VMware Infrastructure 3 Documentation

VMware ESX Server 3.0.2 Release Notes

What's in the Release Notes

The release notes cover the following topics:

• What's New in the ESX Server 3.0.2 release
• Before You Begin
  • ESX Server, VirtualCenter, and GSX Server Compatibility
  • ESX Server and Management Agent Compatibility
  • Additional Information
• Installation Notes
• Upgrading or Migrating to VMware Infrastructure 3
• VMware DRS and HA Recommendations
• Known Issues
  • Known Issues for ESX Server 3.0.2
  • Known Issues for ESX Server 3.0.1 and VirtualCenter 2.0.1
  • Known Issues for ESX Server 3.0 and VirtualCenter 2.0
• Resolved Issues
  • Issues Resolved in ESX Server 3.0.2
  • Issues Resolved in ESX Server 3.0.1

What's New in the ESX Server 3.0.2 Release

This release of VMware ESX Server offers the following improvements:

• NEW: Support for selected servers based on the Intel Quad-Core Xeon 7300 series processors with Intel 7300 chipset. Refer to the Systems Compatibility Guide for ESX Server 3.x for information on which servers are supported.
• Wyse Multimedia Support can now be installed into compatible guest operating systems using the VMware Tools Installer. Installing Multimedia Support enables supported devices to receive encoded video streams via RDP/ICA. Only Microsoft Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 guest operating systems are supported when using Wyse Multimedia Support and ESX Server 3.0.2. Refer to the KB 1001699 for information on installing Wyse Multimedia Support in a supported guest operating system.
• Support for additional backup software from third-party vendors including:
  • CA BrightStor ArcServe 11.5 SP1
  • CommVault Galaxy version 6.1 SP4
  • IBM TSM Storage Agent version 5.3.3
  • Legato NetWorker 7.3.2 Jumbo Update 1
  • Symantec Backup Exec version 11d
  • Veritas NetBackup version 6.0
• Support for several new guest operating systems including Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 5 (without paravirtualization), Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 4.5, Novell Netware 6.5 SP6 and Sun Solaris 10 Update 3. Refer to the Guest Operating System Installation Guide for more information on guest operating system support.
• Support for new versions of management agents including:
  • Dell OpenManage 5.2
  • HP Insight Manager Agents 7.8
• Driver updates for the bnx2, cciss, e1000, and mptscsi drivers. Support for the forcedeth driver for the nVidia NForce Network Controller. Refer to the I/O Compatibility Guide for ESX Server 3.x and the Storage Compatibility Guide for ESX Server 3.x for more information.
• A number of bugs have been fixed, as described in the section Issues Resolved in ESX Server 3.0.2.
• The new vmkerrcode utility allows you to display a table of all VMkernel errors, a brief description, and the corresponding error codes in both decimal and hexadecimal format. Refer to KB 1000084 for more information.
• When used with ESX Server 3.0.2, VMware Consolidated Backup 1.0.3 supports iSCSI storage in addition to Fibre Channel storage. Virtual machines residing on any iSCSI arrays listed in the Storage/SAN Compatibility Guide for ESX Server 3.x may now be backed up through the VMware Consolidated Backup framework. For more information, Refer to the VMware Consolidated Backup 1.0.3 release notes.
• Support for new server hardware, including the Dell Poweredge 2970 (with BIOS version 1.0.0).
• Support for the HP P800 SA controller.

Before You Begin

ESX Server, VirtualCenter, and GSX Server Compatibility

This release version requires or functions with the listed version of the following products:

ESX Server and Management Agent Compatibility

Please check VMware ESX Server Supported Hardware Lifecycle Management Agents for management agent compatibility.

Additional Information

For additional information, use the following sources:

• SDK documentation package has been updated. For more information, see the VMware Infrastructure SDK page.
• If VirtualCenter 2.0.2 is installed on Virtual or physical machines running MS Windows 2000 SP4 OS, Rollup 1 must be updated for successful operation of VirtualCenter. Download this Rollup from http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/server/evaluation/news/bulletins/rollup.mspx. Refer to http://support.microsoft.com/kb/816542/ and VMware KB 1819701 for further details.
• For information about third-party software and the VMware Service Console firewall, see KB 2143.

Installation Notes

Upgrading or Migrating to ESX Server 3.0.2

This release supports upgrading from ESX Server 2.x and VirtualCenter 1.x to VMware Infrastructure 3, which includes ESX Server 3.x and VirtualCenter 2.x. VMware highly recommends that you review the detailed upgrade instructions and guidelines that are provided in the Installation and Upgrade Guide.

Note: Migration upgrade with VMotion supports upgrades only from specific versions of ESX Server 2.x software. Refer to KB 8479101 for more information.

Upgrade an ESX Server host with software version 2.x to ESX Server software version 3.0.2 using a tarball, as follows

1. Download the tarball named esx-upgrade-from-esx2-3.0.2-52542.tar.gz from http://www.vmware.com/download/vi/.
2. Verify the md5sum by executing the following command:

   # md5sum esx-upgrade-from-esx2-3.0.2-52542.tar.gz

3. The md5 checksum output should match the following:

   # e39d36ddf51e2d594880df0e80a78e98 esx-upgrade-from-esx2-3.0.2-52542.tar.gz

4. Follow the instructions in the section “Upgrading from a Tarball” of the Installation and Upgrade Guide.

Upgrade an ESX Server host with software version 3.0 or 3.0.1 to ESX Server software version 3.0.2 using esxupdate, as follows:

1. For upgrade using esxupdate, download the tarball named esx-upgrade-from-esx3-3.0.2-52542.tar.gz from http://www.vmware.com/download/vi/.
2. Verify the md5sum by executing the following command:

