Dell Release Date: 15th Oct 2015 ESXi 6.0 Update 1a 16 OCT 20151180 Build 3073146 Dell Version- A01 This is Dell Customized ESXi6.0 Update 1 Patch (Build 3073146) image with latest drivers included in to the image. Please refer Important Information section for additional drivers included in this release. VMware ESXi 6.0 Update 1a Release Notes ============================================== VMware ESXi 6.0 Update 1a Release Notes Updated on: 6 OCT 2015 ESXi 6.0 Update 1a 16 OCT 20151180 Build 3073146 Check for additions and updates to these release notes. What's in the Release Notes The release notes cover the following topics: • Whars New • Earlier Releases of ESXi 6.0 • Internationalization • Compatibility • Installation and Upgrades for This Release • Product Support Notices • Patches Contained in This Release • Resolved Issues • Known Issues What's New This release of VMware ESXJ contains the followtng enhancements: • 1/0 Filter: vSphere APis for 110 Filtering (VAIO) provide a framework that allows third parties to create software components called 1/0 filters. The filters c installed on ESXi hosts and can offer additional data services to virtual machines by processing 1/0 requests that move between the guest operating syst1 virtual machine and virtual disks. • Exclusive affinity to additional system contexts associated with a low-latency VM: This release introduces a new VMX option schad.cpu.latencySansitivity.sysCont.:dll to address issues on vSphere 6.0 where most system contexts are still worldlels. The Scheduler utilizes tht schad.cpu.latencySansitivity.sysCont.:dll option for each virtual machine to automatically identify a set of system contexts that might be involved in U latency-sensitive workloads. For each of these system contexts, exclusive affinity to one dedicated physical core is provided. The VMX option schad.cpu .latencySensltlvlty.sysCont.:dll denotes how many exclusive cores a low-latency VM can get for the system contexts. • ESXi Authentic.tion for Active Directory: ESXi is modified to only support AES256-CTSIAES12B-CTSIRC4-HMAC encryption for Kerberos communica1 between ESXi and Active Directory. • Support for SSLv3: Support for SSLv3 has been disabled by default. For further details, see Knowledge Base article 2121 021 . • Dying Disk Handling (DOH): The Dying Disk Handling feature provides latency monitoring framework in the kernel, a daemon to detect high latency pe and a mechanism to unmount individual disks and diskgroups. • stnttched Cluste111: Virtual SAN 6.0 Update 1 supports stretched clusters that span geographic locations to protect data from site failures or loss of naN connection. Earlier Releases of ESXi 6.0 Features and known Issues of ESXJ 6.0 are described In the release notes for each release. Release notes for earlier releases of ESXJ 6.0, are: • VMware vSphere 6.0 Release Notes Internationalization VMware ESXi 6.0 is available in the following languages: • English • French • German • Japanese • Korean • Simplified Chinese ht!p:l/pubs.vmware.com/Release_NcXss/eiWsphere1601Vsphere-esxi-fn.l1-release-nctas.html 1/14 1011512015 VMware ESXi 6.0 Update 1a Release Notes • Traditional Chinese Components of VMware vSphere 6.0, including vCenter Server, ESXi, the vSphere Web Client, and the vSphere Client do not accept non-ASCII input. Compatibility ESXI, vCenter Server, and vSphere Web Client Version Compatibility The VMware Product I nleroperability Matrix provides details about the compatibility of cunrent and earlier versions of VMware vSphere components, includin! VMware vCenter Server, the vSphere Web Client, and optional VMware products. Check the VMware Product lnleroperability Matrix also for infonnation abo1 supported management and backup agents before you install ESXi or vCenter Server. The vSphere Web Oient is packaged with the vCenter Server. You can install the vSphere Client from the VMware vCenter auto run menu that is part of the r ISO file. Hardware Compatibility for ESXi To view a list of processors, storage devices, SAN arrays, and 