VMware 5 VUSB interface cannot be enabled - IBM BladeCenter and System x

Source

RETAIN tip: H206834

Symptom

After completing an installation of VMware ESXi 5.1, the VUSB0 interface cannot be activated.

Affected configurations

The system is configured with at least one of the following:

• VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5.1 with IBM Customization Installable, any Update

This tip is not system specific.

This tip is not option specific.

Note: This does not imply that the network operating system will work under all combinations of hardware and software.

Please see the compatibility page for more information: http://www.ibm.com/systems/info/x86servers/serverproven/compat/us/

Solution

This is fixed in VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5.1 with IBM Customization. This can be downloaded from IBM x86 solutions for VMware at the following location:

• http://www.ibm.com/systems/x/os/vmware/index.html

Workaround

Enable ESXi Shell, which can be found under Troubleshooting Options on the console of the ESXi host.

Press ALT+F1 to switch to the ESXi Shell and log in as root.

At the prompt, enter the following command:

esxcfg-advcfg -s 99 /Misc/ibmCLoadTimeout

Confirm that the value has been set to '99' by running the command:

esxcfg-advcfg -g /Misc/ibmCLoadTimeout

Log out, and restart the ESXi host. The VUSB0 interface now will be brought up on subsequent restarts.

Additional information

The VUSB0 interface is the connection used for in-band communication to the Integrated Management Module (IMM) or Integrated Management Module II (IMM2). During the start process of VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5.1, the VUSB0 interface may not be in a state to be enabled.

VMware added the parameter 'ibmCLoadTimeout' to retry enabling the interface if it was not enabled. Setting the value of 'ibmCLoadTimeout' to 99 will allow the system additional attempts to enable the device. Once the VUSB0 interface is brought up, the rest of the start process will continue.