   # md5sum esx-upgrade-from-esx3-3.0.2-52542.tar.gz

3. The md5 checksum output should match the following:

   # e6fb2891637c71886b257d4bc7b6de01 esx-upgrade-from-esx3-3.0.2-52542.tar.gz

4. Follow the instructions in the section “Upgrading Using esxupdate” of the Installation and Upgrade Guide.

Upgrade any ESX Server host using the ESX 3.0.2 ISO as follows:

1. Download the ISO image named esx-3.0.2-52542.iso from http://www.vmware.com/download/vi/.
2. Verify the md5sum by executing the following command:

   # md5sum esx-3.0.2-52542.iso

3. The md5 checksum output should match the following:

   # 2c113ba446636419b7a39c38207b0c65 esx-3.0.2-52542.iso

4. Follow the instructions in the section “Graphical installer from CD,” or the section, “Text-mode Installer from CD” of the Installation and Upgrade Guide.

VMware DRS and HA Recommendations

VMware Infrastructure DRS and HA clusters can include no more than 16 ESX Server hosts.

Known Issues for ESX Server 3.0.2

The Known Issues are grouped as follows:

• Installation Issues
• Upgrade Issues
• Backup Issues
• Guest Operating System Issues
• Management Agent Issues
• Miscellaneous Issues
• Networking Issues
• Server Configuration Issues
• VirtualCenter, VI Client, and Web Access Issues
• Virtual Machine Management Issues

Installation

• NEW: Error Messages In /var/log/vmware/esxcfg-firewall.log During Installation of ESX Server (KB 1001154)
• NEW: During an ESX Server Upgrade, Old Versions of Upgraded Modules Are Not All Removed (KB 10234)
• esxupdate -l query shows missing packages and wrong or duplicate package versions (KB 1000760)
• During an ESX Server 3.0.x Scripted Installation on SCSI Controllers with cciss Driver, VMFS3 Volumes Might Not Be Correctly Created (KB 8577703)
• Some USB Devices Fail During ESX Server Installation (KB 3655619)
• ESX Server Installation Fails When a Root Partition of 100GB or Larger Is Specified (KB 3950560)
• ESX Server Installer Is Unable to Format VMFS File Systems if the Storage Controller Returns an Unrecoverable Error for a LUN (KB 1476874)
• Scripted Installation Prompts for Keyboard and Language Selections (KB 7997330)

• Upgrade of Legacy GSX Server or Workstation Templates Triggers an Error Message (KB 9889961)
• Using Virtual Center 2.0.1 UI Option to Upgrade Legacy Virtual Machine Hardware on ESX Server 2.x System Does Not Work (KB 132194)
• Migration Upgrade of a Virtual Machine May Create a Duplicate RDM (KB 8188562)
• Preupgrade.pl Script Triggers a Warning when Run on ESX Server 3.0 (KB 538417)
• RPM Version Numbers from CD and Tarball Upgrades Don't Match (KB 747254)
• Boot Information Is Lost If MBR Location Is Changed During Upgrade (KB 5089096)
• Changing MBR in a Scripted Upgrade Produces Error Message (KB 7926780)
• When Upgrading VMware Tools with the rpm -Uhv Command for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3.0 AS Guest Operating Systems, You Might See an Error Message (KB 1032429)
• Upgrade of a GSX Template Fails With Invalid Datastore Format Message (KB 1797556)
• Upgrade Migration with VMotion Can Fail if CPU Utilization or I/O Load on a Virtual Machine or Host System Are Too Heavy (KB 7136768)

• NEW: Client Backups Fail with Firewall Enabled (KB 1001564)
• NEW: Restore Fails When Using vcbResAll With –b prompt Option (KB 1001579)
• NEW: Taking a Snapshot of a Virtual Machine with Independent, Non-Peristent Disks Fails (KB 1001556)
• NEW: Restore Fails When Backup Client Agents Are Configured With Hostnames(KB 1001300)
• NEW: "System cannot find the path specified" Error Reported When Restoring File-level Backups (KB 1000313)
• Service Console Firewall Configurations Need to Be Changed after Installing Backup Agents (KB 3319174)

• Updated: RHEL5, RHEL4 U4, RHEL4 U3, SLES10, and SLES9 SP3 File Systems may Become Read-Only (KB 51306)
• NEW: Unable to Launch VMware Tools Help in Solaris 10 (KB 1001565)
• NEW: Using a Screen Resolution of 1024 x 768 in a Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Virtual Machine (KB 1001511)
• NEW: Number of Network Cards Supported During Default Installation of Solaris 10U3 64-Bit Virtual Machine (KB 1001203)
• Getting a DHCP Address in a or Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Red Hat Linux 9.0 or Advanced Server Virtual Machine (KB 977)
• Mouse Does Not Function Properly in Linux Guests That Use Xorg 7.1 or Higher (KB 5739104)
• Solaris 10 Guests with SMP May Hang When Powering On (KB 4484334)
• Solaris 10 Guest Performance Improved with Sun Patch (KB 9876622)
• When Installing Solaris U2, Disk Errors Occur (KB 3174163)
• Reset and Restart Options Do Not Work with Netware5 and Netware6.5 Guest Operating Systems (KB 2050857)
• Guest Kernel Reports a Fault when Running Solaris 10 GA or Solaris 10 U1 in a SMP Virtual Machine (KB 3605018)
• 32-bit Virtual SMP Solaris Guest Operating Systems Become Unresponsive if You Execute Certain CPU Commands (KB 5365186)
• In Guests that Are Not ACPI Aware, Shutting Down the Guest Does Not Disable the Install Tools Option (KB 5498908)
• Memory Allocated to Red Hat Linux on an AMD Kernel Is Not Available (KB 630279)