1/0 devices that are compatible with vSphera 6.0, use the ESXi 6.0 infonnation in the VMware Compatibility Guide. Device Compatibility for ESXI To detennine which devices are compatible with ESXi 6.0, use the ESXi 6.0 infonnation in the VMware Compatibility Guide. Some devices are deprecated and no longer supported on ESXi 6.0. During the upgrade process, the device driver is installed on the ESXi 6.0 host. The dev driver might still function on ESXi 6.0, but the device is not supported on ESXi 6.0. For a list of devices that are deprecated and no longer supported on ESXi see KB 2087970. Third-Party Switch Compatibility for ESXi VMware now supports Cisco Nexus 1 OOOV with vSphere 6.0. vSphere requires a minimum NX-OS release of 5.2(1 )SV3(1.4). For more Information about Cis Nexus 1 ooov. see the Cisco Release Notes.t>a In previous vSphere releases, Clscso Nexus 1 ooov AVS mode Is not supported. Guest Operating System Compatibility for ESXi To detennine which guest operating systems are compatible with vSphere 6.0, use the ESXi 6.0 infonnation in the VMware Compatibility Guide. Virtual Machine Compatibility for ESXi Virtual machines that are compatible with ESX 3.x and later (hardware version 4) are supported with ESXi 6.0. Virtual machines that are compatible with ESX later {hardware version 3) are not supported. To use such virtual machines on ESXi 6.0, upgrade the virtual machine compatibility. See the vSphere UpgradE documentation. Installation and Upgrades for This Release Installation Notes for This Release Read the vSphere JnstaHation and Setup documentation for guidance about installing and configuring ESXi and vCenter Server. Although the installations are straightforward, several subsequent conf.guration steps are essential. Read the following documentation: • "License Management and Reporting" in the vCenter Server and Host Management documentaton • "Networking• in the vSphere Networking documentation • "Security" in the vSphere Security documentation for infonnation on firewall ports vSphere 6.0 Recommended Deployment Models VMware recommends only two deployment models: • vCenter Server with embedded Platfonm services Controller. This model is recommended if one or more standalone veenter Server instances are re to be deployed in a data canter. Replication betwaen these vCenter Server with embedded Platform Services Controller models are not recommended. • vCenter Server with extemal Platfonn Services Controller. This model is recommended only if multiple vCenter Server instances need to be linked or have reduced footprint of Platfonn Services Controller in the data canter. Replication between these vCenter Server with external Plattonn Services Cont1 models are supported. Read the vSphare JnstaHation and Setup documentation for guidance on installing and configuring vCenter Server. Also, read KB 2108548 for guidance on installing and configuring vCenter Server. vCenter Host OS Information Read the Knowledge Base article KB 2091273. Backup and Restore for vCenter Server and the vCenter Server Appliance Deployments that Use an External Platfor Services Controller Although statements in the vSphare Installation and Setup documentation restrict you from attempting to backup and restore vCenter Server and vCenter Se Appliance deployments that use an external Platform Services Controller, you can pertonn this task by following the steps in KB 2110294. Migration from Embedded Platform Services Controller to External Platform Services Controller ht!p:l/pubs.vmware.com/Release_NcXss/eiWsphere1601Vsphere-esxi-fn.l1-release-nctas.html 2/14 1011512015 VMware ESXi 6.0 Update 1a Release Notes vCenter server with embedded Platform services controller cannot be migrated automatically to vCenter server with external Platform services controller. T of this migration utility is not complete. Before installing vCenter Server, determine your desired deployment option. If mora than one vCenter Servers are required for replication setup, always depl vCenter with external Platform Services