Regression: host network connectivity loss when closing VM

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Legorol
Posts: 95
Joined: 11. Mar 2014, 21:40

Regression: host network connectivity loss when closing VM

Post by Legorol »

When I click the red X in the top right corner of the VM window to close the VM, sometimes the host physically loses network connectivity for a brief 30-60 second period. Once I select the "Send the shutdown signal" in the "Close Virtual Machine" dialog and click OK, again sometimes the host physically loses network connectivity briefly.

The problem is intermittent and doesn't always occur. The problem never occurred in version 4.3.26.

Host: Windows 7 Ultimate x64
Guest: Windows 8.1 Enterprise x64
Guest network attached to Bridged Adapter
Legorol
Posts: 95
Joined: 11. Mar 2014, 21:40

Re: Regression: host network connectivity loss when closing

Post by Legorol »

This also happens occasionally when starting a VM with bridged adapter: for 30-60 seconds the host physical adapter loses connection. This is also an occasional problem, and not consistently reproducable.
michaln
Oracle Corporation
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Re: Regression: host network connectivity loss when closing

Post by michaln »

Please attach a VBox.log from the VM...
aleksey-vb
Oracle Corporation
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Re: Regression: host network connectivity loss when closing

Post by aleksey-vb »

Please elaborate on how exactly the problem manifests itself:
1) Is the host able to ping other hosts during this 60 second blackout period?
2) If not what is the message? Destination unreachable?
3) What is the output of "ipconfig /all" when networking is not available?
4) Do you get a red cross icon or a yellow exclamation sign in the tray?
New NDIS6 filter driver switches to bypass mode when no VMs are running (pressing the close button actually pauses a VM) by pausing the network stack and restarting it without destroying it. This may cause temporary loss of packets, but it should not result in such prolonged periods of lost network connectivity.
Legorol
Posts: 95
Joined: 11. Mar 2014, 21:40

Re: Regression: host network connectivity loss when closing

Post by Legorol »

The problem occurs rarely, so it's hard for me to reproduce. Also, I am not physically at the host, instead I'm using an RDP connection to the host. Hence the symptoms of the problem for me are:
- RDP connection disconnects, and reconnects within 30-60 seconds
- pinging the host repeatedly during this period results in "Request timed out" messages, lasting anywhere from 10-30 seconds

I will try and get a Vbox.log next time the problem occurs. I will also try and note what happens physically on the host.
Legorol
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Joined: 11. Mar 2014, 21:40

Re: Regression: host network connectivity loss when closing

Post by Legorol »

The problem happened again just now, and I can provide a little bit more information. This time it happened on a Windows 10 guest, but the symptom is the same as with a Windows 8.1 guest, so maybe the information below will help troubleshoot the issue.

When I tried to shut down the Windows 10 guest, by clicking on the red X in the top right of the VM window, network connectivity was lost for about 20 seconds. When network connectivity returned, before I clicked anything in the "Close Virtual Machine" dialog box, I started pinging a router (ip: 192.168.0.1) from the host (ip: 192.168.0.2). I then clicked OK in the "Close Virtual Machine" dialog box, and network connectivity was again lost for about 20 seconds. The output from pinging:

Code: Select all

PS C:\> ping -t 192.168.0.1

Pinging 192.168.0.1 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
No resources.
No resources.
No resources.
No resources.
No resources.
No resources.
No resources.
No resources.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=5ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64

Ping statistics for 192.168.0.1:
    Packets: Sent = 27, Received = 12, Lost = 15 (55% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 5ms, Average = 0ms
Control-C
The connectivity loss is clear.

I attached a Vbox.log file. The guest was up for a little over 31.5 hours before I shut it down. Unfortunately there is not much to see in the log directly with regards to the opening and closing of the "Close Virtual Machine" dialog box. I see these two lines after one another:

Code: Select all

31:31:02.739760 Changing the VM state from 'SUSPENDING' to 'SUSPENDED'
31:31:48.279630 Changing the VM state from 'SUSPENDED' to 'RESUMING'
Perhaps some other detail in the log will be useful.