Management Agent Issues

• NEW: VMware VMFS Volumes are Displayed Twice in HP Insight Manager Web Interface of the ESX Server (KB 1001106)

• NEW: Video Playback Performance Degradation After Migration with VMotion (KB 1001530)
• NEW: No Audio During Video Playback After Guest Operating System Resumes From a Suspend State (KB 1001528)
• NEW: Video Output Is Lost When Transitioning from WYSE RDP to Windows RDP on Another System (KB 1001529)
• NEW: Corruption in Video Playback When Using Wyse Multimedia Support (KB 1001526)
• NEW: After Upgrading An ESX Server Host, Installing Wyse Multimedia Support Fails From Command Line (KB 1001607)
• NEW: VMware Tools Upgrade on a Virtual Machine with WYSE Multimedia Support Installed Fails (KB 1001531)
• NEW: Choosing a Complete Install in the VMware Tools Installer Does Not Install WYSE DLLs (KB 1001606)
• NEW: Emulex Driver Connecting to EMC-Symmetrix Can Lose Access to All Storage Targets(KB 10176)
• NEW: The vdf -h Command Displays Attributes of First Volume Only (KB 1000272)
• Cannot Connect to Remote Client (CD-ROM or Floppy) Using Devices Tab of VMware Tools UI (KB 1000086)
• Using 4G Brocade Switch Version 5.0.4 Results in Failover Failure on ESX Server (KB 3641217)
• MSCS Requires 2 GB Fibre Channel Drivers (KB 1560391)
• On Systems Set to a Non-English Locale, VirtualCenter Does Not Install Correctly if the Installation Path Contains Non-English Characters (KB 2302421)

Networking Issues

• NEW:VMX Configuration Values for Ethernet Are not Retrievable Using Current VIM API (KB 1001575)
• Update for the e1000 Driver (KB 2221)
• VMware HA May Incorrectly Handle Temporary Host Network Isolation (KB 2956923)

Server Configuration Issues

• NEW: On NUMA Systems With More Than 64GB RAM, ESX Server Host Might Fail to Boot (KB 1000087)
• NEW: Delay Separating Prompts Between Failed Logon Attempts Cannot Be Modified (KB 1000058)
• Changes in Software iSCSI Configurations Require Host Reboot (KB 7372490)
• Read-Only NFS Datastore Doesn't Allow Browsing for ISO Images when You Try to Connect a Virtual CD-ROM Device to an ISO File on the Datastore (KB 2827628)
• Deleting Discovery Addresses Causes Problems when ESX Server Boots from iSCSI (KB 3217572)
• Data Corruption Might Occur if iSCSI Targets Do Not Implement SCSI Reservations (KB 1405590)
• ESX Server Checks Out Multiple Licenses When Name Resolution Is Misconfigured (KB 9950090)

VirtualCenter, VI Client, and Web Access Issues

• NEW: Repeated Extent Operation of the Same LUN to Existing VMFS Volume Might Cause Data Corruption (KB 1000319)
• NEW: Invalid Format Message When Creating or Changing a User Account Password Using the VI Client (KB 1000259)
• NEW: Changes in the Configuration of an iSCSI Card Are Not Reflected in the Properties Dialog Box (KB 1000312)
• NEW: VirtualCenter UI Does Not Refresh Properly After Deletion of CD-ROM from Virtual Machine (KB 1000311)
• NEW: Named Pipes are Not Deleted If Relative Filenames Are Used (KB 1000309)
• NEW: Default Firewall Filter Does Not Allow for DNS Traffic Over TCP (KB 1000270)
• ESX 3.0 Hosts May Become Unresponsive While Multiple Clone, Migrate, or Power Operations Are Executed (KB 7298369)
• VI Client Menus May Not Display Expected Choices (KB 1900576)
• The "Connect Exclusively to this Virtual Machine" Option Does Not Appear on the VI Web Access CD/DVD Configuration Screen (KB 8582994)
• You Cannot Navigate to a Virtual Machine Using Web Access while the Virtual Machine Is Being Deployed or Cloned (KB 7194279)
• When You Use Web Access with Internet Explorer, a Warning Doesn't Display when You Perform Power On Operations Resulting in Error (KB 525306)
• When Performing Certain Operations in the Web Access GUI's CD/DVD Configuration Page, You May See the "System Restart" Dialog Box (KB 8464334)

Virtual Machine Management Issues

• NEW: "Unable to save snapshot file" Error Occurs When Taking a Snapshot (KB 1000310)
• NEW: Disruption of VMware Tools Service Can Cause Error Messages to Appear During Virtual Machine Reboot (KB 1000061)
• Reverting to Snapshots of Virtual Machines with Hot-Added RDM Virtual Disks in Physical or Virtual Mode Causes Virtual Machines to Hang (KB 9729125)
• If a Virtual Machine Has Two Disks with Identical File Names, Stored in Different Locations, You Cannot Delete a Snapshot of This Virtual Machine (KB 5096672)
• VMotion Fails Between Rev E and Rev F AMD CPUs (KB 3700586)

Known Issues for ESX Server 3.0.1 and VirtualCenter 2.0.1

The Known Issues are grouped as follows:

• Installation Issues
• Upgrade Issues
• Backup Issues
• Server Configuration Issues
• VirtualCenter, VI Client, and Web Access Issues
• Virtual Machine Management Issues
• Guest Operating System Issues
• Miscellaneous Issues

