Nutanix - Troubleshooting Pool and Farm Provisioning Failures

Desktop pool and farm provisioning on Nutanix requires the successful completion of cloning and guest customization operations. When provisioning fails, administrators can preserve the internal template virtual machine for analysis and use Horizon, Windows, and Sysprep logs to determine the cause.

The following information describes how to troubleshoot common provisioning failures in Nutanix desktop pools and farms, including how to preserve the internal template and steps to troubleshoot Sysprep failures.

Internal Debug Mode

By default, the internal template VM will be deleted in certain provisioning failure scenarios. For example, you may see an error during a publish operation such as the following:

Fault type is UNKNOWN_FAULT_FATAL - Timed out while waiting for VM it-xxx to shutdown.

To preserve the internal template for log troubleshooting, set the pae-InstantCloneDebugEnabled flag set as true or 1 under OU=CapacityServer,OU=Properties,DC=vdi,DC=horizon,DC=internal. After setting the flag, the internal template VM will not be deleted in error scenarios, which will aid in troubleshooting.

For detailed troubleshooting information, see Nutanix - How to cleanly pair a Golden Image.

Sysprep Failures

A common cause for clone pool provisioning failures is a misconfigured master image where Sysprep generalize fails. Use the following to resolve Sysrep failures during Nutanix clone provisioning.

Test Sysprep Readiness

• Create a VM from Template used for Pool Deployment.

• Power on. Open Administrator CMD.

• Run C:\Windows\System32\Sysprep\sysprep.exe /generalize /oobe /shutdown.

• If it shuts down within two minutes, proceed. If not, check logs: C:\Windows\System32\Sysprep\Panther\setuperr.log.

Appx Packages Blocking Sysprep

Error Example

SYSPRP Package <name> installed for a user, but not provisioned for all users.

Fixes

Disable Appx Package Processing

• Take ownership of Generalize.xml, grant modify rights, and remove <Microsoft-Windows-AppX-Sysprep section.

• Run in cmd:

  takeown /F %windir%\system32\sysprep\Actionfiles\Generalize.xml

  icacls %windir%\system32\sysprep\Actionfiles\Generalize.xml /grant administrator:(m)

Remove All Appx Packages

• Run in PowerShell:

  Import-Module Appx

  Import-Module Dism

  Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers | Remove-AppxPackage

  Get-AppxProvisionedPackage -Online | Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage –Online

Remove Specific Packages

• Identify via Get-AppxPackage and remove using:

  Remove-AppxPackage -Package <fullname>

  Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -Online -PackageName <fullname>

Delete User Profiles

Log in as built-in Administrator, delete unused profiles via sysdm.cpl.

Pending Windows Updates

• Errors related to reserved storage or active scenarios.

• Solution: Run updates on the master VM and disable Windows Update service post-setup.

Unremovable Store Apps

• Follow Microsoft’s guidance to remove or update store apps manually.

BitLocker Enabled

• Error: BitLocker is on for the OS volume.

• Disable using: manage-bde -status manage-bde -off c:.

Sysprep Registry Corruption

Delete key

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup\Sysprep\SysprepCorrupt

Sysprep Takes 45–60 Minutes

• On some Windows builds, provtool.dll delays Sysprep.

• Run cmd:

  sc config dmwappushservice start=delayed-auto

  sc start dmwappushservice

Built-in Administrator Disabled

• Sysprep disables the built-in Administrator by default.

• If no other accounts exist, the log in will fail on clone VMs.

• Solution: Create additional local accounts on the master image before Sysprep.