Link to home
Start Free TrialLog in
Avatar of happytang
happytangFlag for United States of America

asked on

Vmware Internet Connectivity Issue

Hi everybody,

A quick question to see if somebody here can help. Both myself and VMWare are stumped as to what is going on, and I really hope this is not a bug that I discovered.

Currently, we are having an issue where my 2008 servers, both R2 and Standard, are unable to grab network connectivity (internet and local).

However, my 2003 and Linux servers are fine, and they are being run on the same host.

Ping requests to anything give me Ping Transmit Failed, Error 1232.

It has nothing to do with the IP Addresses that I'm giving it, since I can give it to any of the Linux and 2003 servers and they connect fine.

Sometimes the 2008 server will give me an error regarding "IP Address" conflict, but seeing as how it's not contacting the network, seems like a local issue. I've noticed that sometimes within the "Advanced" tab of IPv4 that it has more than 1 IP, but removing or editing those changes nothing.

Is there something different or some kind of port access control in 2008 that I don't know about?

Windows Firewall is off.
Avatar of khairil
khairil
Flag of Malaysia image

Hi,

What WMWare are you using?.

If you are using VShpere/ESX/ESXi 4.0 than you better upgrade to new release. It is not because of your Windows (at least sort of). ESX 4.0 does not support Windows 2008 R2 well. You need to patch them before you can install Windows 2008 R2 guest.

Here is the link about that, http://www.vmware.com/support/vsphere4/doc/vsp_vc40_u1_rel_notes.html

It was happened to me before, with my Dell machine and Broadcom network card, and Windows Server  2008 Enterprise with 6 guest. Believe me, I have tried so many solution until I gave up to Microsoft Hyper-V (VMware vCenter Server 4.0 Update 1 not yet out by that time :( ).

BTW, Microsoft Hyper-V is not that bad, it still makes thing done - at least for free.

Hope you can try the update first, before deciding Hyper-v. :)
Avatar of lollygagr
lollygagr

Sounds like a VMWare Tools issue.  What version of ESX/i is running on the host?  Have you installed VMWare Tools on all the guests, and if so, what version(s) are running now?  What virtual NIC did you install on the problem guests?  Are all the guests connected to the same vSwitch?

Thanks -
Avatar of happytang

ASKER

Every VM is connected to the same vswitch, including the working 2003 and Linux servers.

Also, the problem occurs in both Standard (Not R2) and R2. That being said, we're actually on 4.0 ESX Update 1.

VMTools has been upgraded to the most recent.

We tried creating some different vswitches, but that didn't make a difference as the 2008 servers still exhibited the same issues.
Let me add that I'm actually working with VMWare on this, and I've been escalated pretty high. I'm posting on here because I'm more curious about whether or not there are any changes in 2008 that I should know about.
How many ports do you have on your virtual switch for your hosts.  I had a similar problem and noticed I had reached the max.  I just moved up the number of ports and I was good to go.
2010-08-31-143829.png
Hmmm I'm at 56 but I've never changed this higher.

When it says the system needs to be restarted is that the host or the VM?
If it means the VM, I've changed this to 120 and it hasn't solved the problem.
You have to restart the host.  :-(
Hi The problem is specifc to Windows 2008 and not with VM

1. Ensure DHCP Client services is running (Even if you are using static IP)
2. Ensure Network Location awareness service and Network List services are running.
3. If Windows Firewall services is not running start it (eeven if you have disabled firewall)

This will fix the error (At least It worked with Me)

I had to edit registry permissions to allow the service log on accounts to have the necessary permissions.
Avatar of chkdsk01
Just to add my two cents here, like rvivek said, the problem is likely specific to 2008.  I haven't deployed any 08 in production but I do have Windows 7, and I can tell you that when I stop the Windows Firewall service (I hate windows firewall) I lose 99% of network connectivity.  I can't ping anything, I can't access shares, can't see the machine on the network, nothing.  But, I can still browse the Internet.  As soon as I start the Firewall service, even if I disable Windows firewall in the GUI, everything works as expected.  Pings worked, I could browse shares, etc.  
Check out these links.
https://connect.microsoft.com/WindowsServerFeedback/feedback/details/464554/server-2008-no-inbound-network-traffic-with-firewall-disabled?wa=wsignin1.0
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc766337(WS.10).aspx 
I have ESXi 4 hosts running with multiple Windows 2008 guests and have never experienced the connectivity symptoms described here.  I have a hard time accepting that Windows Firewall Service is a prerequisite for all Win2k8 guests on ESX 4.x hosts.

Happytang, can you go to a command prompt on one of the Win2k8 guests having the connectivity problem and do an ipconfig /all, and then copy and paste the results here?  Thanks -
I'm not saying Windows Firewall is a pre-req for Server 2008 running on ESX.  I think there obviously has been a major change in the Windows Firewall Service from Server 2003 to Server 2008 and that is the cause of this.
Take note of the default state of the firewall service in Server 2003.  It is disabled by default.  Not true in Server 2008.  I think it breaks something when disabling the Firewall service in Service 2008.
Happytang - Can you confirm whether or not the Firewall service is running or not?
The firewall service is running. Actually we've found out that this is related to all 2008 servers, not just virtual ones.

2003 servers again run fine, however we built a physical 2008 server and it still doesn't get any connectivity.
Yes, like I mentioned above, there has been a major overhaul and many changes made in the Firewall / security aspect from 2003 to 2008.  I would give google a try for "server 2008" and "can't ping".  Try this link.
http://techpunch.wordpress.com/2008/11/17/windows-server-2008-cant-ping-the-server/ 
I don't think it's the firewall. I've enabled and disabled the service, along with turning off and on the actual Windows Firewall service.

I found something about Gratuitous ARP requests, but unfortunately that wasn't the issue either.
Right now when I ping things I get Ping Transmit FAILED, Error Code 1232.

Happytang, can you go to a command prompt on one of the Win2k8 guests having the connectivity problem and do an ipconfig /all, and then copy and paste the results here?  That will be helpful as a starting point.

Thanks -
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
Avatar of happytang
happytang
Flag of United States of America image

Link to home
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
Start Free Trial