Installation

• During an ESX Server 3.0.1 Scripted Installation on SCSI Controllers with cciss Driver, VMFS3 Volumes Might Not Be Correctly Created (KB 8577703)
• Some USB Devices Fail During ESX Server Installation (KB 3655619)
• ESX Server Installation Fails When a Root Partition of 100GB or Larger Is Specified (KB 3950560)
• ESX Server Installer Is Unable to Format VMFS File Systems if the Storage Controller Returns an Unrecoverable Error for a LUN (KB 1476874)
• Scripted Installation Prompts for Keyboard and Language Selections (KB 7997330)
• License Server Writes Log Data to User Directory (KB 8019937)

• Upgrade of Legacy GSX Server or Workstation Templates Triggers an Error Message (KB 9889961)
• Migration Upgrade with VMotion Supports Upgrades Only from Specific Versions of ESX Server 2.x (KB 8479101)
• Using Virtual Center 2.0.1 UI Option to Upgrade Legacy Virtual Machine Hardware on ESX Server 2.x System Does Not Work (KB 132194)
• Migration Upgrade of a Virtual Machine May Create a Duplicate RDM (KB 8188562)
• Upgrading Templates Across Incompatible ESX Server Host and VMFS Versions Fails (KB 218402)
• Stacked Graph Chart Doesn't Display Virtual Machine Performance Data After Upgrading to VirtualCenter 2.0.1 (KB 6247518)
• Preupgrade.pl Script Triggers a Warning when Run on ESX Server 3.0 (KB 538417)
• When Upgrading Oracle Database, Error Message Might Indicate That Database Upgrade Has Failed (KB 2040533)
• Bulk-Logged Option for SQL Server Database Needs to Be Enabled Before Upgrading (KB 2603739)
• Queued Legacy Template Upgrades Block Subsequent Tasks from Running (KB 9297677)
• RPM Version Numbers from CD and Tarball Upgrades Don't Match (KB 747254)
• Auto-Upgrading Tools in NetWare Virtual Machines Produces Errors (KB 3431060)
• Some Performance Data Is Not Displayed After VirtualCenter Upgrade (KB 5211358)
• Boot Information Is Lost If MBR Location Is Changed During Upgrade (KB 5089096)
• Changing MBR in a Scripted Upgrade Produces Error Message (KB 7926780)
• Database Upgrade Fails Due to Insufficient Disk Space (KB 7434572)
• After Upgrading from ESX Server 2.5.x to ESX Server 3.0.1, CPU Hyperthreading Might Appear to Become Disabled (KB 8451742)
• When Upgrading VMware Tools with the rpm -Uhv Command for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3.0 AS Guest Operating Systems, You Might See an Error Message (KB 1032429)
• When Upgrading from VirtualCenter 1.x to 2.0.1, Database Upgrades Can Fail if the 1.x System Has Both an MSDE Database and a Production Database (KB 3438229)
• Upgrade of a GSX Template Fails With Invalid Datastore Format Message (KB 1797556)
• RDM Virtual Machines Display as VMFS Virtual Machines After Being Migrated from ESX Server 2.x Hosts to ESX Server 3.0.1 Hosts Using Upgrade VMotion (KB 3461997)
• Upgrade Migration with VMotion Can Fail if CPU Utilization or I/O Load on a Virtual Machine or Host System Are Too Heavy (KB 7136768)

• Error in Configuration File Causes Communication Failure Between Veritas NetBackup and Service Console (KB 9480977)
• Drive Letter Mount Points on the VCB Proxy Don't Match Drive Letters as Seen from NT4 Virtual Machines (KB 1389121)
• Service Console Firewall Configurations Need to Be Changed after Installing Backup Agents (KB 3319174)

• Changes in Software iSCSI Configurations Require Host Reboot (KB 7372490)
• Misleading Time-Out Errors Occur When Rescanning iSCSI Storage Adapters (KB 47205)
• Read-Only NFS Datastore Doesn't Allow Browsing for ISO Images when You Try to Connect a Virtual CD-ROM Device to an ISO File on the Datastore (KB 2827628)
• Deleting Discovery Addresses Causes Problems when ESX Server Boots from iSCSI (KB 3217572)
• Changes to Security Profile Virtual Machine Delegate Do Not Display Until After Reboot (KB 282669)
• Data Corruption Might Occur if iSCSI Targets Do Not Implement SCSI Reservations (KB 1405590)
• ESX Server Checks Out Multiple Licenses When Name Resolution Is Misconfigured (KB 9950090)

• ESX 3.0 Hosts May Become Unresponsive While Multiple Clone, Migrate, or Power Operations Are Executed (KB 7298369)
• Cannot Add VirtualCenter Permissions for Users or Groups with Long Names (KB 2589144)
• Right Clicking or Removing a Disconnected Host Generates Error Messages (KB 6588824)
• Web Access Doesn't Support Browsing the vmimages Folder (KB 294251)
• VI Client Menus May Not Display Expected Choices (KB 1900576)
• The "Connect Exclusively to this Virtual Machine" Option Does Not Appear on the VI Web Access CD/DVD Configuration Screen (KB 8582994)
• You Cannot Navigate to a Virtual Machine Using Web Access while the Virtual Machine Is Being Deployed or Cloned (KB 7194279)
• When You Use Web Access with Internet Explorer, a Warning Doesn't Display when You Perform Power On Operations Resulting in Error (KB 525306)
• When Performing Certain Operations in the Web Access GUI's CD/DVD Configuration Page, You May See the "System Restart" Dialog Box (KB 8464334)

