Dell UnityVSA: Modifying a UnityVSA VM Is Not Supported

Summary: Modifying the physical configuration of a Dell UnityVSA Virtual Machine (VM) using vSphere is not supported, except for adding virtual disks for data storage.

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Symptoms

  • An administrator removed vNICs from the physical configuration of the Dell Unity
  • A reboot occurred during a Non-Disruptive Upgrade (NDU)
  • As a result, data became unavailable (D/U) after the Storage Processor (SP) reboot during the upgrade procedure
  • The SP failed to boot into normal mode on the Dell UnityVSA and is in service mode

 

/var/log/boot.out
2016-10-31 13:53:14.649 Area from 00000001a1600000 ( 6678M), size 0000000020000000 ( 512M), name GmsPersistWrCa.1, checksum c51b0700
2016-10-31 13:53:14.654 Completely in E820 region from <0000000100000000> to <000000033fffffff> type <usable>
2016-10-31 13:53:14.892 Refreshing registry, see /var/log/registry_load_dump.txt for details.
2016-10-31 13:53:15.353 ===== virtual_hw_checks =====
2016-10-31 13:53:16.789 Got bogus speed line in ethtool output for 'eth1' ( Speed: Unknown!). at /EMC/Platform/bin/virtual_hw_check.pl line 196.
2016-10-31 13:53:17.058 0xFC1B3001 Virtual hardware configuration doesn't match supported profiles. Going to service mode.
2016-10-31 13:53:17.144 1
2016-10-31 13:53:17.361 =================================================================
2016-10-31 13:53:17.370 === *** Going into service mode because of a fault *** ===
2016-10-31 13:53:17.379 =================================================================
2016-10-31 13:53:17.387 === When escalating to platform services, please make sure to ===
2016-10-31 13:53:17.398 === include the messages ABOVE this notice. You can ignore ===
2016-10-31 13:53:17.408 === any errors below. ===
2016-10-31 13:53:17.416 =================================================================

Cause

Modifying a Dell UnityVSA physical configuration in vSphere is not supported and can cause data unavailability issues. Issues are typically triggered after an SP reboot. 

 

"Using vSphere to modify the physical configuration of a UnityVSA VM (such as adding or removing network interfaces or modifying the VM's cache size) is not supported, except for adding virtual disks to store user data." Dell EMC UnityVSA Installation Guide 5.x June 2021 (page 13)

Resolution

  • Add back removed vNICs using vSphere and reboot the SP
  • Undo all physical changes made in vSphere and reboot the SP

 

vSphere Hardware Configuration - network adapter details

 

Affected Products

Dell EMC Unity, Dell EMC Unity Family |Dell EMC Unity All Flash, Dell EMC Unity Hybrid
Article Properties
Article Number: 000052850
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 08 Oct 2025
Version:  3
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