Controller. Migrating Third-Party Solutions For information about upgrading with third-party customizations, see the vSphere Upgrade documentation. For information about using I mage Builder to mal custom ISO, see the vSphare Installation and Setup documentation. Upgrades and Installations Disallowed for Unsupported CPUs vSphera 6.0 supports only processors available after June (third quarter) 2006. Comparing the processors supported by vSphera 5.x, vSphera 6.0 no longer supports the following processors: • AMD Opteron 12xx Series • AMD Opteron 22xx series • AMD Oparton 82xx Series During an installation or upgrade, the installer checks the compatibility of the host CPU with vSphere 6.0. If your host hardware is not compatible, a purple sc appears with an incompatibility information massage, and the vSphara 6.0 installation process stops. Upgrade Notes for This Release For instructions about upgrading vCenter Server and ESX/ESXi hosts, see the vSphere Upgrade documentation. Open Source Components for VMware vSphere 6.0 The copyright statements and licenses applicable to the open source software components distributed in vSphere 6.0 are available at http://www.vmware.cor need to log in to your My VMware account. Then, from the Downloads menu, select vSphara. On the Open Source tab, you can also download the source any GPL, LGPL, or other similar licenses that require the source code or modifiCations to source code to be made available for the most recent available rele vSphere. Product Support Notices • vCanter Sarver database. Oracle 11g and 12c as an external database for vCenter Server Appliance has bean deprecated in the vSphara 6.0 release., continues to support Oracle 11 g and 12c as an external database in vSphara 6.0. VMwara will drop support for Oraca 11 g and 12c as an external databe vCantar Server Appliance in a furtura major release. • vSphera Web Client. The storage Reports selection from an object's Monitor tab is no longer available in the vSphere 6.0 Web Client. • vSphera Client. The Storage VIews tab is no longer available in the vSphara 6.0 Client. Patches Contained in this Release This release contains all bulletins for ESXi that were released earlier to the release date of this product. See the VMware Download Patches page for more information about the individual bulletins. Patch Release ESXi600-Updala01 contains the following individual bulletins: ESXi600-201510401·BG: Updates ESXi 6.0 esx·base vib Patch Release ESXI600-Updata01 contains the following Image profiles: ESXi-6.0.0-20151004001-standard ESXi-6.0.0-20151004001-no-tools For information on patch and update classification, see KB 2014447. Resolved Issues The resolved issues are grouped as follows. • CIM and API Issues • Guest Operating System Issues • Upgrade and Installation Issues • Networking Issues • Storage Issues • Backup Issues • Security Issues • Server Configuration Issues • VIrtual Machine Management Issues • VMwara HA and Fault Tolerance Issues • Miscellaneous Issues • VMware Tools Issues CIM and APIIaeuea ht!p:l/pubs.vmware.com/Release_NcXss/eiWspherelm'Vsphere-esxi-fn.l1-release-nctas.html 3'14 11l11512015 VMware ESXi 6.0 Update 1a Release Notee ServeMew CIM Provider fails to monitor hardware status if Emu lex CIM Provider is installed on the same ESXi host When ServerView CIM Provider and Emulex CIM Provider are installed on the same ESXi host, the Emulex CIM Provider (sfcb-emulex_ucn) might fail to resulting in failure to monitor hardware status. This issue is resolved in this release. Guest Operating System Issues An EFI-booted Linux guest might fail to raspond to keyboard and mouse input A Linux guest OS booted on EFI finnware might fail to respond to the keyboard and mouse input if any motion of the mouse occurs during the short wind EFI boot time. This issue is resolved in this release. Upgrade and Installation Issues Applying host profile with stateless caching enabled on stateless ESXi host might take a long lima to complete Applying host profile on stateless ESXi host with large number