VMware Host: not responding

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VMware Host: not responding
VM: disconnected
Alarm: Host connection and power state
Cannot connect ESX Server to VirtualCenter
Unable to access the specified host, either it doesn't exist

Case 1: Re-Connecting an ESX Server in vCenter
To connect an ESX Server to vCenter:

1.Login to the vCenter Client.
2.Right click on the ESX Server in the Inventory.
3.Click Connect.
4.Wait until the task status changes to Complete.

Case 2: Verify if the correct Managed IP Address or name is set in the vCenter.

In our case, the client changed the XP workstation running vCenter server from XP22 to XP. Since then, they keep having connecting to host problem. To check the Managed IP Address or name settings, click on Administration>vCenter Server Settings>Runtime settings.

Case 3: Verify there is a good connection between the vCenter Server and the ESX Host. To test it, ping each other.
To Ping from an ESX Host Console, please follow these steps:
1.Press Alt + F1 to access the ESX Host login prompt.
2.Login to the ESX Host as root .
3.In the command shell type ping <server> , where <server> is the hostname or IP address of the vCenter server that you want to ping.
4.Press Enter.

Note: To stop the ping, press Ctrl + C.

A successful ping response is similar to the following:

[root@chicagotech]$ ping xp
PING xp(192.168.10.11) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from xp (192.168.10.11): icmp_seq=0 ttl=64 time=0.025 ms
64 bytes from xp (192.168.10.11): icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.029 ms
64 bytes from xp (192.168.10.11): icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.032 ms
64 bytes from xp (192.168.10.11): icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=0.028 ms
--- xp ping statistics ---
4 packets transmitted, 4 received, 0% packet loss, time 3092ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 0.025/0.028/0.032/0.005 ms, pipe 2

An unsuccessful ping response is similar to the following:

[root@chicagotech]$ ping xp
PING xp (192.168.10.11) 56(84) bytes of data.

--- xp ping statistics ---
4 packets transmitted, 0 received, 100% packet loss, time 3017ms

Case 4: Verify there is not firewall blocking port 902 that is ESX Server uses (If the ESX Server was upgraded from version 2.x and you cannot connect on port 902, then verify if you can connect on port 905).

Case 5: Verify that the ESX Server management service vmware-hostd is running

To verify if the ESX Server management service (vmware-hostd) is running:
1.Log in as root to your ESX host with an SSH client.
2.Run the following command:

ps -ef | grep hostd

The output appears similar to the following if vmware-hostd is running:

[root@server]# ps -ef | grep hostd
root 23204 1 0 15:27 ? 00:00:00 /bin/sh /usr/bin/vmware-watchdog -s hostd -u 60 -q 5 -c /usr/sbin/hostd-support /usr/sbin/vmware-hostd -u
root 23209 23204 1 15:27 ? 00:04:23 /usr/lib/vmware/hostd/vmware-hostd /etc/vmware/hostd/config.xml -u
root 26450 26396 0 20:57 pts/3 00:00:00 grep hostd
[root@server]#

The output appears similar to the following if vmware-hostd is not running:

[root@server]# ps -ef | grep hostd
root 26659 26396 0 21:03 pts/3 00:00:00 grep hostd
[root@server]#
Additional Information

Case 6: Verify that the VirtualCenter agent service vmware-vpxa is running

To verify if the VirtualCenter Agent Service (vmware-vpxa) is running:
1.Log in to your ESX Server as root, from an SSH session or directly from the console of the server.
2.Type ps -ef | grep vpxa .
3.Press Enter.
4.Type logout and press Enter to disconnect from the ESX Server after you have reviewed the output.
The output appears similar to the following if vmware-vpxa is running:

[root@server]# ps -ef | grep vpxa
root 24663 1 0 15:44 ? 00:00:00 /bin/sh /opt/vmware/vpxa/bin/vmware-watchdog -s vpxa -u 30 -q 5 /opt/vmware/vpxa/sbin/vpxa
root 26639 24663 0 21:03 ? 00:00:00 /opt/vmware/vpxa/vpx/vpxa
root 26668 26396 0 21:23 pts/3 00:00:00 grep vpxa
[root@server]#

The output appears similar to the following if vmware-vpxa is not running:

[root@server]# ps -ef | grep vpxa
root 26709 26396 0 21:24 pts/3 00:00:00 grep vpxa
[root@server]#

Case 7: Verify that the xinetd service is running. If xinetd is not running, authentication may fail

To determine the state and start the xinetd service:

1.Log in to the ESX host using an SSH client. For more information, see Opening a command or shell prompt (1003892).
2.Run the following command to verify that the xinetd service is running:

# service xinetd status

3.If it is not running, issue the start command:

# service xinetd start

Case 8: Verify that a restart of the ESX Server Management Agents does not resolve the problem
To restart the management agents on ESX host:
1.Log in to your ESX Server as root from either an SSH session or directly from the console of the server.
2.Type service mgmt-vmware restart.

Caution: Ensure Automatic Startup/Shutdown of virtual machines is disabled before running this command or you risk rebooting the virtual machines. For more information, see Restarting hostd (mgmt-vmware) on ESX Server Hosts Restarts Hosted Virtual Machines Where Virtual Machine Startup/Shutdown is Enabled (1003312) and Determining whether virtual machines are configured to autostart (1000163).

3.Press Enter.
4.Type service vmware-vpxa restart.
5.Press Enter.
6.Type logout and press Enter to disconnect from the ESX host.
If this process is successful, it appears as:

[root@server]# service mgmt-vmware restart
Stopping VMware ESX Server Management services:
VMware ESX Server Host Agent Watchdog [ OK ]
VMware ESX Server Host Agent [ OK ]
Starting VMware ESX Server Management services:
VMware ESX Server Host Agent (background) [ OK ]
Availability report startup (background) [ OK ]
[root@server]# service vmware-vpxa restart
Stopping vmware-vpxa: [ OK ]
Starting vmware-vpxa: [ OK ]
[root@server]#

Case 9: Verify that no processes are over utilizing the resources on the Service Console

To check the utilization of the processes on the service console:
1.Log in to your ESX Server service console as root from either an SSH session or directly from the console of the server.
2.Type top .
3.To exit top, press Q.
4.When you have finished reviewing the output, type logout and press Enter to exit the system.

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