VMware has published an update for ESXi 5.5.

Product: VMware ESXi 5.5

Release date: January 27, 2015

Patch: ESXi550-201501001

Build: 2403361

Build (security only): 2352327

The Update resolves 45 issues including the following:

ESXi hosts with virtual machines with vFlash installed on them might stop responding and display a purple screen with backtrace similar to the following:

2014-06-02T17:04:41.439Z cpu8:33632)@BlueScreen: #PF Exception 14 in world 33632:Cmpl-vmhba1- IP 0xnnnnnnnnnnnn addr 0x20

PTEs:0xnnnnnnnnn;0xnnnnnnnnnn;0x0;

2014-06-02T17:04:41.439Z cpu8:33632)Code start: 0x41803ca00000 VMK uptime: 0:00:25:49.169

2014-06-02T17:04:41.439Z cpu8:33632)0xnnnnnnnnnnnn:[0xnnnnnnnnnnnn]BitVector_SetExtent@vmkernel#nover+0x14 stack: 0xnnnnnnnnnnnn

2014-06-02T17:04:41.440Z cpu8:33632)0xnnnnnnnnnnnn:[0xnnnnnnnnnnnn]VFC_DeleteData@ # +0x310 stack: 0x0

2014-06-02T17:04:41.440Z cpu8:33632)0xnnnnnnnnnnnn:[0xnnnnnnnnnnnn]VFC_TreePurgeWrite@ # +0x7b stack: 0xnnnnnnnnnnnn

2014-06-02T17:04:41.441Z cpu8:33632)0xnnnnnnnnnnnn:[0xnnnnnnnnnnnn]VFCRW_WriteThruIOCompletion@ # +0x18b stack: 0xnnnnnnnnnnnn

2014-06-02T17:04:41.441Z cpu8:33632)0xnnnnnnnnnnnn:[0xnnnnnnnnnnnn]VFlashAsyncIOComplete@com.vmware.vmkapi#v2_2_0_0+0x2af stack: 0x412e

ESXi hosts might fail with a purple screen and display error messages similar to the following when you perform vMotion:

@BlueScreen: #PF Exception 14 in world 249122:vmotionStrea IP 0xnnnnnnnnnnnn addr 0xnnnnnnnnnnnn

2014-07-16T07:09:57.026Z cpu62:249122)Code start: 0xnnnnnnnnnnnn VMK uptime: 0:19:41:16.346

0xnnnnnnnnnnnn:[0xnnnnnnnnnnnn]NUMALatency_GetNodeHops@vmkernel#nover+0x22 stack: 0xnnnnnnnnnnnn

Under certain conditions, a userworld program might not function as expected and might lead to accumulation of large number of zombie processes in the system. As a result, the globalCartel heap might exhaust causing operations like vMotion and SSH to fail as new processes cannot be forked when an ESXi host is in the heap memory exhaustion state. The ESXi host might not exit this state until you reboot the ESXi host.

Warning messages similar to the following might be written in the vmkernel.log file: 2014-07-31T23:58:01.400Z cpu16:3256397)WARNING: Heap: 2677: Heap globalCartel-1 already at its maximum size. Cannot expand.

2014-08-01T00:10:01.734Z cpu54:3256532)WARNING: Heap: 2677: Heap globalCartel-1 already at its maximum size. Cannot expand.

2014-08-01T00:20:25.165Z cpu45:3256670)WARNING: Heap: 2677: Heap globalCartel-1 already at its maximum size. Cannot expand.

Warning messages similar to the following might be written in the vmkernel.log file: ESXi 5.5.x host might fail with a purple screen with error messages similar to the following:

@BlueScreen: #PF Exception 14 in world 32805:helper1-2 IP 0x418037069486 addr 0x189PTEs:0x185b628027;0x12102d027;0x0;

Code start: 0x418037000000 VMK uptime: 0:00:00:46.945

0x41238095df00:[0x418037069486]IOMMUDoReportFault@vmkernel#nover+0x1d6 stack: 0x200000404

0x41238095df30:[0x418037069643]IOMMUProcessFaults@vmkernel#nover+0x1f stack: 0x0

0x41238095dfd0:[0x4180370612ca]helpFunc@vmkernel#nover+0x6b6 stack: 0x0

0x41238095dff0:[0x418037255452]CpuSched_StartWorld@vmkernel#nover+0xfa stack: 0x0

ESXi hosts might fail with a purple screen with error messages similar to the following:

@BlueScreen: #PF Exception 14 in world 34370:hostd-worker IP 0x41803a8b3ef1 addr 0x18

PTEs:0x133632027;0x806241d027;0x0;

0xxxxxxxxx:[0xyyyyyyyyyy]VmkDrv_WakeupAllWaiters@vmkernel#nover+0x125 stack: 0xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Full list: KB2099265

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The latest ESXi 5.5.0 Build number is now: 2403361

Updated: ESXi Release and Build Number History

Updated: VMware Product Latest Version

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