of storage LUNs might take long time to reboot when you enable stateless caching with as first disk argument. This happens when you manually apply host profile or during the reboot of the host. This issue is resolved in this release. Unable to install or upgrade to VMwara Tools version 9.10.0 on Dutch version of Windows Sarver 2008 R2 Attempts to install or upgrade to VMware Tools version 9.1 0.0 available in ESXi 6.0 might fail on Dutch version of Windows Server 2008 R2. An error me~ similar to the following is displayed: VMware Tools Setup Wizard ended prematurely This issue is resolved in this release. VIB stage operation might cause VIB Installation or configuration change to be lost after an ESXI host reboot When some VIBs are installed on the system, esxupdate constructs a new image in /altbootbank and changes the/altbootbank boot.cfg bootstate t updated. When a live installable VIB is installed, the system saves the configuration change to /altbootbank. The stage operation deletes the contents c /al tbootbank unless you perform a remadiata operation after the stage operation. The VIB installation might be lost if you reboot the host after a stage operaUon. This Issue Is resolved In this release. Networking Issues Attempts to add a vmnic to an ESXi Host on WS fail with Unsupported address family eiTOr Mer you upgrade from ESXi 5.5 to 6.0, attempts to add a vmnic to a VMware ESXi host connected to a vSphere Distributed Switch (VDS) might fail. The occurs when ipfix is enabled and 1Pv6 is disabled. In the /var/log/vmkernel.log file on the affected ESXi host, you see entries similar to: cpulB:xxxxx opiD=xxxxxxxx)WARNING: Ipfix: IpfixActivate:xxx: Activation failed for 'DvsPortset-1': Unsupported address family cpulB:xxxxx opiD=xxxxxxxx)WARNING: Ipfix: IpfixDVPortParamWrite:xxx: Configuration failed for switch DvsPortset-1 port xxxx~ unsupported address family cpulB:xxxxx opiD=xxxxxxxx)WARNING: NetDVS: xxxx: failed to init client for data com.vmware.etherswitch.port,ipfix on port xxx cpulB:xxxxx opiD=xxxxxxxx)WARNING: NetPort: xxxx: failed to enable port Bx4BB0BB2: Unsupported address family cpulB:xxxxx opiD=xxxxxxxx)NetPort: xxxx: disabled port Bx4880BB2 cpulB:xxxxx opiD•xxxxxxxx)Uplink: xxxx: vmnic2: Failed to enable the uplink port 9x4898092: Unsupported address family This issue is resolved in this release. Virtual machines using VMXNET3 virtual adapter might fail when attempting to boot from iPXE Virtual machines using VMXNET3 virtual adapter might fail when attempting to boot from iPXE (open source boot firmware). This issue is resolved in this release. Failover not initiated if an uplink is disconnected or shutdown when using load balancing based on physical NIC load When using load balancing based on physical NIC load on VDS 6.0, if one of the uplinks is disconnected or shut down, failover is not initiated. This issue is resolved in this release. When vmk10 or higher is enabled forvMotion, on reboot vmk1 might get enabled forvMotion Enabling vMotion on vmk1 0 or higher might cause vmk1 to have vMotion enabled on reboot of the ESXi host. This issue can cause excessive traffic over and result in network issues. This issue is resolved in this release. VIrtual machine Network performance data metrtcs not available for VM configured with VMXNET3 connected to a standard vSwltch You are unable to view the real time performance graph for Network of a virtual machine configured with VMXNET3 adapter In the VMware vSphere Clle as the option Is not available In the SWitch to drop-down list. This Issue Is resolved In this release. ht!pJ/pubs.vmware.com/Releasa_Nctss/entvsphere/61l1Vsphere-esxi-EnJ1-release-notes.htrnl 4114 1011512015 VMware ESXi 6.0 Update 1a Release Notes • Networll: connectivity lo.t when applying host profile during Auto Deploy When applying host profile during Auto Deploy, you might lose networll: connecllvlty because the VXl..AN Tunnel Endpoint {VTEP) NIC gets tagged as management vmknlc. This issue is resolved in this release. • N .. ted ESXI might lose connectivity