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ESX 4.x stops booting with error: Failed to copy esx.conf from initrd to filesystem (1013233)

Symptoms

  • ESX 4.x host stops booting
  • You see the error: 

    Failed to copy esx.conf from initrd to filesystem.
    Possible cause: Read-Only Filesystem or storage device
    MD5 sum mismatch between local and initrd esx.conf
    Halting boot to prevent configuration loss.

Resolution

This issue occurs if errors force the filesystem to be flipped into a read-only state (the default response).
 
To resolve the problems with the filesystem: 
  1. When you are booted into the initrd (after the error), run the following command to determine what block device the COS VMDK is mounted on (for example, /dev/sdb):

    vsd -l
  2. To determine the partition layout of the block device, that is, to get the partition # for the / filesystem (for example, 2), run the command:

    fdisk -lu /dev/sdb2
     
  3. To copy the fsck binary you need out of the currently mounted / filesystem (mounted on /sysroot by default) and into the RAM disk, run the command:

    cp /sysroot/sbin/fsck.ext3 /fsck.ext3

  4. Unmount the filesystem with the command::

    umount /sysroot

  5. Check for errors with the command:

    ./fsck.ext3 -n /dev/sdb2

  6. If applicable, correct the errors with the command:

    ./fsck.ext3 /dev/sdb2

  7. Reboot the host with the command:

    reboot

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