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Setting COW heap values on Lab Manager

Details

The maximum allowed copy-on-write (COW) disk sizes in Lab Manager corresponding to the values in ESX Server 3.5 are:
  
COW Heap Value on ESX Server 3.5 (in MB) 
Corresponding Max. COW disk size in Lab Manager (in TB)
32
12
96
38
192
76
 
When you exceed the COW heap size allowed, you cannot power on virtual machines. 
If ESX Server does not have enough COW heap for new deployments, the new deployments fail with the following error:
Error in deploying.
-------------------------------------------------
VirtualMachine.powerOn task on PowerOnVM_Task failed:
Cannot open the disk '/vmfs/volumes/4977aaec-d3b21193-a8a0-00221993cac1/rtqa420/403/000403-Win7GB-0-1.vmdk' or one of the snapshot disks it depends on.
Reason: Cryptographic operation failed..
   at LabManager.VAL.VMware.VirtualCenter20.TaskWaiterInvRecord.CheckForError()
   at LabManager.VAL.VMware.VirtualCenter20.VcVimHandle.WaitForTask(ManagedObjectReference task, Int32 timeoutMSec)
   at LabManager.VAL.VMware.VirtualCenter20.VC20VirtualServer.Start()
   at LabManager.Backend.CVirtualMachine._PowerOn()
-----------------------------------------------------
 

Solution

When you exhaust the allocated COW heap size and you cannot power-on the virtual machines, check the var/log/vmkernel file for messages indicating that the COW heap has been exhausted. If you have exhausted the COW heap, reconfigure the values on ESX Server. You cannot update the values on Lab Manager.

To update the values on ESX Server:
  1. log in to ESX Server by using the VI Client.
  2. Click the Configuration tab.
  3. Click the Advanced Settings link.
    The Advanced Settings window appears.
  4. Select COW.
  5. Update the value for the COW.MaxHeapSizeMB parameter.
  6. Reboot the host

 

 

Keywords

COW heap, terabytes,COW.MaxHeapSizeMB

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Actions
  • KB Article: 1009144
  • Updated: Sep 2, 2009
  • Products:
    VMware vCenter Lab Manager
  • Product Versions:
    VMware vCenter Lab Manager 2.5.x
    VMware vCenter Lab Manager 3.0.x
    VMware vCenter Lab Manager 4.0.x
    VMware vCenter Server 4.0.x