Details
- You cannot ping the ESX host.
- You cannot successfully connect via SSH or the Virtual Infrastructure Client.
- The ESX host may show as Not Responding in Virtual Center Management Server.
- Sourcing a ping from the ESX host results in packet loss returning the error, Operation not permitted .
Solution
To check the status of the firewall process and restart the process:
- Log in to the ESX Server service console.
- Run the following command.
ps -elf |grep -i firewall - Look for the following process and note if the word "defunct" is present.
root xxxx 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? Z 10:59 0:00 [esxcfg-firewall <defunct>] - Reset the firewall with the following command.
esxcfg-firewall -r
The ESX Server firewall reloads and your connectivity resumes.
Based on VNware KB 1003941
