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Troubleshooting single virtual machine failures on an ESX host
Symptoms
The guest operating system has terminated unexpectedly
The virtual machine is not accessible
A blue screen with a Stop error code is visible on the console
An error including the term kernel panic is visible on the console
Purpose
This article guide you through the process of troubleshooting a single virtual machine failing on an ESX host. This article is primarily suited to troubleshooting repetitive failures that you do not know the cause of. If the failure is reproducible, that is, one that can be repeated by following a sequence of steps, follow the instructions at the end of this knowledge base article to gather the support script data and file a support request. If the failure is a one-off, gather the support script data and file a support request.
Include as much information about your environment and what was happening at the time of the failure, as possible. You must be aware that virtual machine failures may be caused by factors outside of VMware and the cause is not always evident from the support script data.
Resolution
Please validate that each troubleshooting step below is true for your environment. Each step will provide instructions or a link to a document, in order to eliminate possible causes and take corrective action as necessary. The steps are ordered in the most appropriate sequence to isolate the issue and identify the proper resolution. Please do not skip a step.
Verify that the virtual machine is not in an unresponsive state.
During an unresponsive state, the operating system seems to be paralyzed, no error messages are displayed, and the screen freezes or the application does not respond to users' actions. Keyboard input or mouse clicking has no effect, regardless of where the cursor is placed, but the operating system is still running. Unlike a failure, sometimes an unresponsive system resolves itself, and the application resumes its normal execution without your involvement.
A failure is a situation where the operating system has terminated and is no longer running. There may be a diagnostic screen or error message visible in its place.
Note: There is a difference between a virtual machine failing and the guest operating system failing. If the virtual machine fails, it powers off and vmware-core files may have been created in the virtual machines host directory. Checking the vmware.log file you may see an entry similar to:
If your guest operating system is not listed, the following steps may help to resolve the issue, but be aware that problems may be encountered in an uncertified guest operating system.
Verify that you can access the storage hosting the virtual machine.
Your virtual machine may fail if the LUN on which it is stored becomes unavailable.
Verify no hardware changes have been made that may have caused the failure. If you have recently made any changes to your virtual machines hardware configuration, back them out temporarily for testing purposes. For more information, see Verifying the Virtual Hardware Configuration of a virtual machine(1003986).
Note: If your problem still exists after trying the steps in this article, please:
File a support request with VMware Support and note this KB Article ID in the problem description. For more information, see How to Submit a Support Request.