• Taking More than One Snapshot of a Suspended Virtual Machine Produces a Fault (KB 1424776)
• Virtual Machines Deployed from Templates might Lose BIOS Settings (KB 8808589)
• Reverting to Snapshots of Virtual Machines with Hot-Added RDM Virtual Disks in Physical or Virtual Mode Causes Virtual Machines to Hang (KB 9729125)
• If a Virtual Machine Has Two Disks with Identical File Names, Stored in Different Locations, You Cannot Delete a Snapshot of This Virtual Machine (KB 5096672)
• VMotion Fails Between Rev E and Rev F AMD CPUs (KB 3700586)

• SLES 10 Linux Guest Operating Systems May Cause Poor Networking Performance in Virtual Machines (KB 461197)
• Solaris 10 Guests with SMP May Hang When Powering On (KB 4484334)
• Reset and Restart Options Do Not Work with Netware5 and Netware6.5 Guest Operating Systems (KB 2050857)
• Guest Kernel Reports a Fault when Running Solaris 10 GA or Solaris 10 U1 in a SMP Virtual Machine (KB 3605018)
• Solaris 10 Guest Performance Improved with Sun Patch (KB 9876622)
• 32-bit Virtual SMP Solaris Guest Operating Systems Become Unresponsive if You Execute Certain CPU Commands (KB 5365186)
• In Guests that Are Not ACPI Aware, Shutting Down the Guest Does Not Disable the Install Tools Option (KB 5498908)
• Memory Allocated to Red Hat Linux on an AMD Kernel Is Not Available (KB 630279)
• When Installing Solaris U2, Disk Errors Occur (KB 3174163)

• Using 4G Brocade Switch Version 5.0.4 Results in Failover Failure on ESX Server (KB 3641217)
• MSCS Requires 2 GB Fibre Channel Drivers (KB 1560391)
• VMware HA May Incorrectly Handle Temporary Host Network Isolation (KB 2956923)
• On Systems Set to a Non-English Locale, VirtualCenter Does Not Install Correctly if the Installation Path Contains Non-English Characters (KB 2302421)

Known Issues for ESX Server 3.0 and VirtualCenter 2.0

Security Alerts for This Release

Refer to KB 1107 for VMware product security alerts.

• Installation Issues
• Upgrade Issues
• Backup Issues
• Server Configuration Issues
• VirtualCenter, VI Client, and Web Access Issues
• Virtual Machine Management Issues
• Guest Operating System Issues
• Miscellaneous Issues

Installation

• Graphical Installer Might Fail to Load on IBM x445 Server with RSAII Adapter (KB 2148)
• Display Goes Blank When Installing Using Remote Interface on Intel Blade Servers (KB 2149)
• Cannot Log Onto VirtualCenter Server Using VI Client After VirtualCenter Server Upgrade or Installation (KB 2150)
• Installing ESX Server 3.0 on IBM e326 or Dell-1850 Causes Keyboard to Become Unresponsive (KB 2152)
• When Attempting to Do a BootFromSan Using LPe1150, the Link Never Comes Up on the HBA (KB 2288)
• ESX Server 3.0 System with More than 128 LUNs Attached Fails to Install (KB 2154)
• USB Keyboard and Mouse Are Not Usable After Installation and Reboot of VMware ESX 3.0 Server (KB 2280)
• Virtual Machines' Raw Disks Cannot Be Upgraded to RDMs by the Upgrade Script (KB 2168)

Upgrade Issues

• Some Storage Applications May Require Firewall Ports Be Opened (KB 2143)
• Template Upgrades Do Not Work If the Host Is Running ESX Server 2.x (KB 2189)
• Adding a Legacy Virtual Disk to a Virtual Machine Downgrades it to a Legacy Virtual Machine (KB 2137)
• Creating a Virtual Machine Using an Existing Disk from a Legacy Virtual Machine Can Result in Anomalies (KB 2134)
• Installer Crashes During RPM Transaction While Upgrading ESX Server 2.x to 3.0 (KB 2195)
• ESX Server 3.0 Does Not Properly Support Upgrading Multi-Boot Installations (KB 2199)
• Additional VI Clients Unable to Connect to an ESX Server Host During a VMFS2 to VMFS3 Upgrade (KB 2236)
• Traffic Shaping Configuration Is Lost When Migrating or Upgrading Virtual Machine From ESX Server 2.x to ESX Server 3.0 (KB 2164)

Security

• Firewall Disabled Running Service Iptables Start (KB 2160)
• Nessus Generates a Warning Indicating a VERITAS Backup Exec Security Advisory for Windows Servers (KB 2206)
• Nessus Generates a Warning for Vulnerability at Port 9 with the Ascend Router (KB 2299)

Licensing

• Some Pre-Checked Items Cannot Be Checked Back to License Pool (KB 2170)

• Only One Virtual Machine Appears in Legato Networker IM GUI After Backing Up Multiple Virtual Machines (KB 2144)
• File-Level Backup of a Virtual Machine with an Uninitialized Disk Fails (KB 2147)
• Warning on VCB Disconnect from VirtualCenter Server (KB 2151)

• NIC Team Stops Working After ESX Server Upgrade (KB 2201)
• VMware VirtualCenter and VMware ESX Server Provide Datastore URLs with Different Formats (KB 2305)
• Intermittent VMotion/NFS/ISCSI Failures Can Be Caused by Duplicate IP Addresses on your Network (KB 2253)
• Using Qlogic FC-HBA I/O Stalls on EMC Symmetrix (KB 2287)
• Virtual Machines or Processes Hang When ISO Image Is Used from Service Console NFS Share (KB 2296)
• VirtualCenter and "esxcfg-vswitch - l" Show Different Number of Ports (KB 2091)
• After VMFS Upgrade, VMX File Must Be Edited to Address Condition Producing Errors on Virtual Machine Startup (KB 2237)
• NIC Stops Transmitting When Using Broadcom 5700 Rev 14 and 5701 Rev 15 for Heavy Traffic (KB 2242)
• VI Client Loses Connectivity to the ESX Server System Host After Adding a new NIC (KB 2243)