and e1000e virtual NIC might get ,...et Nested ESXi might intermittently lose connectivity and e1 OOOe virtual N IC might get reset. An All Paths Down (APD) condition to NFS volumes might also observed. An error message similar to the following is written to the vmkernel,log file packets completion seems stuck, issuing reset This issue is resolved in this release. • New Network connectivity issu .. after upgrade from ESXi 5.x to ESXi 6.0 After you upgrade from ESXi 5.x to ESXi 6.0, you might encounter the following issues: o The ESXi 6.0 host might randomly lose networll: connectivity o The ESXi 6.0 host becomes non-responsive and unmanageable until reboot o After reboot, the issue is temporarily resolved for a period of time, but occurs again after a random interval o Transmit timeouts are often logged by the NETDEV WATCHDOG service in the ESXi host. You may see entries similar to the following in the /var/log/vmkernel.log tile: cpu9:33245)WARNING: LinNet: netdev_watchdog:3678: NETDEV WATCHDOG: vmnice: transmit timed out cpu9:33245)WARNING: at vmkdrivers/src_92/vmklinux_92/vmware/linux_net.c:3797/netdev_watchdog() {inside vmklinux) o The issue can impact multiple network adapter types across multiple hardware vendors. The exact logging that occurs during a transmit timeout may from card to card. This issue is resolved in this release. Storage l .. ues • ESXI host might fall with a purple diagnostic screen when multiple vSCSI flltens are attached to a VM disk An ESXi 6.0 host might fail with a purple diagnostic screen when multiple vSCSI filters are attached to a VM disk. The purple diagnostic screen or backtra contains enbies similar to the following: cpu24:nnnnnn opiD=nnnnnnnn)@BlueScreen: #PF Exception 14 in world l93492:hostd-worker IP 9x41892c2c994d addr 9x39 PTEs:exnnnnnnnn;exnnnnnnnnnn;exe; cpu24:nnnnnn opiD=nnnnnnnn)Code start: exnnnnnnnnnnnn VMK uptime: 21:86:32:38.296 cpu24:nnnnnn opiD=nnnnnnnn)8xnnnnnnnnnnnn:[9xnnnnnnnnnnnn]VSCSIFilter_GetFilterPrivateData@vmkernel#nover+8x1 stack: 8xnnnnnn1 cpu24:nnnnnn opiD•nnnnnnnn)8xnnnnnnnnnnnn:[9xnnnnnnnnnnnn]VSCSIFilter_IssueinternalCommand@vmkernel#nover+8xc3 stack: exnnnnn1 cpu24:nnnnnn opiD=nnnnnnnn)Bxnnnnnnnnnnnn:[exnnnnnnnnnnnn]CBRC_FilesyncRead@kNone>#+8xbl stack: exe cpu24:nnnnnn opiD=nnnnnnnn)exnnnnnnnnnnnn:[exnnnnnnnnnnnn]CBRC_DigestRecompute@kNone>#+8xnnn stack: exnnnn cpu24:nnnnnn opiD=nnnnnnnn)exnnnnnnnnnnnn:[exnnnnnnnnnnnn]CBRC_FilterDigestRecompute@KNone>#+8x36 stack: ex2e cpu24:nnnnnn opiD=nnnnnnnn)8xnnnnnnnnnnnn:[9xnnnnnnnnnnnn]VSI_Setinfo@vmkernel#nover+8x322 stack: 8xnnnnnnnnnnnn cpu24:nnnnnn opiD=nnnnnnnn)8xnnnnnnnnnnnn:[9xnnnnnnnnnnnn]UWVMKSyscallUnpackVSI_Set@#+8xef stack: 9x41245111df19 YYVY-MM-DD TIME cpu24:nnnnnn opiD=nnnnnnnn)Bxnnnnnnnnnnnn:[exnnnnnnnnnnnn]User_UWVMKSyscallHandler@kNone>#+8x243 stack: exnnnnnnnnnnnn cpu24:nnnnnn opiD=nnnnnnnn)exnnnnnnnnnnnn:[exnnnnnnnnnnnn]user_UWVMKSyscallHandler@vmkernel#nover+8xld stack: exnnnnnnnn cpu24:nnnnnn opiD=nnnnnnnn)8xnnnnnnnnnnnn:[9xnnnnnnnnnnnn]gate_entry@vmkernel#nover+8x64 stack: 8x8 This issue is resolved in this release. • ESXi host stops responding and loses connection to vCenterServer during storage hiccups on Non-ATS VMFS datastores An ESXi host might stop responding and the virtual machines become inaccessible. Also, the ESXi host might lose connection to vCentar Server due to a deadlock during storage hiccups on Non-ATS VMFS datastores. This issue is resolved in this release. • Not-shared Storage and Used Storage not reflecting the expected values for virtual machines When multiple virtual machines share storage space, the vSphere Qient summary page might display incorrect values for the following: o Not-shared Storage in the VM Summary Page o Provisioned Space in the data Summary Page o Used Space in the VM tab of the host ht!p:l/pubs.vmware.com/Release_NcXss/eiWsphere1601Vsphere-esxi-fn.l1-release-nctas.html 5114 1011512015 VMware ESXi 6.0 Update 1a Release Notes This Issue Is resolved In this release. • vSphare might not detect all drlveeln the