unRAID: 7.3.2

Unsure which version this started with, but all my VMs aren't able to survive a reboot: force stop is required. This is for both Windows and linux VMs -- none of them have any pass through devices (did see an Nvidia reference). One of my VMs existed pre 7.3.x, and all my new 7.3.x created VMs are also showing this problem. At this point, I cannot complete creation of a Windows VM, as multiple reboots are required and Windows seems stuck in a setup loop.

Please post more details on how you are creating the VMs and when you see the issue, also the diagnostics after it happens.

26 minutes ago, JorgeB said:

Please post more details on how you are creating the VMs and when you see the issue, also the diagnostics after it happens.

Method:

1. Using guided GUI for Win 11.

2. Pinned to cores/threads that aren't in use (i9 9900k), using 4 total.

3. Initial/max memory: 8GB.

4. Machine: i440FX-10.2.

5. BIOS: OVMF-TPM.

6. Hyper-V: Yes.

7. Primary vDisk: custom location, as my NVMe isn't an Unassigned drive.

8. Networking bridge (two NICs)

9. No PCI pass through.

10. No USB pass through.

Have used "defaults" of creation for years, and the only change(s) are primary vDisk and amount of CPU/threads. Will get a diagnostic after next crash, which shouldn't take long.

Attached diagnostics zip.

greyskull-diagnostics-20260903-0801.zip

Thanks, the diags confirm that the new Windows VM was Force Stopped several times, but there is no QEMU crash or host-side error immediately before those stops. The reason=destroyed entries simply record the Force Stop itself.

Could you clarify exactly which operation fails:

- Restart from inside the guest

- Restart from the Unraid VM menu

- Stop from the Unraid VM menu

- Rebooting the Unraid server

Test Shutdown and Restart separately on one VM. When it becomes stuck again, before using Force Stop:

1. Take a screenshot of the VNC console and tell us exactly what is displayed.

2. Note the time and the action that triggered it.

3. Generate and attach fresh diagnostics.

4. Confirm whether the QEMU Guest Agent is installed and running inside the guest.

For the Windows installation, also tell us whether it remains on the restarting screen, goes black, or boots back into the installer.

I noticed that an older VM definition still references a Windows ISO that no longer exists, recommend removing or correcting that stale ISO reference, although it would not explain the same behavior affecting Linux guests.

- Restart from inside the guest

Restarting a headless linux (ubuntu server) or Windows 11 VM from the VM will not return a VNC-capable console.

- Restart from the Unraid VM menu

- Stop from the Unraid VM menu

Restart starts a reboot process (i.e. VNC console will go blank), but will not return a VNC-capable console.

Stop will not return a VNC-capable console.

Rebooting the Unraid server

Haven't tried rebooting unRAID server for VM, as force stop has worked.

1. Take a screenshot of the VNC console and tell us exactly what is displayed.

With Windows 11: the setup GUI screens are fine. With linux installer: whatever text installer is fine. I have full VNC console prior to a reboot attempt.

2-4: just got another hang, attempting to use console. Attaching a diagnostic. Oddly, a reboot after a force reboot worked. Guest agent installed on existing VM.

greyskull-diagnostics-20260903-0917.zip

Edited 11 hours ago11 hr by stashtv

Thanks. These diagnostics show the Linux VM being Force Stopped at 09:14:25 and starting normally nine seconds later. QEMU was still running when the diagnostics were generated, and there are no host-side errors explaining the original failure.

The next time Restart appears to fail, do not Force Stop immediately:

1. Confirm whether Unraid reports the VM as Running or Stopped.

2. Close the old VNC window and open a completely new VNC connection.

3. Check whether the guest is reachable through its normal network service—SSH for Linux, or ping/RDP for Windows.

4. Generate diagnostics while the failure is still present.

If possible, also run these from the Unraid terminal while it is stuck and post the output:

virsh domstate "<VM name>" --reason

virsh qemu-monitor-command --hmp "<VM name>" "info status"

virsh qemu-agent-command "<VM name>" '{"execute":"guest-ping"}'

For the Stop test, losing VNC is normal once the VM reaches Stopped. Start it again before checking whether VNC returns.

Since one reboot worked after the forced stop/start, this may be intermittent or limited to the VNC/display connection rather than every VM reboot failing.

Confirm whether Unraid reports the VM as Running or Stopped.

Unraid is reporting as VM as "started", showing the green play icon.

Close the old VNC window and open a completely new VNC connection.

Close, open new. Same thing, no console.

Check whether the guest is reachable through its normal network service—SSH for Linux, or ping/RDP for Windows.

No ping or RDP. Confirm its IP via my DHCP server, it will not respond by assigned IP.

Terminal outputs

root@Greyskull:~# virsh domstate "Windows 11 2026 v2" --reason

running (booted)

root@Greyskull:~# virsh qemu-monitor-command --hmp "Windows 11 2026 v2" "info status"

VM status: running

root@Greyskull:~# virsh qemu-agent-command "Windows 11 2026 v2" '{"execute":"guest-ping"}'

error: Guest agent is not responding: QEMU guest agent is not connected

I wanted to install the guest agent on this Windows 11 machine, but ran Windows updates first.

Diag attached.

greyskull-diagnostics-20260903-1242.zip

Reboots are rare to work and I managed to get far enough into a Windows 11 setup to complete guest tools installation.

virsh domstate "Windows 11 2026 v2" --reason

running (booted)

virsh qemu-monitor-command --hmp "Windows 11 2026 v2" "info status"

VM status: running

virsh qemu-agent-command "Windows 11 2026 v2" '{"execute":"guest-ping"}'

{"return":{}}

Another diagnostic added, as console is a goner and force stop is all I got.

greyskull-diagnostics-20260903-1619.zip