• SendTargets Processes Run by iSCSI Software Initiators May Cause ESX Server to Freeze (KB 3344257)
• Some Storage Applications May Require Firewall Ports Be Opened (KB 2143)
• In-Place Upgrade Only for Virtual Machines with RDM Disks (KB 2204)
• MSCS Clustering Can Trigger an Unnecessary Failover to the Backup Server on the IBM FastT Series Arrays (KB 2161)
• SAN LUNs Not Visible in VirtualCenter UI but Visible in MUI (KB 2278)
• Using HP Insight Manager 7.5.1a, Storage Controller Adapters Are Not Shown (KB 2223)
• Upgrading VMFS-2 Volume May Fail Due to Insufficient Free Space (KB 2210)
• Doing Multiple vmfs Upgrades at the Same Time Just Upgrades the First One (KB 2211)
• Additional VI Clients Unable to Connect to an ESX Server Host During a VMFS2 to VMFS3 Upgrade (KB 2236)
• Cannot See the /vmimages Datastores Directory When Attempting to Mount an ISO Image on a VirtualCenter 2.0-Managed ESX Server 2.x Host (KB 2162)
• When Using Serial Ports That Are Connected to Named Pipes, Relative Paths and Locations on VMFS Cannot Be Used (KB 2192)
• Create Datastore Operation Might Fail if the Disk also Contains the ESX Server Service Console File System (KB 2240)
• No Protection Against Deleting a Disk Backing File That Is Also Used by Another Powered-Off Virtual Machine (KB 2245)
• Disabling the Qlogic PCI Device in BIOS Results in a PSOD (KB 2209)
• NFS Mounts Are Restricted to 8 by Default (KB 2239)
• Problems with Configuring qla4010 Card when ESX Server Boots from iSCSI (KB 2207)
• System Time Accounting Incorrect for Software iSCSI (KB 2208)

• Inaccessible Virtual Machines Are Named "Unknown VM" (KB 2172)
• Real-time Statistics Data Has Gaps for the Host in VirtualCenter 1.x After Being Managed by VirtualCenter 2.0 (KB 2198)
• Intermittent SSL Warnings Appear During Logoff (KB 2169)
• Server on Localized Operating System Fails to Recognize Certain Locales (KB 2178)
• After I Move a Host out of a Cluster, the VI Client Inventory Doesn't Show the Host's Virtual Machines (KB 2165)
• Error Message in VI Client Indicates That esx.conf.WRITELOCK Cannot Be Obtained (KB 2183)
• After a Host Failure, when the Host Boots Up, the HA Service Does Not Start Up and an HA Error Occurs on the Host (KB 2300)
• Browse Datastores Option of the VI Client Cannot Recognize .vmdk File Created by vmkfstools (KB 2171)
• Unable to Log Onto the VI Client (KB 2184)
• Incorrect Input Text in Configuration Wizards Can Cause Unhandled Exceptions (KB 2186)
• Export Diagnostics Option in the VI Client Might Fail to Resolve Host Names on Other Domains (KB 2187)
• VI Client Fails to Add a Host (KB 2257)

• Different Error Messages for the Same Event (KB 2174)
• In Certain Fibre Channel Environments, VMotion Does Not Succeed and the Virtual Machine Remains Running on the Source Machine (KB 2265)
• Some Virtual Machines Might Not Power on Even if Their Reservation Is Less Than the Unreserved Capacity of Their Parent Resource Pool (KB 2158)
• Taking Snapshots of Upgraded Virtual Machines in Nonpersistent Mode Is Not Allowed (KB 2175)
• Floppy and CD-ROM Settings Are Dimmed When I Switch Between Other Hardware Options (KB 2179)
• Virtual Machine Startup/Shutdown Host Settings Require an Action and Delay Be Specified (KB 2190)
• Virtual Machine Startup/Shutdown Host Settings Do Not Reflect Changes to Virtual Machine Settings (KB 2194)
• vmware-cmd Doesn't Recognize Symbolic Links to VMFS3 (KB 2122)
• Delays When Writing to a New Virtual Disk for the First Time (KB 2191)
• Incorrect Error Message when a Virtual Machine Backed Up on ESX Server 2.x Is Restored to ESX Server 3.x (KB 2307)
• The Virtual Machine May Still Be Running when VmPerl::VM::stop and "vmware-cmd stop" Return (KB 2295)
• Virtual Machine Powers Off if Attempting to Connect SCSI Device in a Powered On Virtual Machine (KB 2248)
• Installing VMware Tools from Virtual Infrastructure Client Does Not Eject CD-ROM from a Solaris Guest (KB 2157)
• Failure to Connect to CD-ROM due to Incorrect Path (KB 2303)
• Re-Editing a Virtual Machine Before a Previous Edit Completes Fails (KB 2205)
• Changing the Power Options in Virtual Machine Gives an Error Message if the Virtual Machine Is Powered On (KB 2251)
• Unable to Run Tools Upgrader for Autotools Installation and Upgrade (KB 2121)
• Intermittent Virtual Machine Failures with NIS-Enabled ESX Server Hosts (KB 2255)
• VMotion Fails at 90% Progress when the Virtual Machine's Parallel Port Is Set to Write to an Output File (KB 2284)
• The Virtual Machine Seems to Be Installing VMware Tools but the Tools Never Get Installed (KB 2277)

Guest Operating System

You can find the latest version of the Guest Operating System Installation Guide by following these links: HTML | PDF | Japanese PDF.

