Resolving a problem connecting to ESX

If a problem occurs with the connection to the VMware ESX hypervisor, the messages BTAVM2201E/BTAVM2202E, BTAVM2017E, and BTADS0001I are displayed in the probe result and trace logs. This message sequence indicates that the optical-fiber connector (FC) connection to the hypervisor was disabled .

Problem

When you run a probe on a VMware ESX hypervisor, you might receive the following sequence of error messages:

  • Message BTAVM2201E indicates that the physical storage configuration of the hypervisor could not be collected.
  • Message BTAVM2202E indicates that the logical storage configuration of the hypervisor could not be collected.
  • Message BTAVM2017E indicates that the probe of the hypervisor failed.
  • Message BTADS0001I indicates that the specified discovery request has completed, but with a return code of 99 The probe has failed.
The following example shows the error sequence, as generated on an VMware ESX hypervisor, version 5:
2012-04-10 05:10:01.883-0700 BTADS0000I Starting Discover Process Front End , 
with Device Server RUN ID 1025 , and Job ID 2182 .
2012-04-10 05:10:01.890-0700 BTAVM0008I Probe of hypervisor 
tpcblade6-4.storage.server.domain.com has started.
2012-04-10 05:10:09.316-0700 BTAVM0015I Collection of the 
physical storage configuration for hypervisor tpcblade6-4.storage
.server.domain.com has started.
2012-04-10 05:20:10.521-0700 BTAVM2011E The operation 
performMethodInvocation could not complete within the time limit of 
600000 milliseconds.
2012-04-10 05:20:10.564-0700 BTAVM2201E Probe: An error occurred 
during the collection of the physical storage configuration.
2012-04-10 05:20:10.597-0700 BTAVM2017E Probe of the hypervisor 
tpcblade6-4.storage.server.domain.com failed.
2012-04-10 05:20:10.607-0700 BTADS0001I Discover Process with 
Device Server RUN ID 1025 and Job ID 2182 is complete with 
Status= 4 , Return Code= 99 .

The point of failure can vary between different VMware ESX hypervisor versions. For example, a VMware ESX hypervisor, version 3 will fail during the collection of logical storage with BTAVM2202E, and a VMware ESX hypervisor, version 5 fails during the collection of physical storage with BTAVM2201E.

If messages of this general type are in the probe and the IBM Spectrum® Control device server trace, it is likely that the optical-fiber connector (FC) connection to the hypervisor has been disabled.

The device server trace log is located in the TPC_Directory/device/log/traceTPCDeviceServer.log. If this error condition has occurred, the trace log contains an entry similar to the following example:

2012-03-07 10:27:34.900-0800 Occured Exception on 
https://mystorage.server.com:443/sdk: 
com.ibm.tpc.vmmgr.client.VIException: InvocationTargetException.
	at com.ibm.tpc.vmmgr.client.VIClientWrapper.handleException
(VIClientWrapper.java:739)

Action

To resolve the problem, reconnect the optical-fiber connector (FC) connection, run the probe again, and refresh the data sources:
  1. Add the ESX hypervisor to IBM Spectrum Control to monitor and discover.
  2. Probe the ESX hypervisor.
  3. Disable the switch port in which the ESX hypervisor is connected.
  4. Unplug the cable from the switch or the ESX hypervisor.
  5. Run a probe on the ESX hypervisor. The expected result is that the probe fails.
  6. Reestablish the connection, either by enabling the port or by reconnecting the FC cable.
  7. Scan the HBA on the ESX hypervisor and refresh the datastore objects on the hypervisor using the VMware Infrastructure (VI) client.
  8. Run a probe on the ESX hypervisor.