ayatem evan If they are dlaplayad In the BIOS vSphere might not detect all the 18 drives in the system due to the lsi_msgpt3 driver being unable to detect a single drive per HBA if there are multiple I a system. This issue is resolved in this release. • Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) drtvea greeter than 2 TB not detected by lal-mr3 drtver The lsi_mr3 driver does not detect SAS drive greater than 2 TB. Error messages similar to the following are logged: cpu35:33396)WARNING: ScsiDeviceiO: 8469: Plugin entry point isSSD() failed on device naa.5080c50057b932a7 from plugin NMP: Fa: cpu35:33396)ScsiDevice: 3025: Failing registration of device 'naa.5000c58857b932a7': failed to get device I/0 error attribute: cpu35:33396)ScsiEvents: 545: Event Subsystem: Device Events, Destroyed! cpu35:33396)WARNING: NMP: nmp_RegisterDevice:673: Registration of NMP device with primary uid 'naa.5090c50057b932a7' failed. : error The lsi_mr3 driver is updated in this release to resolve this issue. • VMFS volume Ia locked VMFS volume on an ESXI host might remain locked due to failed metadata operatlons.IVl error message similar to the following Is observed In vmkernel file: WARNING: LVM: 12976: The volume on the device naa.seee2ac002ba0956:1 locked, possibly because some remote host encountered an during a volume operation and could not recover. This issue is resolved in this release. • Attempts to modify atorege policies for virtual machine created from lin ked clone might fail Attempts to modify storage policies of Powered On virtual machine created from linked clones might fail in vCenter Server with an error message similar 1 following: The scheduling parameter change failed. This issue is resolved in this release. • LUNa attached to ESXI 6.0 hoata might remain In APD Tlmaout atate after patha have recovered When an All Paths Down (APD) event oca.~rs, LUNs connected to ESXi might remain inaccassible after paths to the LUNs recover. You sea the following in sequence in the /var/log/vmkernel.log: 1. Device enters APD. 2. Device exits APD. 3. Heartbeat recovery and filesystem operations on the device fail due to not found. 4. The APD timeout expires despite the fact that the device exited APD previously. This issue is resolved in this release. • Unnecaaaary reacan triggered by VIrtual SAN might cause the ESXI hoat and virtual machlnaa to atop responding Unnecessary periodic device and file system rescan triggered by Virtual SAN might cause the ESXi host and virtual machines within the environment to rt stop responding. This issue is resolved in this release. • Stol'llga palfonnanca might be alow on virtual machlnee running on VSA-provlalonad NFS atol'llga Slow NFS storage performance is observed on virtual machines running on VSA-provisioned NFS storage. This is due to the delayed acknowledgements the ESXI machine to NFS Read responses. This Issue Is resolved In this release by disabling delayed acks for LRO TCP packets. • Cloning VMe acroaa different atol'llge eontalnara Incorrectly aeta the aourca VMid aa the eloned VMelnltlal WOL VMid When you clone a virtual machine across different storage containers, the VMid of the source Virtual Volume (WOL) is taken as the initial value for the cl WOLVMID. This Issue Is resolved In this release. • WRITE SAME command le dlaablltd on local drlvaa WRITE SAME command is disabled for local drives in ESXi 6.0 Update 1 as some of disk drives may not completely implement the Write Same functions resulting in erroneous behavior. Alternatively, you can use ea:xcll etoraga cora device vaal etatue command to enable or disable VAAl on local drives. : Knowledge Base article 2131056 for details. Backup lsauas • Snape hot quleeclng fa lie on Lin ux VMa ht!p:l/pubs.vmware.com/Release_NcXss/eiWspherelm'Vsphere-esxi-fn.l1-release-nctas.html 6114 1011512015 VMware ESXi 6.0 Update 1a Release Notes When you perform a quiesced snapshot of a Linux virtual machine, the VM might fail after the snapshot operation. The following error messages are log' the vmware.log file: T