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Virtual machine does not power on when there is high CPU reservation

Details

  • Unable to power on virtual machine
  • The following error messages are displayed:

    • operation is not allowed in current state
    • CPU min outside valid range
    • Failed to find a host for powering on the virtual machine
    • Invalid CPU allocation requested for VM

  • A message similar to the following may be reported in /var/log/vmware/hostd.log

    msg = 'Group host/user: Invalid cpu allocation requested for VM vmm0:V0D0-MVCSSA0-01. (min: 6400 mhz, max: 4294967295, minLimit: 4294967295, shares: 4294967292)\nCould not power on VM : CPU min outside valid range.\nFailed to power on VM',
       faultCause = <unset>,
       faultMessage = (vmodl.LocalizableMessage) [],
       reason = 'Group host/user: Invalid cpu allocation requested for VM vmm0:V0D0-MVCSSA0-01. (min: 6400 mhz, max: 4294967295, minLimit: 4294967295, shares: 4294967292)\nCould not power on VM : CPU min outside valid range.\nFailed to power on VM',
       messageInfo = (vim.vm.Message) []

Solution

This issue occurs when the CPU reservation of a virtual machine is greater than the total CPU available on a single processor. 

To resolve this issue from vSphere Client:
  1. Connect to the ESX or vCenter Server host with appropriate administrative credentials.
  2. Select the virtual machine from the inventory.
  3. Right-click on the virtual machine and click Edit Settings.
  4. On the Virtual Machine Properties dialog, click the Resources tab.
  5. Select CPU from list under the Settings column.
  6. Use the slider or the Reservation text box to lower the CPU reservation value. 
To resolve this issue from the service console:
  1. Establish an SSH session to your ESX host. For more information, see Opening a command or shell prompt (1003892).
  2. Log in as root.
  3. Run the following command to list the location of the configuration files for the virtual machines registered on that ESX host:

    vmware-cmd -l
     
  4. Record the location of the .vmx file (configuration file) for the virtual machine you are troubleshooting.

    For example:

    /vmfs/volumes/46b2f3eb-ced4c7d8-c1d2-111122223333/<vm-name>/<vm-name>.vmx

  5. If the virtual machine is not registered on the ESX host and you want to search its configuration file, run the following command and press Enter:

    find /vmfs -name "*.vmx”

  6. Make a backup copy of the <vm-name>.vmx file.
  7. Open the <vm-name>.vmx file in a text editor and locate the line:

    sched.cpu.min = "3230"
     
  8. The value identified in the quotes exceeds the amount of physical CPU for one core. Lower the reservation by changing this value.
  9. Save the file and exit the editor.
  10. Power on the virtual machine.

For related troubleshooting information, see Troubleshooting a virtual machine that is unresponsive because of a configuration issue (1007814).

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