Guest-specific operations were attempted on a machine that is not ready for guest communication

[ksclarke]

VMWare boxes are not starting and error message says to report this as a bug.

Vagrant version:

• Vagrant 1.9.3

Vagrant plugins:

• vagrant-share (1.1.7, system)
• vagrant-vmware-workstation (4.0.18)

VMWare:

• VMware Workstation 12.5.5 build-5234757

Host:

• Linux kevin-oryx 4.4.0-72-generic vagrant ports #93-Ubuntu SMP Fri Mar 31 14:07:41 UTC 2017 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

Guest operating system:

• RHEL 6.8 and/or CentOS 6.8

Vagrantfile:

Vagrant.configure("2") do |config|
  config.ssh.insert_key = false

  config.vm.define "basebox-rhel6" do |vmware|
    vmware.vm.hostname = "basebox-rhel6"
    vmware.vm.box = "ksclarke/basebox-rhel6"

    vmware.vm.network :private_network, type: "dhcp"

    config.vm.provider :vmware_fusion do |v, override|
      v.gui = false
      v.vmx["memsize"] = 1024
      v.vmx["numvcpus"] = 1
    end

    config.vm.provider :vmware_workstation do |v, override|
      v.gui = false
      v.vmx["memsize"] = 1024
      v.vmx["numvcpus"] = 1
    end
  end
end

Debug output:
https://gist.github.com/ksclarke/fb772b752245f0fe2c6f27e439388bce

Expected behavior:
Vagrant box would start up

Actual behavior:
Vagrant box reports: Guest-specific operations were attempted on a machine that is not ready for guest communication. This should not happen and a bug should be reported.

Steps to reproduce:

1. mkdir testdir
2. cd testdir
3. vagrant init ksclarke/basebox-centos6
4. vagrant up --provider vmware_workstation

There are various other closed tickets with the generic "Guest-specific operations" message but none of them looked relevant to me.

[ksclarke]

I should clarify my first statement. The problem isn't that the box isn't starting. It does start and I can login to it, it's just that I see that error after "Configuring network adapters within the VM" on up which might lead someone to believe they can't SSH into it.

[brandonsoto]

I'm experiencing this issue as well.

Vagrant version:
Vagrant 1.9.3

Vagrant plugins:
vagrant-share 1.1.7
vagrant-vmware-workstation 4.0.18

VMWare:
VMware Workstation 11.1.4 build-3848939

Host:
Linux bsoto 3.10.0-514.10.2.el7.x86_64 #1 SMP Fri Mar 3 00:04:05 UTC 2017 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64
GNU/LinuxGNU/Linux

Guest operating system:
CentOS 6.8 (bento/centos-6.8)

[chrisroberts]

Hi there. I have identified the source of the error and have implemented a fix in the vagrant-vmware plugins. I am planning to release the update on Monday, and will leave this issue open until the plugins have been released. Thanks for the report and extra information to help track this down. Cheers!

[ksclarke]

Should this still be open? I tried using vagrant-vmware-workstation 4.0.19 but had the same error so I'm guessing the fix hasn't been published yet. Is that correct?

[Ghostavio]

@chrisroberts was this fixed?

[Ghostavio]

I'm having this very same issue with VirtualBox.

[Healthcare-IT]

I'm having this very same issue with VirtualBox; it just started today.

I am provisioning 3 VMs, all using the same source box. Sometimes it happens on the first box, sometimes the others. The only way I can seem to get past this is to destroy the VM and re-run vagrant up.

Running vagrant up often takes several times to provision successfully anyway. To address this particular issue I need to run vagrant up as many as 25 times.

[chrisroberts]

The fix for this issue was released in the plugin. The root cause is due to the network reset after applying port forwards. It causes DHCP configured devices to drop their address and re-acquire a new lease which leads to the "Guest-specific operations..." error. The fix adds a pause after applying the forwards before continuing. If you find that the pause is not long enough, it can be configured using a provider configuration option: https://www.vagrantup.com/docs/vmware/configuration.html#port_forward_network_pause

Cheers!

[ghost]

I'm going to lock this issue because it has been closed for 30 days ⏳. This helps our maintainers find and focus on the active issues.

If you have found a problem that seems similar to this, please open a new issue and complete the issue template so we can capture all the details necessary to investigate further.