ESXi boot process / state storage

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I've got a standalone ESXi server and
I'm having problems with it losing config on reboot. I restored the config from a
previous install and it reverts to that every time it's
restarted.

My current hypothesis is that
although the state is correctly being backed up to
/bootbank/local.tgz on the hour (it's a USB installation and if
I understand autobackup.sh correctly, that's expected
behaviour), the boot process is reading from
/bootbank/state.tgz.

I
think this because of the contents of /bootbank/boot.cfg
(specifically the modules line) and because the restored config
was from a disk installation, rather than
USB:

~ # cat
            /bootbank/boot.cfg

kernel=b.z
kernelopt=
modules=k.z
            --- s.z --- c.z --- oem.tgz --- license.tgz --- m.z ---
            state.tgz
build=4.1.0-381591
updated=2
bootstate=0

Should
I swap in local.tgz for state.tgz here
(bearing in mind one is an archive and one is an archive of an archive and so need to be
treated differently), or is this entry a result of a setting elsewhere I should be
targeting instead?

Alternatively,
should I just delete this entry from the modules line (to have
it go to local.tgz by default because of the USB boot status)?
Do I need to adjust /altbootbank/boot.cfg too? I ask these two
questions because neither state file is included in the modules line in this
file.

Normally, I'd just experiment, but I'm
wary of tampering with the boot process in case it stops
booting!

The system is a recently patched 4.1
(free version - it's not a production system) on more or less HCL hardware, using DAS
for the datastore and a 2GB USB stick for the hypervisor
install.

Edit

I've
looked through /sbin/backup.sh (which is called from
autobackup.sh) and this actually adds ---
state.tgz to the modules line in
boot.cfg if a) it's not a USB boot and b) it's not already
there. This strongly suggests to me that (in my USB boot environment) it's there
erroneously and I should just delete it... but I'd still love some confirmation of that
from someone more knowledgeable.

Can
anyone tell me (or even speculate on) why "embedded" / USB booting systems use
local.tgz and "installed" systems use
state.tgz (which, AIUI, just contains local.tgz)? Could it be
something to do with multiple configs for clusters?

Answer

In the absence of suggestions either way, I bit the bullet and removed the
--- state.tgz parameter from the
modules line in /bootbank/boot.cfg
and, judging by a couple of test restarts, config changes are persisting between boots
now. I read post #44 in href="http://communities.vmware.com/message/1042772#1042772" rel="nofollow
noreferrer">this thread, which suggested it was a valid thing to do. It
seems local.tgz is read on boot now instead of the stale
state.tgz, as I was
hoping.

I still don't know what the reason for
this entry appearing in the modules line was, so I'll be
keeping an eye out for it returning. As an entirely new boot image is written to
/altbootbank/ whenever updates are applied, I'll be checking
the newly created boot.cfg to make sure it hasn't crept back in
when I next patch the server.