Hello,
I'm using ESXi version 6.5.0 (Build 4564106) for testing with 5 guest machines all having the same configuration running Centos 7 minimal OS with open-vm-tools installed. Starting and stopping them manually without any errors from ESXi or guest OS.
I've enabled Autostart as seen in the following screen shoot :
The following issues were tested with and without heartbeat
First issue is when I set autostart order.
Steps taken:
1. I right click on the first guest and selected Autostart > Increase priority and got 1 on Autostart order.
2. I right click on the second guest machine and did the same steps as with the first one expecting that it will get 2 in Autostart order but got swapped with the first guest
3. I continued with the other guests expecting the same behavior as with the first 2 (swapping autostart order) but I got a normal behavior getting 3rd for the 3rd, 4th for the 4th and 5th for 5th guest.
Second issue is the fact that when the ESXi or the server is restarted the first 2 guests (the ones that swapped) are not started by the autostart with or without fixing the start order (decreasing priority on the first guest so the 1st guest is 1st in Autostart order and the 2nd is 2nd). But the other 3 guest are started as they should (respecting the order 3,4,5 waiting for delay time or heartbeat).
I also did a manual start of the first 2 guests and after that a ESXi reboot and the guests where stopped respecting the order starting with 5th guest and ending with 1st guest.
Any ideas why and how can I fix or debug this strange behavior