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VMXNET3 resets frequently when RSS is enabled in a Windows virtual machine (2055853)

Symptoms

  • When Receive Side Scaling (RSS) is enabled on a Windows virtual machine, you see NetPort messages for repeating MAC addresses indicating that ports are being disabled and then re-enabled.
  • In the vmkernel log, you see messages similar to:

    2013-07-08T06:11:58.158Z cpu4:337203)NetPort: 1424: disabled port 0x1000020
    2013-07-08T06:11:58.177Z cpu4:337203)NetPort: 1237: enabled port 0x1000020 with mac 00:50:56:9e:50:24
    2013-07-08T06:12:46.191Z cpu1:337203)NetPort: 1424: disabled port 0x1000020
    2013-07-08T06:12:46.211Z cpu7:337203)NetPort: 1237: enabled port 0x1000020 with mac 00:50:56:9e:50:24
    2013-07-08T06:12:58.172Z cpu7:337203)NetPort: 1424: disabled port 0x1000022
    2013-07-08T06:12:58.190Z cpu7:337203)NetPort: 1237: enabled port 0x1000022 with mac 00:50:56:9e:50:20
    2013-07-08T06:13:18.172Z cpu3:337206)NetPort: 1424: disabled port 0x1000020
    2013-07-08T06:13:18.188Z cpu3:337206)NetPort: 1237: enabled port 0x1000020 with mac 00:50:56:9e:50:24
    2013-07-08T06:13:58.170Z cpu15:337202)NetPort: 1424: disabled port 0x1000020
    2013-07-08T06:13:58.190Z cpu15:337202)NetPort: 1237: enabled port 0x1000020 with mac 00:50:56:9e:50:24
    2013-07-08T06:14:04.176Z cpu4:337203)NetPort: 1424: disabled port 0x1000020
    2013-07-08T06:14:04.185Z cpu2:337203)NetPort: 1237: enabled port 0x1000020 with mac 00:50:56:9e:50:24
    2013-07-08T06:14:20.182Z cpu13:337203)NetPort: 1424: disabled port 0x1000020
    2013-07-08T06:14:20.198Z cpu13:337203)NetPort: 1237: enabled port 0x1000020 with mac 00:50:56:9e:50:24
    2013-07-08T06:14:22.195Z cpu12:337205)NetPort: 1424: disabled port 0x1000020
    2013-07-08T06:14:22.211Z cpu12:337205)NetPort: 1237: enabled port 0x1000020 with mac 00:50:56:9e:50:24
    2013-07-08T06:14:23.255Z cpu2:337203)NetPort: 1424: disabled port 0x1000022
    2013-07-08T06:14:23.270Z cpu2:337203)NetPort: 1237: enabled port 0x1000022 with mac 00:50:56:9e:50:20
    2013-07-08T06:15:16.171Z cpu14:337203)NetPort: 1424: disabled port 0x1000020
    2013-07-08T06:15:16.188Z cpu14:337203)NetPort: 1237: enabled port 0x1000020 with mac 00:50:56:9e:50:24
    2013-07-08T06:16:56.168Z cpu8:337203)NetPort: 1424: disabled port 0x1000020
    2013-07-08T06:16:56.190Z cpu8:337203)NetPort: 1237: enabled port 0x1000020 with mac 00:50:56:9e:50:24
    2013-07-08T06:17:36.167Z cpu8:337203)NetPort: 1424: disabled port 0x1000020
    2013-07-08T06:17:36.187Z cpu8:337203)NetPort: 1237: enabled port 0x1000020 with mac 00:50:56:9e:50:24
    2013-07-08T06:18:20.175Z cpu2:337202)NetPort: 1424: disabled port 0x1000020
    2013-07-08T06:18:20.199Z cpu2:337202)NetPort: 1237: enabled port 0x1000020 with mac 00:50:56:9e:50:24
    2013-07-08T06:18:36.165Z cpu7:337207)NetPort: 1424: disabled port 0x1000020
    2013-07-08T06:18:36.186Z cpu7:337207)NetPort: 1237: enabled port 0x1000020 with mac 00:50:56:9e:50:24

  • The vmware.log file of virtual machines that use these MAC addresses contain corresponding events similar to: 

    2013-07-08T06:18:20.175Z| vcpu-1| Ethernet4 MAC Address: 00:50:56:9e:50:24
    2013-07-08T06:18:20.199Z| vcpu-1| VMXNET3 user: Ethernet4 Driver Info: version = 833450 gosBits = 2 gosType = 2, gosVer = 24848, gosMisc = 212
    2013-07-08T06:18:36.165Z| vcpu-6| Ethernet4 MAC Address: 00:50:56:9e:50:24
    2013-07-08T06:18:36.187Z| vcpu-6| VMXNET3 user: Ethernet4 Driver Info: version = 833450 gosBits = 2 gosType = 2, gosVer = 24848, gosMisc = 212

Resolution

This is a known issue affecting the VMXNET3 virtual network driver and occurs because the resetNeeded flag is not set properly.

This issue is resolved in ESXi 5.1 Update 2. For more information, see VMware ESXi 5.1 Update 2 Release Notes and ESXi 5.0 Patch 12 VMware ESXi 5.0, Patch Release ESXi500-201401001 (2065814).

This issue is also resolved in ESXi 5.5 Update 1. For more information, see VMware ESXi 5.5 Update 1 Release Notes.

To work around this issue, disable RSS within the Windows virtual machine.

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