VMware stubs its toe again: NSX has another VM-flattening bug

VMware says its NSX network virtualisation product is growing fast … perhaps too fast, because it's again been found to have a nasty bug.

Virtzilla struck trouble with NSX 6.2.3, which was first declared unsuitable for implementation and then pulled from distribution entirely.

VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger described that incident as a “stubbed toe”. What injury to what part of the anatomy might he therefore invoke given news of an NSX 6.2.4 bug that means virtual machines can sometimes lose network connectivity?

This bug's not as bad as those in 6.2.3, as only those upgrading from 6.1.x experience the problem.

But it's still not a good look.

VMware has no resolution for the problem at present. The company says it is “is actively working on a permanent fix in future NSX for vSphere releases.”

Happily, there is a workaround in the form of a script and accompanying procedure that VMware support will supply to the afflicted. There's only ~1,900 of those, because NSX remains a niche concern. But VMware says NSX is maturing to the point at which it will be embraced by more, and smaller, customers. NSX is also at the heart of the Cloud Foundation product launched at VMworld, which look to be one of VMware's key weapons with which to combat Azure Stack. VMware's Project Goldilocks security product also looks to have more than a little NSX under the hood.

Future NSX bugs will, therefore, have the potential to be more than just embarrassing inconveniences.

VMware blogger Anthony Spiteri has written a post about this problem that concludes with “VMware customers shouldn’t have to be the ones discovering these bugs!” ®