• Negative Numbers Sometimes Appear for Disk Sizes in SMC 2.1 on the Solaris 10 Operating Environment and Update 1 (KB 2215)
• Cloning a Windows Virtual Machine Can Fail if the Virtual Machine Has a Nonstandard BootExecute Value (KB 2246)
• Large Network Transfers Can Cause a Solaris 10 Virtual Machine's Network Connection to Hang (KB 2176)
• Solaris 10 Update 1 Virtual Machines Might Not Properly Discover and Configure the Virtual Floppy Device, Virtual Parallel Port, or Virtual Serial Port (KB 2270)
• If No DHCP Server Is Available When a Windows Virtual Machine Is Customized, the Virtual Machine Might Not Be Able to Join a Domain (KB 2262)
• Solaris 10 U1 Guest Operating System Is Not Supported on EMC CLARiiON Series and Symmentrix Series Storage Arrays (KB 2289)
• Customization of a Virtual Machine on a Linux Guest Might Fail (KB 2301)
• Older Guest Operating System Exhibits Unusual Behavior (KB 2225)
• Solaris Warning "Stopped tracking Time of Day Clock" (KB 2250)
• Dell PowerEdge 6850 Hosts Running ESX Server 3.0 Need A03 BIOS to Install 64-Bit Guests (KB 2087)
• Display and Mouse Problems in Solaris 10 Virtual Machines (KB 2254)
• Excessive Network Error Messages Detected in Solaris 10 Virtual Machine (KB 2258)
• Installation of 64-Bit Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Updates 3, 5, 6, 7, and 8 SMP Kernel Occasionally Fails with Anaconda ImportError Message (KB 2260)
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Advanced Server 3.0 64-Bit Guest Produces Error on Intel VT Host (KB 2263)
• 64-Bit Linux Guests with Computer Using More Than 4 GB of Memory Might Experience a Guest or vmware-vmx Panic (KB 2269)

• Hewlett Packard DL760 G2 Servers Issue Warnings Whenever You Load the VMkernel (KB 2145)
• VirtualCenter's Datastore Browser Does Not Display Virtual Disk Files for Virtual Machines on ESX Server 2.x Hosts (KB 2203)
• Auto-Start Is Not Run When Manually Restarting a Host in Maintenance Mode (KB 2214)
• Disconnecting or Removing a Host Deletes a Scheduled Task (KB 2180)

Issues Resolved in ESX Server 3.0.2

The following are known issues in ESX Server 3.0.1, which have been resolved in the ESX Server 3.0.2 release.

API

• Issues Upgrading from ESX Server 2.5.x to ESX Server 3.0 or ESX Server 3.0.1 VmPerl Scripting API (KB 10130)
• Statistics Returned by the VmPerl Scripting API Might be Wrong (KB 10131)

Backup

• Error in Configuration File Causes Communication Failure Between Veritas NetBackup and Service Console (KB 9480977)

Service Console

• VMware ESX Server Service Console Upgraded RPMs and Security Fixes
• OpenIPMI Driver Update (KB 1271657)
• Security Update for gzip Vulnerability (KB 5885387)
• Error Message, "EXT2-fs warning: maximal mount count reached, running e2fsck is recommended" (KB 6822209)

Logging

• The Warning " WARNING: VSCSI: ResetWatchdog: Retry 0 on handle 260 still in progress after xxx seconds" is Changed to a Log Entry (KB 10177)
• Repetitive Log Entries After Installation of Management Agents (KB 10168)
• Powering on a 64-bit Guest OS with VT Disabled in BIOS Results in Repeated Logging of Error Message (KB 10147)
• Warning "UNSUPPORTED flags (0x1) -> EINVAL" Sent to Log During Virtual Machine Initialization (KB 1000085)
• Benign Logging for System Peripheral Devices (PCI Class Code 0x0880) on IBM x3550 Servers (KB 10141)

User Administration

• Adding a New User to the Existing Group Does Not Inherit the User to the Same Group (KB 10143)

Installation and Upgrade Issues

• Service Console Networking Stops Working When Using the vmxnet_console Network Driver and Upgrading From ESX Server 2.x to 3 (KB 2202)
• CPU Hyperthreading Appears Disabled after Upgrading from ESX Server 2.5.3 to 3.0.1 (KB 8451742)
• ESX Server 3.0.1 Installer Does Not Detect Device Information Provided In the Driver CD (KB 10145)

Virtual Machine Networking

• NEW: pcnet32 Loads Instead of vmxnet (KB 1001685)
• Performance of Outgoing UDP Packets Is Poor (KB 10172)

Monitor

• WRMSR (TSC) Instruction Loses High 32 Bits When Executed by Virtual Machines on Intel Core CPU (KB 10146)

Networking

• Update for the e1000 Driver (KB 1006511)
• Load Sharing of Network Traffic Might Not be Optimized for Flexible Virtual Network Adapter in a Teamed Configuration (KB 10164)
• Warning For Duplicate IP Address for VMware VMotion Portgroup (KB 10165)
• 64-bit Windows Guest Security Issues, VMware Tools Memory Leak, and Linux Boot-from-network with PXE. See KB 5095559 and KB 6704314 for more information.
• Duplicate IP packet and Failover Issues with Beacon Monitoring (KB 10167)
• Update to ESX Server Service Console Operating System Network Interface (vswif) (KB 4825991)
• Performance Optimization For Service Console Network Interface (KB 10173)

Resource Management

• CPU Affinity Violation on Hyperthreaded Systems(KB 10175)

Storage

• Storage Array Update, Raise LVM Maximum Heap Size (KB 9865995)
• Exceeding Host Bus Adapter Limit While Loading Driver Causes ESX Server Crash (KB 10182)

Tools

• Auto-Upgrading Tools in NetWare Virtual Machines Produces Errors (KB 3431060)
• VMware Tools Shrink Option on ESX Server Virtual Machine Guest OS File System Disks Does Not Work (KB 10185)

VMotion

• Migration with VMotion Fails When Destination Host Cannot Find Swap File (KB 1000082)

Guest Operating System Issues

• NEW: Guest Operating System Information is Incorrect on the Virtual Machine Summary Page (KB 1000651)

Issues Resolved in ESX Server 3.0.1

The following are known issues in Virtual Infrastructure 3.0, which have since been resolved.

