11/20/2015

VMwareKB:Confirmingwhetheravirtualmachineisunresponsive

KnowledgeBase

Confirmingwhetheravirtualmachineisunresponsive(1007802)
Purpose
ThisarticleprovidesteststoassistindeterminingwhetheravirtualmachinerunningonVMwareESX/ESXiisnonresponsiveorotherwiseinaccessible.Thesetestsmustbedonewhiletheissueisoccurring.Thetests
mightnotassistwithanypastissues.
Theservicesavirtualmachineprovidesmaybecomeunresponsiveorunreachableduetoanumberofcauses,includingproblemswiththeapplicationsorGuestOSwithinthevirtualmachine,problemswiththevirtual
machinemonitororvirtualdevices,resourcecontentionontheESX/ESXihost,orissueswithunderlyingstorageornetworkinginfrastructure.
Forstepstoisolateandaddressthecauseofthevirtualmachinesinaccessibility,seeTroubleshootingavirtualmachinethathasstoppedresponding(1007819)(/selfservice/search.do?
cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&docTypeID=DT_KB_1_1&externalId=1007819).

Resolution
Ifanyofthesetestssucceed,thevirtualmachineisstillpartiallyfunctional.Thetestswhichsucceedorfailindicatewhichlayersarefunctionalorwhichmustbeinvetigatedmoreclosely.Thisnarrowsthescopeof
potentialcausesofanissue.
1. Determinewhetherthevirtualmachineispoweredon.Formoreinformation,seeDeterminingwhetheranESX/ESXivirtualmachineispoweredon(1003737)(/selfservice/search.do?
cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&docTypeID=DT_KB_1_1&externalId=1003737).Ifthevirtualmachineisnotpoweredon,seeDeterminingwhyavirtualmachinewaspoweredofforrestarted(1019064)(/selfservice/search.do?
cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&docTypeID=DT_KB_1_1&externalId=1019064).
2. Opentheconsoleforthevirtualmachine,anddeterminetheleveloffunctionality:
Iftheconsolecannotbeopenedorreportsanerror,thenthevirtualmachinemightbeexperiencinganissue,ornetworkconnectivitytothehostmightbeinterrupted.Thevirtualmachine's
responsivenessisindeterminate.
Iftheconsoleisblankorstatic,thenthevirtualmachine'sresponsivenessisindeterminate.
Ifthereisanymovementontheconsole,thenthevirtualmachineisrunningbuttheguestOSmaybeunresponsivetoinput.
IftheguestOSrespondstokeyboardormouseinteraction,thenthevirtualmachineandguestOSisfunctioningcorrectly,thoughmaynotbereachableviaotherchannels.
3. AttempttopingtheguestOS.PerformthistestfirstfromanothervirtualmachineonthesamevSwitchPortgroup,andthenfromaresourceexternaltotheESX/ESXihost.IftheguestOScanrespondto
networktraffic,itisrunning.Formoreinformation,seeTestingnetworkconnectivitywiththepingcommand(1003486)(/selfservice/search.do?cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&docTypeID=DT_KB_1_1&externalId=1003486).
4. AttempttoestablisharemoteconsoleconnectiontotheguestOSusinganappropriatemethod,suchasRemoteDesktopProtocol(RDP)orSecureShell(SSH).Performthistestfirstfromanothervirtual
machineonthesamevSwitchPortgroup,andthenfromaresourceexternaltotheESX/ESXihost.Usetheseguidelinestoanalyzetheresults:
IftheguestOScanrespondtoaremoteconnection,itisrunning.
Ifthereisanauthenticationfailure,andconnectionsfaildifferentlyforcredentialsthatareknowntobeinvalidcomparedtocredentialsthatareknowntobevalid,theremaybeaproblemwithinthe
guestOSorwithaccesstodiskornetworkbasedcredentialstores.
Ifremoteconnectivityfailsbutlocalauthenticationsucceeds,theremaybeaproblemwithnetworkconnectivitytothevirtualmachine,orwiththeauthenticationconfigurationwithintheguestOS.
Ifremoteconnectivitysucceeds,theunresponsivenessmaybeapplicationorservicespecificortiedtoperformance.
5. AttempttointeractremotelywithservicesthatapplicationsintheguestOSprovide.PerformthistestfirstfromanothervirtualmachineonthesamevSwitchPortgroup,andthenfromaresourceexternaltothe
ESX/ESXihost.Thespecificmethodwillbetiedtotheservicesrunningwithinthevirtualmachine.Forexample,useaclienttorequestaresponsetoanHTTP,DNSorDHCPserver.
6. Attempttoevokeachangeontherunningvirtualmachinecontainer,suchascreatingasnapshotorperformingavMotion.Formoreinformation,seetheVirtualMachineAdministrationGuideforyour
versionofvSphere(https://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/vs_pubs.html).Usetheseguidelinestoanalyzetheresults:
Iftasksperformeduponthevirtualmachinecompletesuccessfully,thevirtualmachinecontainerisfunctioningcorrectly.
Iftasksdonotcompletesuccessfullytheremaybeaproblemwitheitherthevirtualmachineorthemanagementlayer,butthisdoesnotprovethatthereisaVMMissue.
7. Ifthevirtualmachineisunresponsiveviaboththeconsoleandnetworkcommunication,determinewhethertheESX/ESXihostisunresponsivetoo.Ifthehostisunresponsiveaswell,thescopeislargerthan
initiallyassumed.Formoreinformation,seeDeterminingwhyanESX/ESXihostdoesnotrespondtouserinteractionattheconsole(1017135)(/selfservice/search.do?
cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&docTypeID=DT_KB_1_1&externalId=1017135).
8. Reviewtherealtimeperformancedataintheclientorusingesxtoporresxtop.Determinewhetherthevirtualmachineis:
Producinganyoutboundnetworktraffic.MakenoteoftheNetworkRate(Mbps)TransmittedandNetworkPacketsTransmittedmetrics.
SendinganySCSIcommandstodisk.MakenoteoftheDiskRate(KBps)andDiskRequestsmetrics.
UsinganyCPUtime.MakenoteoftheCPU%UsageandCPU%Readymetrics.
Usinganactiveworkingsetofmemory.MakenoteoftheActive(MB)orActiveGuestMemorymetrics.

