Unable to Power On virtual machine with "A General System error occurred: Internal error"

ESXi 3.5, Patch ESXe350-200807812-I-BG: Critical Fix for August 12 Licensing Timeout Issue

KB Article	1006670
Updated	Aug. 28, 2008

Products

VMware ESXi

Details

Release Date: 12 AUGUST 2008
Document Last Updated: 20 AUGUST 2008

Product Versions	ESXi 3.5 Update 2
Patch Classification	Critical
ESX Server Host Reboot Required	Yes
Restart hostd Required	No
Maintenance Mode Required, Power Off or Migrate Virtual Machines	Yes
PRs Fixed	314475
Affected Hardware	N/A
Affected Software	N/A
Related CVE numbers	None

Solution

Summary

This patch resolves an issue with systems installed with patch bundle ESXe350-200807401-I-UG (or offline bundle ESXe350-200807401-O-UG) where virtual machines fail to power on or VMotion successfully.

This patch is specifically targeted for customers who have installed or fully upgraded to ESXi 3.5 Update 2, or who have applied the ESXe350-200807401-I-UG patch (or offline bundle ESXe350-200807401-O-UG) to ESXi 3.5 or ESXi 3.5 Update 1 hosts.

Symptoms

You are unable to power on virtual machines. VI Client displays the error:

A General System error occurred: Internal error.

The following message is logged in the vmware.log file for the virtual machine:

This product has expired. Be sure that your host machine's date and time are set correctly.
There is a more recent version available at the VMware web site: http://www.vmware.com/info?id=4.
--------------
Module License Power on failed.

Deployment Considerations

If you have a cluster with DRS enabled, you must put the cluster in manual mode.

VMotion migration of virtual machines can be used if the destination host is not affected by this issue.

Patch Download and Installation

The typical way to apply patches to ESXi 3.5 hosts is through the VMware Update Manager. For details, see the VMware Update Manager Administration Guide.

To update your ESXi host using VMware Infrastructure Update, see the document included under Attachments (below) Install_ESXe350-200807812-I-BG.pdf.

ESXi hosts can also be updated by downloading the most recent "O" (offline) patch bundle from http://www.vmware.com/download/vi/vi3_patches_3i.html and installing the bundle using VMware Infrastructure Update or by using the vihostupdate command through the Remote Command Line Interface (RCLI). For details, see the ESX Server 3i Configuration Guide and the ESX Server 3i Embedded Setup Guide (Chapter 10, Maintaining ESX Server 3i and the VI Client) or the ESXi 3.5 Installable Setup Guide (Chapter 11, Maintaining ESXi 3.5 and the VI Client).

Product Versions

VMware ESXi 3.5.x Embedded

VMware ESXi 3.5.x Installable

Attachments

Install_ESXe350-200807812-I-BG.pdf

Last Modified Date: 08-28-2008

ID: 1006670