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I have a particular VMWare ESX 4.1 host that has a very persistent "Host memory status" alarm.

This is running on an HP ProLiant DL360 G7 server. The HP ILO and System Management agents don't know any errors. If I clear the alarm in the vSphere client, it returns within a day. I've tried reseating DIMMs, however, the error does not indicate a problem with a specific module.

There's another host in the cluster with an identical configuration. It's not exhibiting any issues.

Any thoughts?

This is touched on briefly on other forums (and here) with no clear resolution.

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  • Anything in the IML logs? both on the same firmware? sounds like a HW issue to me
    – Chopper3
    Apr 12, 2012 at 15:58
  • IML is clean. SMH is clean. No LEDs/indicators on the front display.
    – ewwhite
    Apr 12, 2012 at 16:00
  • 1
    In a position to shut them both down and swap their disks? see if the problem stayed with the HW or code? Otherwise I'd say it's a HW problem and get HP to fix it.
    – Chopper3
    Apr 12, 2012 at 16:08
  • I could swap DIMMs or order warranty replacements. But since the error doesn't specify a slot...
    – ewwhite
    Apr 12, 2012 at 16:17

4 Answers 4

Reset to default
4

whens the last time you've updated the HP ESXi stuff? There could be a bug in thier HW pack that's been resolved, or provides more info.

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2
  • Updated to the newest ESX 4.1 update Wednesday. I'll try updating the PSP now.
    – ewwhite
    Apr 12, 2012 at 18:17
  • It's been a day, and I've had no errors since. So updating the HP ProLiant Support Pack seems to have helped.
    – ewwhite
    Apr 13, 2012 at 20:06
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I experienced the same issue and this article solved it. I ended up having to perform all 9 steps.

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2011531

To resolve this issue, you must clear warnings and errors from the Hardware Status tab in VMware vCenter Server.

To clear warnings and errors from the Hardware Status tab:

  1. Go to the Hardware Status tab.
  2. Click the System event log view.
  3. Click Reset event log.
  4. Click Update. The error clears.
  5. Click the Alerts and warnings view.
  6. Click Reset sensors.
  7. Click Update. The memory clears.

Note: If the error does not clear, connect, connect to the host via SSH. For more information, see Enabling root SSH login on an ESX host (8375637).

  1. Run this command to restart the sfcbd service:
    services.sh restart

    Run this command to restart the service in ESX:
    /etc/init.d/sfcbd-watchdog restart

  2. Click Update. The error clears.

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2
  • 1
    Welcome to Server Fault! Whilst this may theoretically answer the question, it would be preferable to include the essential parts of the answer here, and provide the link for reference.
    – slm
    Sep 6, 2013 at 21:08
  • Reset event log did the trick for me! I was scratching my head over this discrepancy for a day now, but finally it it solved! Thank you!
    – Stone
    Jan 11, 2018 at 7:52
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I faced with the same problem recently on my HP Proliant DL360 G9 and VCenter 5.5. Here is the magic sequence from Cannot clear Hardware Status warnings and errors in VMware vCenter Server 4.x and 5.x that helped:

To clear warnings and errors from the Hardware Status tab:

  1. Click the Hardware Status tab.
  2. Click the System event log view.
  3. Click Reset event log.
  4. Click Update to clear the error.
  5. Click the Alerts and warnings view.
  6. Click Reset sensors.
  7. Click Update to clear the memory.

Note: If the error does not clear, connect to the host via SSH

  1. Run this command to restart the sfcbd service:

    services.sh restart

    Run this command to restart the service in ESX:

    /etc/init.d/sfcbd-watchdog restart

  2. Click Update.

See also Warnings in the Hardware Status tab of the ESXi 5.x host fails to clear documents for more details.

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0

I had the "Host Memory Status" alarm in vCenter 7.0.2 for a Dell R640. I logged into the Dell's iDRAC and there was a RAM error:

The memory health monitor feature has detected a degradation
in the DIMM installed in DIMM_A1.

Reboot system to initiate self-heal process.

So sometimes the error is a real hardware error.

After rebooting iDRAC showed:

The self-heal operation successfully completed at DIMM DIMM_A1.

... and vCenter stopped complaining.

After that I went and Googled "self-healing dimm" and learned what the technology is behind that message. I hadn't realized that there were DIMM problems that could be "self healed", but there are!

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