[libvirt-users] VMware ESX 4.0 won't reboot guests.

[Matthias Bolte]

2010/12/28 Patric Falinder <patric.falinder at omg.nu>:
> Hi,
>
> I just compiled libvirt with ESX support. I can login just fine, list all
> the guests/domains but when I try to reboot or shutdown one of my
> guests/domains I get this error:
>
> virsh # reboot dbcluster1
> error: Failed to reboot domain dbcluster1
> error: internal error HTTP response code 500 for call to 'RebootGuest'.
> Fault: ServerFaultCode - fault.RestrictedVersion.summary

RestrictedVersion is the relevant word here and the problem is on the
server side and not in libvirt itself.

> And nothing happens.
> I'm logged in as root so it shouldn't be any permission-related problems
> right!? because I can reboot it just fine with the vSpehere Client on one of
> my Windows boxes.

I guess you're actually using an ESXi 4.0 server and it's license has
expired. In that case the ESXi server is in "free" mode and it's
management API (the vSphere API) can only be used in read-only mode.

libvirt uses the vSphere API to manage the ESX(i) server. When the
vSphere API is in read-only mode libvirt can still list guest and
output information about them. It can also still define new guests and
create new storage volumes, but it cannot start or reboot guests as
the ESX(i) server rejects this with a RestrictedVersion fault.

You can reboot a guest using the vSphere Client even in free/read-only
mode because VMware designed it to be that way.

A newly installed ESX(i) server comes with a 60 days full featured
evaluation license that also enables full vSphere API access. After 60
days of usage the license expires and the ESX(i) server goes into
free/read-only mode and the vSphere Client is the only tool that can
start or reboot guest in this mode.

You can find additional details in the VMware blog post:
http://blogs.vmware.com/esxi/2009/06/esxi-vs-esx-a-comparison-of-features.html

Matthias