November 9, 2023 at 01:11PM
Microsoft has acknowledged a problem causing Windows Server 2022 VMs to experience blue screens and boot failures on VMware ESXi hosts. The issue is related to a specific update released in October 2023. VMware ESXi hosts with certain configurations are affected. Microsoft is working on a fix, but in the meantime, admins can use temporary workarounds such as disabling certain options or uninstalling the update. Similar issues have occurred in the past, leading to emergency updates from both Microsoft and VMware.
Key takeaways from the meeting notes:
1. Windows Server 2022 virtual machines (VMs) on VMware ESXi hosts are experiencing blue screens and boot failures due to a known issue.
2. The issue is caused by the KB5031364 October 2023 cumulative update.
3. Microsoft has acknowledged the ongoing issues and stated that they only affect VMware ESXi hosts with specific configurations.
4. The affected VMs display a blue screen error with the Stop code: PNP DETECTED FATAL ERROR.
5. Microsoft’s engineering team is actively working on a fix, expected to be available next week.
6. Temporary workarounds include disabling the “Expose IOMMU to guest OS” option in affected VMs’ settings or uninstalling the KB5031364 update, although the latter will remove all deployed security patches.
7. Uninstalling the update can be done using the Windows Update Standalone Installer (WUSA) tool and following specific steps.
8. Similar issues with Hyper-V VMs and VMware ESXi VMs with Secure Boot have been encountered in the past, with Microsoft and VMware issuing emergency updates to address the problems.