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PING: General fault in VM’s

I have an ESXi 6.5 server with three VM guests running Windows Server 2008 R2. I have an external switch connected to a router with a gateway of 192.168.25.1, and all VM’s have static IP’s in the .25 network.

All three VM’s could talk to each other and to the Internet with my local DNS servers - until today. Now, each time I ping from one of the servers to any other server and to the gateway I get a General Fault error. I’ve reinstalled the VM Nic card to no avail. I’ve restarted all VM’s and the ESX server and the switch the ESX is connected to, also to no avail. I don’t know what’s changed from when it worked before.

Andrew Hancock (VMware vExpert PRO / EE Fellow/British Beekeeper)

are you using the VMXNET3 network interface in the VMs?

are all VMs connected and connected at power on ?

ASKER

I’m not sure where I find that. In Device Manager the network adapter is “Intel(R) PRO/1000 MT Network Connection.”

> I get a General Fault error.

basically it means the VM is not network connected in anyway, nothing to do with the default gateway, DNS settings or any other host on the same subnet.

if you run IPCONFIG /ALL on the local VM, does it show an IP address assigned to the NIC? or, can you please simply post the result of IPCONFIG /ALL? thanks.

ASKER

I've uploaded a snapshot of the ipconfig /all command.
ipconfig.JPG

Looks like the hosts are not connected to the physical switch

are the nics on and active?

The duplicate warning is interesting, try shutting off all but one machine and seeing what happens.

Did you make a change to the vswitch or nic assignments recently?

ASKER

I’ve made no changes to the VM Network components. The IP addresses are the same as when they worked weeks ago. I went down to one VM and it still said Duplicate. I ran the netsh winsock reset and netsh int ipv4 reset command and after reboot I reassigned the VM to the original IP and got an IP address conflict message.

Do you have multiple vm nics assigned on the server, you could remove the vmnic and add a new one, or simple disable it and add a new one. In the guest "edit settings" area does it list only one nic? Are you using nic teaming and the team failed?

ASKER

I’ve added a second nic, disabled the first, and nothing works. I’m not using teaming.

Hello

I agree with what Brian says, deactivates one of the network interfaces at the level of the operating system, since you have duplicity of ip address.

Or you can disconnect a network card at the vm level, it also validates that the vm is in the VLAN required to establish the connection.

Regards..

ASKER

Everything worked weeks ago with one NIC in each VM and they talked to each other as well as other devices in the subnet.

Hello

Do you have any physical firewall between those virtual machines, which can block communication ?.

Disable the operating system firewall.

Regards..

ASKER

Firewall has been disabled.

Hello

You use some specific port to establish the communication between the servers.

Run a port scanner to validate if the port you are using is blocked.

Do you use a DHCP server to assign ip addresses to these servers?

Regards..

ASKER

Wouldn’t ping still work regardless of what different ports I used? ICMP is not blocked by default. A General Faulure of the NIC card does imply that it’s not running properly yet I’ve removed and reinstalled them to no avail.

Do you use a DHCP server to assign ip addresses to these servers?

ASKER

No. All IP addresses are static.

ASKER

One thing I notice now is that I lose all connectivity to the guests and the ESXi GUI and I have to restart the Management Network on the ESXi host. DOn't know if this is a factor.

ok, did you try to remove the network card from the vm?

add it again, then disable it and enable it in the operating system?

Regards..

Restart the ESXi administration agents, and try the connection again.

Do you have other hosts, where can you migrate the vm? if so, migrate the vm to another host and test if you have a connection between the servers.

ASKER

I removed all the NIC cards at teh Edit Settings level of the VM in the ESXi Administrator. I then shut the VM down. I then added a NIC card fron Settings and brought up the guest. It came up with the NIC card installed and I still have "PING: transmit failed. General failure" mesages

ASKER

The ESXi host is connected to the physical switch, BTW. Link lights are on and active.

Do you have other hosts, where can you migrate the vm? if so, migrate the vm to another host and test if you have a connection between the servers.

Did you restart the host administration agents?

Do you have alarms at the Host level where the vm reside?

Do you have a distributed or standard switch?

Regards..

ASKER

How do you restart the host administrator agents?
I do have an event that says "Cannot connect to the specified gateway 192.168.25.1. Failed to set it."
Switch is Cisco SGE2000.

Enter via putty to the host where the virtual machines reside, once you enter the host enter the following command:

services.sh restart

When the restart of the management agents is finished, validate again if there is a connection between the vm.

if it tells you that error message at the level of the Switch is Cisco SGE2000. The problem must come from your physical switch, it is good that you review the configurations of the physical switch and validate if there are problems at the level of the equipment.

ASKER

The ESX host can ping my gateway from the Test Management Network section of the System Configuration command.

ASKER

Here's what happens when i Putty to the host:
putty.JPG

Please validate that you have the ssh service enabled on the Host

and the ESX shell too.

