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VMware vSphere 6 on Dell EMC PowerEdge Servers Release Notes

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Configuring NVMe devices as passthrough device to the guest operating system, ESXi host stops responding and results in PSOD

Description:
When the NVMe devices are configured as passthrough device to the guest operating system, the host system stops functioning and can result in data corruption.
Applies to:
ESXi 6.0 U2
Solution:
You must manually set the Virtual Machine (VM) Memory Mapped Input Output (MMIO) space to 2 GB in the .vmx file by using the following steps:
NOTE:Do not replace any hardware components while performing these steps.
  1. All the VMs configured memory must be reserved. If each VM has 2 GB of memory allocated, you should reserve all 2 GB. To do this by using the vSphere Client, select the Reserve all guest memory option from the Memory drop-down menu under the Resources tab in a Virtual Machine’s Settings window. For more information, see the VMware Knowledge Base article 1010789.
  2. For VMs that have more than 2 GB of configured memory, add this parameter to the .vmx file of the VM: pciHole.start = “2048”. 
    NOTE:The guest OS should be turned off before editing the .vmx file.
  3. By using the vSphere Client, connect NVMe PCIe SSD installer that is configured as passthrough devices directly to the ESXi host, or select the host in vCenter.
  4. Right-click the VM and select Edit Settings.
  5. Add a new device by selecting PCI Device from the list, and then click Next.
  6. Select the NVMe PCIe SSD as the passthrough device to connect to the VM from the drop-down list, and then click Next.
  7. Click Finish.
  8. Download and install the supported drivers for the VM's OS.
  9. Reboot the VM.

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