Rebooting an ESX host: reboot causes the error: Initialization for vmfs2 failed with -1

The following error message appears in the console after rebooting an ESX 3.5 host:

Initialization for vmfs2 failed with -1

This issue may occur if the service console interface does not have an IP address or if the IP address is not configured properly.

 

To resolve this issue:

1. Verify the service console interface configuration and functionality with the command:
   esxcfg-vswif -l 
   Correct output includes an IP address. If it does not, proceed to step 2.
2. Set the IP address for the service console interface with the command:
   esxcfg-vswif –a vswif0 –i 192.168.1.10 –n 255.255.255.0 –p "Service Console"
   
3. Restart the Network Service with the following command, or reboot the host:
   service network restart