Andrew Hancock (VMware vExpert PRO / EE Fellow/British Beekeeper)

don't use E1000 interface, add VMXNET3

ASKER

VMXNET3 adapter has teh same problem. I've also swapped my switch for a NetGear ProSafe and the problem still persists. It is either the VM Network setup that is incorrect or the NIC card on my physical ESXi server is bad.

ASKER

Where should I start looking at eh VM Network settings? Here is what I have now:
vmnetwork.JPG

Andrew Hancock (VMware vExpert PRO / EE Fellow/British Beekeeper)

do all the VMs fail ?

ASKER

Yes

Andrew Hancock (VMware vExpert PRO / EE Fellow/British Beekeeper)

Okay lets look at ESXi 6.5 host. please ensure that network interface is connected, and connected at power on

can you ping 127.0.0.1 in a VM ?

can you ping the VMs IP Address ?

can you ping the ESXi host IP Address from VM ?

Hello

Please try to migrate those VMs to another ESXi, to validate if the network connection is established. Do you have another Host where you can migrate those vm?

Validate the configuration of the network cards in your physical server.

Also check your physical switch to see what settings it has and if it is connected to your physical host.

Share the images if possible.

I remain attentive to your comments.

regards...

ASKER

I don’t have another ESXi host. I would have to build a new one. I will verify the physical NIC card on the server before doing so. My switch works because my other machines talk to it as well as to the ESXi host.

Andrew Hancock (VMware vExpert PRO / EE Fellow/British Beekeeper)

I was waiting for the results of my question ?

Hello,

Verify your network card in your physical server, validate that they are not alarmed.

Validate that you have communication from the Host to the vm and from the vm to the host.

Validate your DNS settings, with an nslookup.

I remain attentive to your comments.

Regards...

ASKER

I can ping 127.0.0.1, I cannot ping itself nor can I ping the VM host.

ASKER

I also cannot ping the VM's from the host isng the Testing Management Network page.

ASKER

Here is what my vmnic's look like:
vmnetwork1.JPG

Hello,

On the vmnic1 card, place the same speed that you have set in the vmnic0.

Can you ping the gateway from the vm? and from the host?

I remain attentive to your comments.

Regards...

ASKER

I can ping the gateway from the host, but not from any of the VM's.

Andrew Hancock (VMware vExpert PRO / EE Fellow/British Beekeeper)

why is a link down remove nic and re-test

can you just quickly deploy a new VM and check networking

are your VMs Statically Allocated ?

if you set to DHCP do they get an IP Address?

ASKER

How do I delete vmnic1?

I have no DHCP server on this network. All VM's are statically assigned.

I'll try to bring up a new VM and test.

Andrew Hancock (VMware vExpert PRO / EE Fellow/British Beekeeper)

select properties of vSwitch

ASKER

Where do I select properties of vSwitch?

ASKER

Okay vmnic1 is deleted.

ASKER

I built a new VM and I have the same problem. See attached:
vmnewvm.JPG

Hello,

Can you change that vm to another VLAN to validate if the problem is resolved?

I remain attentive to your comments.

Regards...

ASKER

I'm not sure what you mean. Aother vlan where?

ASKER

When I change the IP from 192.168.25.247 to 192.168.26.247, I get an IP address conflict.

Hello,

Go to the operating system.
Properties of the network card.
Select TCP-IP v4 - Properties
Change the ip address that you indicate.

I remain attentive to your comments.

Regards...

ASKER

Every IP address I choose says (Duplicate) and I get the IP address conflict window. THese are IP addresses that I know are not being used.

Andrew Hancock (VMware vExpert PRO / EE Fellow/British Beekeeper)

if you were to change the IP Address to 10.10.1.1 ?

does this work, with no error, can you ping it ?

ASKER

No, it doesn't work with 10.10.1.1. I can only ping loopback, all other IP address give me General Failure.

Andrew Hancock (VMware vExpert PRO / EE Fellow/British Beekeeper)

were there any changes made before this issue started you can recall ?

Hello,

Do you have a firewall that blocks communication between the host and the vm?
I remain attentive to your comments.

Regards...

ASKER

My problem appears to be more than the ESXi server. I took a 5-port switch and connected the uplink to my Cisco ASA router to it and my laptop, and nothing else. Attached is the config of my laptop network port. You see that the IPV4 address is marked Duplicate, just like the Autoconfiguration IP address. I can ping 127.0.0.1, but I cannot ping 192.168.25.51 or 192.168.25.1. I used to be able to do this, but now I can't. Since I've isolated the traffic to only my laptop and the ASA router, I have to believe my problem is with the ASA router. I am not sure what has changed.
vmnetwork2.JPG

Hello,

validate with your interconnectivity staff the router and the configurations that were previously, probably modified something that is causing the problem, because at VM level, and vmnic cards there are no failures.

Verify mainly the router.

Let me know the results of the tests.

regards...

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

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Andrew Hancock (VMware vExpert PRO / EE Fellow/British Beekeeper)

How did the router get changed?

SOLUTION

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Hello,

Excellent that the problem will be solved, do not forget to describe what was the best solution to your problem.

Greetings.