PS: As I am unable to interact with the host while connectivity is lost, unfortunately I can't tell you the output of "ipconfig /all" and the state of the network indicator (yellow triangle/red cross) while the connectivity is lost.
Attachments
Windows 10 Technical Preview-2015-04-08 Vbox.log
(119.54 KiB) Downloaded 59 times
Legorol
Posts: 95
Joined: 11. Mar 2014, 21:40

Re: Regression: host network connectivity loss when closing

Post by Legorol »

Still happens in Beta 3 occasionally.
Both on startup and shutdown.
Seen in Windows 8.1 Enterprise and Windows 10 Insider Preview (10074).
Legorol
Posts: 95
Joined: 11. Mar 2014, 21:40

Re: Regression: host network connectivity loss when closing

Post by Legorol »

Still happens in Beta 4.
mhanor
Volunteer
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Re: Regression: host network connectivity loss when closing

Post by mhanor »

Make sure you're using the latest driver for your LAN card, from realtek.com
Also, if the latest driver doesn't fix it for you, please list all the network protocols and all the filters that are displayed in the properties window of your LAN card.
Legorol
Posts: 95
Joined: 11. Mar 2014, 21:40

Re: Regression: host network connectivity loss when closing

Post by Legorol »

Still happens in RC1.

I updated the drivers for my Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller, but this didn't fix it:
Driver Date: 15 Jan 2015
Driver Version: 7.92.115.2015

List of all protocols and filters (all of them are enabled):
Client for Microsoft Networks
VirtualBox NDIS6 Bridged Networking Driver
VMware Bridge Protocol
Virtual PC Network Filter Driver
Microsoft Network Monitor 3 Driver
QoS Packet Scheduler
File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks
HTC NDIS Protocol Driver
Realtek Teaming Protocol Driver (NDIS 6.2)
Realtek Vlan Protocol Driver (NDIS 6.2)
Realtek NDIS Protocol Driver
Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6)
Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)
Link-Layer Topology Discovery Mapper I/O Driver
Link-Layer Topology Discovery Responder
Legorol
Posts: 95
Joined: 11. Mar 2014, 21:40

Re: Regression: host network connectivity loss when closing

Post by Legorol »

This is still a problem in RC3. The issue can still occur both when starting a VM or when closing a VM. For example, today I rebooted the host, then I tried to start one VM. Here is the output from a continuous ping that was going when I started the VM:

Code: Select all

Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
No resources.
No resources.
No resources.
No resources.
No resources.
No resources.
No resources.
No resources.
No resources.
Reply from 192.168.0.2: Destination host unreachable.
Reply from 192.168.0.2: Destination host unreachable.
Reply from 192.168.0.2: Destination host unreachable.
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=2446ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
As you can see, there is connectivity loss for a significant period of time.

I have experimented with disabling as many of the filters on the network card as possible, but that doesn't seem to affect this problem.
mhanor
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Re: Regression: host network connectivity loss when closing

Post by mhanor »

This is a limitation of the host OS. Increase the MaxNumFilters (google it) and reduce the network protocols/filters by removing some of them.
Technologov
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Re: Regression: host network connectivity loss when closing

Post by Technologov »

LOL ? How can it be a limitation of OS, if it worked for him with several VMs, but stopped working with less VMs ? (after one VM was shut down)
Legorol
Posts: 95
Joined: 11. Mar 2014, 21:40

Re: Regression: host network connectivity loss when closing

Post by Legorol »

mhanor wrote:This is a limitation of the host OS. Increase the MaxNumFilters (google it) and reduce the network protocols/filters by removing some of them.
I am aware of the MaxNumFilters setting and it's not relevant for my problem, for any one of these reasons, all of which apply:
* My MaxNumFilters is already set to 14, the highest value you can set it to on Windows 7.
* The problem doesn't happen in VB 4.3.28. I have been using the same set of network protocols and filters with my VMs for a long time.
* The problem is intermittent: it only happens occasionally, and only on VM startup and shutdown.
* The problem happens even when I turn off as many filters as possible.
* The VB devs have mentioned that with the new NDIS 6 driver they are using in VB 5.0.0, the driver can deliberately turn on/off a bypass mode. When the mode changes, the host network stack may be paused briefly. My problem is very likely related to this.
Legorol
Posts: 95
Joined: 11. Mar 2014, 21:40

Re: Regression: host network connectivity loss when closing

Post by Legorol »

Now that VirtualBox 5 has been released, I opened a ticket about this:
https://www.virtualbox.org/ticket/14500
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