AdditionalInformation
Forstepstoisolateandaddressthecauseofthevirtualmachinesinaccessibility,seeTroubleshootingavirtualmachinethathasstoppedresponding(1007819)(http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1007819).

Tags
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11/20/2015

VMwareKB:Confirmingwhetheravirtualmachineisunresponsive

confirmvirtualmachineresponsiveness

SeeAlso
Testingnetworkconnectivitywiththepingcommand(1003486)(http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003486)
DeterminethepowerstatusofavirtualmachineonanESXorESXihost(1003737)(http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003737)
Troubleshootingavirtualmachinethathasstoppedresponding(1007819)(http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1007819)
DeterminingwhyanESX/ESXihostdoesnotrespondtouserinteractionattheconsole(1017135)(http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1017135)
Determiningwhyavirtualmachinewaspoweredofforrestarted(1019064)(http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1019064)
(2099533)(http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2099533)
(2100618)(http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2100618)

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TorequestanewproductfeatureortoprovidefeedbackonaVMwareproduct,pleasevisittheRequestaProductFeature(http://www.vmware.com/contact/contactus.html?department=prod_request)page.
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KB:1007802
Updated:Jul31,2014
Categories:
Howto
Languages:
English
Product(s):
VMwareESX
VMwareESXi
VMwareVirtualCenter
VMwarevCenterServer
ProductVersion(s):
VMwareESX3.0.x
VMwareESX3.5.x
VMwareESX4.0.x
VMwareESX4.1.x
VMwareESXi3.5.xEmbedded
VMwareESXi3.5.xInstallable
VMwareESXi4.0.xEmbedded
VMwareESXi4.0.xInstallable
VMwareESXi4.1.xEmbedded
VMwareESXi4.1.xInstallable
VMwareVirtualCenter2.0.x
VMwareVirtualCenter2.5.x
VMwarevCenterServer4.0.x
VMwarevCenterServer4.1.x

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