the same error

- Removed both Hosts from VCS

- Delted Vmware 5 (VM)

- Re Installed Vmware 5 (VM) with New IP

- Changed the Vmx file (file attached )

- Boot Vmware 5

- Created new VM on Vmware 5

- Boot and same error

I have not added any host in VCS .

Log / vmx file attached .

Many Kind Regards for your help

[admin · Accepted solution]

The log file looks good now.  However, it looks like ESX 4.0 is older than I remembered.  Please add the following line to your ESX VM configuration file and try again:

monitor_control.restrict_backdoor = TRUE

[Goldtipu]

Great KUDOS Lovely Honestly you are  brilliant technician 5 STAR . Thank you so much for your help everything working . I wish you good luck for your furture carrier and in your life . Thank you and great regards for such a great quick support.

[thiagoramos]

I'm having the same problem.
I have ESX 4.1 installed and am installing another ESX 4.1 virtualized.
When I try to connect a VM of the message "Running VMware ESX in a virtual machine requires the outer virtual machine to be configured for running a VMware ESX guest operating system. You cannot power on a virtual machine until the outer virtual machine is reconfigured."
I tried also to install ESX5.0 virtualized more gave the same error.
Have to try the procedure of putting guestOS = VMkernel and did not work.
It is possible to do with ESX 4.1?

[admin]

thiagoramos wrote:

Have to try the procedure of putting guestOS = VMkernel and did not work.
It is possible to do with ESX 4.1?

That should work.  Can you post the vnware.log file for the outer VM?