Install Issues

• iLO2 Virtual Media on a ML570 G4 or DL570 G4 Fails (KB 2285)
• ESX Server Installer Is Unable to See Disks if Both SAS and SCSI Controllers Are Used (KB 2167)
• Customization Is Broken when WorkStation 5.x or VMI 1.5 Are Installed on the same Machine as VirtualCenter Server 2.x (KB 2297)

Upgrade Issues

• Cold Migrating a Virtual Machine from ESX Server 2.x to 3.0 Fails (KB 2182)
• Virtual Machines That Were Participating in Auto-Start Are no Longer Involved in Auto-Start (KB 2232)
• Legacy Templates Fail After Upgrading Shared LUNs to VMFS-3 from Another Host (KB 2235)
• Upgrade Relayout Virtual Machine Operation Fails (KB 2181)
• VirtualCenter 1.x to VirtualCenter 2.0 Database Upgrade Using Oracle 10.2.0.1 May Fail (KB 2304)
• Upgrading from VMFS-2 to VMFS-3 May Make VI Client on ESX Server Unresponsive (KB 2233)
• VMFS Volume Upgraded From VMFS-2 to VMFS-3 May Display as Read-Only After Upgrading (KB 2197)

Licensing

• VC License Server Settings May Override ESX Server Host Settings (KB 2212)

• Using "pre-command.bat" and "post-command.bat" as Described in the README for the Netbackup Integration Module for VCB Does Not Work as Expected (KB 2249)
• File-Level Backup with VCB Fails When Attempted With Six or More Virtual Disks on the Backup Proxy (KB 2185)
• Backing Up Virtual Machine with vcbMounter from ESX Service Console Fails (KB 1871295)

Server Configuration Issues

• Service Console Networking Stops Working When Using vmxnet_console and Upgrading From ESX Server 2.x to 3 (KB 2202)
• Eleven Connections Appear on the Database Server Even Though the User Set the Maximum Number of Database Connections to a Value Less Than Ten (KB 2302)
• Using Intel e1000 NICs With Certain PCI IDs May Cause Kernel Panic (KB 2221)
• Network Connectivity Is Lost and "WARNING: Uplink: 1925: Couldn't allocate pkt for frame copy" Appears in the Log (KB 2274)
• Configuring a Duplicate IP Address for VMotion Causes an Error (KB 2224)

• ESX Server 2.1.x and 2.0.x Do Not Provide Expected Configuration or Information for Raw Disks (KB 2133)
• A Mapped SAN LUN Added to a Virtual Machine Is Not Visible from the List (KB 2216)
• Legacy Templates Will Fail After Upgrading the Shared LUN to VMFS-3 From Another Host (KB 2235)
• Problems when Using Emulex Fibre Channel Cards in Extreme Failover Conditions (KB 2244)

• "A Specified Parameter Was not Correct" Error in the VI Client Interface When a Virtual Machine Is Powered On (KB 2173)
• Changes Made for Database Password or Maximum Number of Database Connections to Be Created in VI Client Do Not Take Effect Until the VirtualCenter Service is Restarted (KB 2218)

• Cannot Power On Virtual Machine That Has two or More CPUs (KB 2159)
• Creating a Virtual Machine or Disk on Host Client Fails When You Try to Create a Virtual Machine Disk Larger Than 262GB (KB 2177)
• All Paths to a LUN Are No Longer Accessible and an Infinite Abort Loop Results (KB 2298)
• Virtual Machine Cloning and Customization Operations Fail on Virtual Machines with Two Network Adapters Connected to One Network (KB 2200)
• System PSOD:"Spin count exceeded (EventQueue, 448) - possibile deadlock" Message (KB 2306)
• Windows Virtual Machines with Latency-Sensitive I/O Workloads May Slow Down in Four-Way SMP Configurations (KB 2231)

Guest Operating System

• Remote Floppy Does Not Work in Solaris 10 Operating Environment, Update 1 (KB 2220)
• 64-Bit Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 Hangs During Installation (KB 2229)
• Storage Drivers for the VMware LSILogic Storage Adapter Are Not Available in Windows XP (KB 2241)
• Blue Screen On Windows 2003 SP1 When Mounting Volumes (KB 2267)

• VMotion Fails to Migrate Virtual Machine When Target System Runs ESX Server Version 2.5.3 or Lower (KB 2155)
• Virtual Machine Changes to Snapshot-Consolidate Mode During Delete-All-Snapshot Operation (KB 2222)
• HA Configuration Tasks Fail and an Error Message Appears When I Configure an HA Cluster (KB 2135)
• Configuring HA Task Fails or Virtual Machine Failover Does Not Happen (KB 2259)
• Template Upgrade Fails with Error, "Name Already Exists" (KB 2196)
• Re-enabling Never Takes Effect If you Re-enable After the Active Directory "Enable Validation" Setting Is Disabled for a While (KB 2279)