ESX3.5 NPIV: removing wwn from a VM generated an error

[dnice]

When I enabled NPIV on a VM it will append the wwn information to the VM's VMX file (as shown below).

wwn.node = "2812000c29000010"

wwn.port = "2812000c29000011,2812000c29000012,2812000c29000013,2812000c29000014"

wwn.type = "vc"

If I then remove the WWN assignment from off the VM (through VC) the VMX file will have just the prefixes in the VMX file (as shown below)

wwn.node = ""

wwn.port = ""

wwn.type = ""

So finally if these prefixes exist without values the VM will not start....when starting the VM the VM throws this error below.

ERROR

Failed to open disk scsi0:0: Bad wwnn format! Unable to create virtual SCSI device for scsi0:0, '/vmfs/volumes/id/vmname/vmname.vmdk'

Failed to configure scsi0.

By removing the wwn.* prefixes from out of the VMX file your VM will now start. Just wanted to give the heads up if anybody runs into this issue, and wanted to see if this was known?

[radman]

I get a similar error after installing Solaris Nevada build 70 (the latest) - "Unable to create virtual SCSI device for scsi0:0, <volume name>, Unable to configure scsi0.". But I unfortunately have no idea what "NPIV" or "wwn:" prefixes mean? I didn't do anything fancy here, just created the VM under ESX 3.0.2 and installed Solaris in it. Is it safe for me to remove these wwn prefixes??? Is that the right fix for me?

-Bob

[ilrcflyboy]

Thank you for posting this issue. Saved me a lot of troubleshooting time.