IBM Support

Restored virtual machines that have SCSI and SATA disks may have boot-up problems

Troubleshooting


Problem

After using the Tivoli Storage Manager 7.1 Windows client to restore a virtual machine (VM) that has both SCSI and SATA disks, the VM may not boot up if the SCSI disk is the boot disk.

Symptom

Virtual machines containing SCSI and SATA disks that are restored by the IBM Tivoli Storage Manager 7.1 client do not boot up if the SCSI disk is the boot disk.

Cause

If a virtual machine has a SCSI boot disk and one or more additional SATA disks, the restore process may cause the SATA disks to be put at the top of the boot order. In this case, the boot-up attempts will fail.

Diagnosing The Problem

This problem occurs when there is a mix of SCSI and SATA disks in the VM, and the SCSI disk is the boot disk. To determine if this problem has been encountered, check the BIOS to determine if the boot order incorrectly has the SATA disk rather than the SCSI boot disk at the top of the boot order. (See the next section for a description on how to check the boot order.)

Resolving The Problem

There are two ways to resolve the problem.

  1. Download the .nvram file for the original virtual machine from datastore and upload the .nvram file to overwrite the restored virtual machine's .nvram file.
  2. Change the restored virtual machine's BIOS boot order to make sure SCSI boot disk is at the top list.

The following procedures describe the steps for each method.

Download the .nvram file of the backup virtual machine and overwrite the .nvram file of the restored virtual machine:
  1. Log on to vSphere Web Client as administrator.
  2. Find the original(backup) virtual machine's .nvram from datastore.
  3. Power off the original virtual machine if it is powered on.
  4. Right click the .nvram file, and then from the context menu choose to download the file to a local file.
  5. Find the restored virtual machine's .nvram from datastore.
  6. Power off the original virtual machine if it is powered on.
  7. Right click the .nvram file, and then from the context menu choose to delete
    the file.
  8. Overwrite the restored virtual machine's .nvram file by uploading the original saved .nvram file from step 4.
  9. Power on the restored machine. The system should boot up successfully.

Change BIOS boot order steps:
  1. Log on to vSphere Web Client as administrator.
  2. Power off the virtual machine if it is powered on.
  3. (Optional) Go to the virtual machine's "Edit Settings": page, click on the "VM Options" tab, expand "Boot Options", select the check-box next to "Force BIOS setup" to force entry into BIOS during the next boot up, and then click on OK to commit the change.
  4. Power on the virtual machine.
  5. Launch the console window for the VM. The BIOS screen should display as shown below. (Note: In this screenshot the boot order has already been corrected.)
  6. Adjust the boot order so that the SCSI boot disk is first and then save and exit the BIOS.
  7. The system should start as expected.

[{"Product":{"code":"SSERB6","label":"IBM Spectrum Protect for Virtual Environments"},"Business Unit":{"code":"BU058","label":"IBM Infrastructure w\/TPS"},"Component":"Data Protection for VMware","Platform":[{"code":"PF033","label":"Windows"}],"Version":"All Versions","Edition":"Edition Independent","Line of Business":{"code":"LOB26","label":"Storage"}}]

Document Information

Modified date:
17 June 2018

UID

swg21660059

Page Feedback