VMware KB: Linux based file systems become read-only

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?cmd=display...

Linux based file systems become read-only

Details
VMware has identified a problem wherein file systems may become read-only after encountering busy I/O retry or SAN or iSCSI path failover errors. The same behavior is expected even on a native Linux environment, where the time required for the file system to become read-only depends on the number of paths available to a particular target, the multi-path software installed on the operating system, and whether the failing I/O was to an EXT3 Journal. However, the problem is aggravated in an ESX Server environment because ESX Server manages multiple paths to the storage target and provides a single path to the guest operating system, which effectively reduces the number of retries done by the guest operating system. These guest operating systems are affected: RHEL5 (RedHat) RHEL4 U6 RHEL4 U4 RHEL4 U3 SLES10 SLES9 SP3 Note: This issue may affect other Linux distributions based on early 2.6 kernels as well, such as Ubuntu 7.04.

Solution
Note: This article does not supersede the Guest Operating System Installation Guide (http://pubs.vmware.com/guestnotes/) . A guest operating system upgrade may require an ESX upgrade as well. This Linux kernel bug has been fixed in different updates of different Linux distributions. Not all kernel versions include the patch. Contact your Linux Distributor for more information. For RHEL5, upgrade to Update 1 (also referred to as RHEL5.1). For more information, see the RedHat Bug 228108 (https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=228108) . For RHEL4 U6, upgrade to kernel version 2.6.9-89.0.7. For more information, see the RedHat Bug 197158 (https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=197158) . For RHEL4 U3 and RHEL U4, upgrade to Update 5 (RHEL 4.5). For SLES10, upgrade to SP2. For more information, see the Novell Knowledge Base article 3605538
(http://www.novell.com/support/php/search.do?cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&externalId=3605538&sliceId=1&docTypeID=DT_TID_1_1& dialogID=14162194&stateId=0%200%2014164046)

For SLES9 SP3, upgrade to SP4 or SP3 Maintenance Release build 2.6.5-7.286. For more information, see the Novell Knowledge Base article 7005154 (http://www.novell.com/support/search.do?searchString=3584352) . For Ubuntu 7.04, upgrade to 7.10.
Keywords

1 of 2

11/15/2010 3:46 PM

VMware KB: Linux based file systems become read-only

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?cmd=display...

SLES; SLES 9; SLES 10; RHEL; RHEL 4; RHEL5; Upgrade 1; Upgrade 3; Upgrade 4; Upgrade 5; Red Hat Enterprise Linux; SUSE Linux Enterprise Server; filesystem; read-only; read only; redhat; suse; linux This Article Replaces
1000143 1001778

Request a Product Feature To request a new product feature or to provide feedback on a VMware product, please visit the Request a Product Feature (http://www.vmware.com/contact/contactus.html?department=prod_request) page. Permalink to: Linux based file systems become read-only (http://kb.vmware.com/kb/51306)
Read our blog (http://blogs.vmware.com/kb/)
/vmwarekb)

Watch KBTV (http://blogs.vmware.com/kbtv/)

Follow us (http://www.twitter.com

Request New Content (http://www.vmware.com/landing_pages/knowledgebase-content-request.html)

KB Article: 51306 Updated: Sep 15, 2010 Category Troubleshooting Products: VMware ESX VMware ESXi Product Versions: VMware ESX 2.5.x VMware ESX 3.0.x VMware ESX 3.5.x VMware ESX 4.0.x VMware ESXi 3.5.x Embedded VMware ESXi 3.5.x Installable VMware ESXi 4.0.x Embedded VMware ESXi 4.0.x Installable

2 of 2

11/15/2010 3:46 PM