High CPU Utilization on ESXi Host - No VMs Running

K

KapsZ28

2[H]4U
Joined
May 29, 2009
Messages
2,114
This is just annoying. Yesterday I picked up a relatively inexpensive Intel server board and Xeon processor to build a second ESXi server. I already install ESXi 5.1 multiple times. For some reason a lot of the CPU is being used when there is nothing even running.

vps02.jpg


This picture shows my new ESXi server which has nothing running compared to my other ESXi server which has 7 VMs currently running.

vps02-2.jpg


The ESXi server with 7 VMs is barely using the CPU and the new server is using almost 50%. Why would this be?
 
KapsZ28 said:
The ESXi server with 7 VMs is barely using the CPU and the new server is using almost 50%. Why would this be?
Click to expand...
Because you are confused and the one with the VMs is at 50%? :)

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Could be IPMI, other network traffic hammering your card(s)?
 
ssh into it and run the top command :D

To enable the local or remote ESXi Shell from the vSphere Client
1 - Select the host, click the Configuration tab, and click Security Profile in the Software panel.
2 - In the Services section, click Properties.
3 - Select ESXi Shell and click Options.
4 - Change the ESXi Shell options.

To temporarily start or stop the service, click the Start or Stop button.
To enable access permanently, click Start and stop with host.

The change will take effect the next time you reboot the host.
 
zer0sum said:
ssh into it and run the top command :D

To enable the local or remote ESXi Shell from the vSphere Client
1 - Select the host, click the Configuration tab, and click Security Profile in the Software panel.
2 - In the Services section, click Properties.
3 - Select ESXi Shell and click Options.
4 - Change the ESXi Shell options.

To temporarily start or stop the service, click the Start or Stop button.
To enable access permanently, click Start and stop with host.

The change will take effect the next time you reboot the host.
Click to expand...

Good point. I am too used to a GUI interface and just starting to learn Linux. I will run the top command and check it out.
 
Hallo,

I also have the problem with ESX 5.1 with a X9SCM-F mainboard.
Suprisingly enough, installing ESX 5.0 U2 fixed the problem for me.

Here is a screenshot of esxtop on ESX 5.1 : http://postimg.org/image/4yfpll7nb/
All updates have been applied to ESX 5.1 using Updatemanager.

Regards,

Fahnder


edit: BIOS Version is 2.0b; IPMI 1.86
 
That was from esxtop. The board does have IPMI which I didn't see how to disable.
 
Shockey said:
Found this on google while searching.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23363002@N05/5474266283/

On supermicro boards i have, I've always found it in the BIOS setting, or are we talking about something inside of ESXI I'm not aware of??? :confused:
Click to expand...

I can give that a shot, but my ESXi won't even boot or reinstall at the moment. I want to disable IPMI in the BIOS because only 1 NIC is available. I know IPMI can be shared, but for some reason NIC 1 is not available at all. I am not overly impressed with this Intel motherboard. I used the Intel boot disk to check for BIOS updates and it just gets stuck at looking for updates. The lack of disabling IMPI is annoying. Now ESXi keeps getting stuck at "Initializing Scheduler."
 
So the "Initializing Scheduler" is just a USB problem. After re-installing ESXi still only 1 NIC is available. The NIC available is actually the IPMI NIC. So, it appears to be shared. Not sure why NIC 2 isn't being detected. Will install Windows in a little bit to confirm.
 
After installing Windows Server 2008, I can see that the dual port NIC has two different NICs in it. Very odd. Can't say that I have ever seen that before.

NIC1 - Intel 82574L
NIC2 - Intel 82579LM

I can't find any information online about what NIC is supposed to be on the motherboard, but I found a similar Asus board that specifically says it has two Intel 82574L's in it. I would just exchange this motherboard for the Asus, but I don't think the Asus will have compatible graphics with ESXi.

http://usa.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_1155/P8B_WS/
 
I had high vmkapimod load with an X9DR3-F when I upgraded to IPMI version 2.15, before upgrading the BIOS as well. Now I've got the BIOS to 2.00 and the high load is gone for now.

Check your ESXi boot volume and remove all occurences of ipmi_ipm.* from the boot.cfg. That will disable the IPMI interface in ESXi without having to disable IPMI at all.
 
Last edited:
Thank guys. I am good to go. I disabled the IPMI in VMware and that fixed the CPU. I also installed the drivers for the second NIC and that is working too.

vps02-3.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top