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ESX Server 3.0.2, Patch ESX-1004210: Virtual Machine Migration; Thumbnail Files Accumulate; SMTP Data Packets Get Dropped; Virtual Machine Does Not Synchronize; ESX Server Host Might ASSERT or Not Respond During Snapshot Operations

Details

Release Date: 05/01/08
Document Last Updated: 05/01/08
 
e4d30de1cc1a54568d65745dadeb2620


Product Versions
ESX Server 3.0.2
Patch Classification
Critical
Supersedes
Virtual Machine Migration or Reboot Required
Yes
ESX Server Host Reboot Required
Yes
PRs Fixed
186115,234586,199821,239226,248664
Affected Hardware
N/A
Affected Software
Unknown
RPMs Included
VMware-esx-vmx, VMware-esx-Vmkernel, VMware-esx-apps
Related CVE numbers
N/A

Summary

This patch fixes the following issues:

  • Migrating or forcibly stopping a virtual machine on ESX Server might cause ESX Server to stop responding.

  • The thumbnail feature in Lab Manager displays updated thumbnail views of virtual machines. The thumbnail feature writes the thumbnail image files to temporary storage before moving them to their final location. If the move operation fails, the temporary files are not deleted, which leads to accumulation of image files in temporary storage. This patch ensures that the temporary files are always deleted.
     
  • SMTP data packets of length less than 64 bytes transmitted from a virtual machine are prevented from passing through a firewall device. This issue is resolved by restricting the padding with zeros for packets less than 60 bytes instead of 64 bytes before adding the 4-byte FCS.
     
  • When the time on the ESX Server host is set backward, the virtual machine will not synchronize with the ESX Server host time as VMware Tools does not synchronize backward. This issue is resolved by adding an option for a one-time synchronization when VMware Tools starts up and does a forward or backward synchronization.
     

  • An ESX Server host might not respond due to asynchronous operations between snapshot consolidation and checkpointing. This issue is resolved by setting the synchronization variable correctly.

Solution

Symptoms

The following issues occur without this patch:   
  • When a virtual machine is migrated to an ESX Server host, an error message: WARNING: Alloc: vm 1574: 2087: ppn=0x21f4cf out of range: is repeatedly logged  in /var/log/vmkernel .
     
  • Thumbnail image files accumulate in the /tmp folder of the ESX Server host.
     
  • SMTP data packets get dropped before passing through the firewall.
     
  • Enabling Time Synchronization check box in Devices tab in VMware Tools Properties window fails to synchronize time between virtual machines and ESX Server hosts if the ESX Server time is set behind.
     
    Deployment Considerations
     
    N/A
     
    Download Instructions   

    Download and verify the patch bundle as follows:

    1.      Download patch ESX-1004210 from http://www.vmware.com/download/vi/vi3_patches.html .
     
    2.      Log in to the ESX Server service console as root.
     

    3.      Create a local depot directory.

    # mkdir -p /var/updates

    Note: VMware recommends that you use the updates directory.

    4.      Change your working directory to /var/updates.

    # cd /var/updates

    5.      Download the tar file into the /var/updates directory.
     
    6.      Verify the integrity of the downloaded tar file:
     
    # md5sum ESX-1004210.tgz

    The md5 checksum output should match the following:

    e4d30de1cc1a54568d65745dadeb2620 ESX-1004210.tgz
     

    7.      Extract the compressed tar archive:

    # tar -xvzf ESX-1004210.tgz

    8.      Change to the newly created directory, /var/updates/ESX-1004210:

    # cd ESX-1004210

    Installation Instructions

    Note: All virtual machines on the host must be either shut down or migrated using VMotion before applying the patch.  A reboot of the ESX Server host is required after applying this patch.

     

    After you download and extract the archive, and if you are in the directory that you previously created, use the following command to install the update:

    # esxupdate update

    To run esxupdate from a different directory, you must specify the bundle path in the command:

    # esxupdate -r file://<directory>/ESX-1004210 update

    For example, if the host is called depot:

    # esxupdate -r file:///depot/var/updates/ESX-1004210 update

    During the update process, logs appear on the terminal. You can specify the verbosity of esxupdate logs by using the -v option as shown below.

    # esxupdate -v 10 file://<directory>/ESX-1004210 update

    For more information how to use esxupdate, see the Patch Management for ESX Server 3 tech note at http://www.vmware.com/pdf/esx3_esxupdate.pdf .

    Keywords

    esxpatch;esx302;alertz;urlz

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    Actions
    • KB Article: 1004210
    • Updated: Aug 14, 2009
    • Products:
      VMware ESX
    • Product Versions:
      VMware ESX 3.0.x