Hayden

Encountering the dreaded purple screen in your ESXi environment? The “GP Exception 13 in world 32771” error is one of those PSOD (Purple Screen of Death) issues that can catch administrators off guard and cause significant downtime. This guide provides comprehensive, field-tested solutions to diagnose and resolve this critical error. We’ll walk through the root causes and proven resolution methods step by step, focusing on practical approaches that work in real-world environments.

GP Exception 13 represents a General Protection Fault occurring when ESXi encounters memory access violations or illegal instruction executions. The “world 32771” identifier indicates the specific VMware workload where the fault occurred, typically related to network drivers or underlying hardware issues. This error can stem from either hardware or software problems, manifesting when there are memory access permission conflicts or unauthorized access attempts to protected memory regions.

 

 

1. Network Driver Issues Resolution

Switching from E1000 to VMXNET3 Driver

The most common cause of this error is the use of E1000 network drivers. Multiple case studies have confirmed E1000 driver usage as a primary trigger for this PSOD.

Resolution Steps:

  1. Power Down the Virtual Machine
    • Use vCenter Client or ESXi Web Client to gracefully shut down the affected VM
  2. Modify Network Adapter Settings
    • Right-click VM and select Edit Settings
    • Navigate to Hardware tab and select Network Adapter
    • Change adapter type to VMXNET 3
  3. Update VMware Tools 
    # After VM boot, install latest VMware Tools
mount /dev/cdrom /mnt
cd /mnt
tar -xzvf VMwareTools-*.tar.gz
cd vmware-tools-distrib
./vmware-install.pl

Disable VMXNET3 Hardware LRO

Even with VMXNET3 adapters, hardware LRO (Large Receive Offload) functionality can trigger PSOD events, particularly noted in ESXi 6.0 U2 environments.

ESXi Host Configuration:

# SSH to ESXi host and execute
esxcli system settings advanced set -o /Net/Vmxnet3HwLRO -i 0

 

Configuration Item Default Value Recommended Value Description
Net.Vmxnet3HwLRO 1 (Enabled) 0 (Disabled) Hardware LRO feature control

 

 

2. Intel 13th/12th Generation CPU Issues

Systems running Intel 13th generation (Raptor Lake) CPUs may experience this error during VM startup when E-Cores or P-Cores are not properly disabled.

Option 1: Disable E-Cores in BIOS (Recommended)

BIOS Configuration Steps:

  1. Enter BIOS/UEFI during system boot
  2. Navigate to CPU Configuration menu
  3. Set Efficiency Cores or E-Cores option to Disabled
  4. Save settings and reboot

Option 2: ESXi Kernel Configuration

When BIOS modification isn’t possible, use these kernel parameter adjustments:

Temporary Boot Configuration:

  1. Press Shift + O during ESXi boot
  2. Add to boot options: cpuUniformityHardCheckPanic=FALSE

Permanent Configuration:

# SSH to ESXi host and execute
esxcli system settings kernel set -s cpuUniformityHardCheckPanic -v FALSE
esxcli system settings kernel set -s ignoreMsrFaults -v TRUE

Verify Configuration:

esxcli system settings kernel list -o cpuUniformityHardCheckPanic
esxcli system settings kernel list -o ignoreMsrFaults

 

 

3. NUMA Configuration Issues

ESXi 6.5’s vNUMA optimization can cause vNUMA topology changes during virtual machine migration, leading to this error.

ESXi Host NUMA Settings

Configure via vCenter Web Client:

  1. Connect to vCenter Server
  2. Select ESXi host
  3. Navigate to Configure tab → Advanced System Settings
  4. Search for Numa.FollowCoresPerSocket
  5. Change value to 1

SSH Command Configuration:

# Execute on ESXi host
esxcli system settings advanced set -o /Numa/FollowCoresPerSocket -i 1

Virtual Machine NUMA Settings Cleanup

Edit the problematic VM’s .vmx file to remove:

# Remove or comment out these entries
numa.autosize.cookie
numa.autosize.vcpu.maxPerVirtualNode
cpuid.coresPerSocket

 

 

4. Hardware and Firmware Verification

Network Card Driver and Firmware Check

Check Current Driver Information:

# List network cards
esxcli network nic list

# Get specific NIC details
esxcli network nic get -n vmnic0

# Check installed drivers
esxcli software vib list | grep -i network

Problematic Drivers

Driver Name Description Common Issues
nenic Cisco VIC Ethernet NIC Frequent PSOD in ESXi 8.0.3
igbn Intel Gigabit Ethernet Issues with firmware version mismatches
ixgben Intel 10Gb Ethernet Memory access errors in older versions

Resolution Process:

  1. Verify against VMware Hardware Compatibility Guide
  2. Update to latest supported drivers and firmware
  3. Avoid unsupported driver combinations

 

 

5. Memory and System Configuration Optimization

Memory Allocation Settings Review

Virtual Machine Memory Configuration:

# Check memory reservations
vim-cmd vmsvc/getallvms
vim-cmd vmsvc/get.config <VM_ID>

Recommended Settings:

  • Memory Reservation: ≤75% of physical memory
  • Memory Limit: Unlimited or with adequate headroom
  • Memory Sharing: Enable only when necessary

Power Management Settings Disable

Disabling SpeedStep, SpeedShift, and C-states has shown stability improvements in certain scenarios.

BIOS Configuration:

  • Intel SpeedStep: Disabled
  • Intel Speed Shift: Disabled
  • C-States: Disabled
  • Enhanced Halt State (C1E): Disabled

 

 

6. Log Collection and Analysis

Core Dump Collection

ESXi automatically generates core dumps when PSOD occurs:

# Check core dump location
esxcli system coredump file list

# Prepare core dump download
esxcli system coredump file get -f /vmfs/volumes/datastore1/vmkdump/...

Log File Examination

Primary Log Files:

# System logs
tail -f /var/log/vmkernel.log

# Virtual machine logs  
tail -f /var/log/vmware.log

# Hardware logs
tail -f /var/log/syslog.log

 

 

7. Preventive Measures and Monitoring

Regular System Maintenance

Monthly Inspection Items:

  1. ESXi version and patch status verification
  2. Driver and firmware update availability
  3. Hardware compatibility guide compliance check
  4. Core dump file cleanup

Monitoring Script

#!/bin/bash
# esxi_health_check.sh
echo "=== ESXi Health Check ==="
echo "1. Memory Usage:"
esxcli hardware memory get

echo "2. Network Status:"
esxcli network nic list

echo "3. System Load:"
esxtop -b -n 1

echo "4. Recent Errors:"
tail -20 /var/log/vmkernel.log | grep -i error

 

 

While the “GP Exception 13 in world 32771” error in ESXi can have multiple root causes, systematic troubleshooting can resolve most instances. Start with network driver modifications, then proceed through CPU settings, NUMA configuration, and hardware verification.

For environments running modern Intel CPUs, E-Core disabling or kernel setting modifications typically provide the most effective resolution. If issues persist after implementing these solutions, VMware support can provide additional assistance, though the fundamental approaches outlined here resolve the majority of reported cases.

Consider applying these preventive configurations across similar environments to avoid future occurrences of this critical error. 🙂

 

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