Intel CPU microcode update fails everytime

Question

I have a few XenServer VMs all running CentOS 5.5. Some are 32-bit and others are 64-bit.

Every time they boot, the following message appears:

Applying Intel CPU microcode update: [FAILED]

Does anyone know why this is happening and how I can fix it?

score 5 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 02 '11 at 21:32

This probably happens because the OS is running inside a VM and therefore can't apply CPU microcode updates. As for how to fix it, I have no idea. Does this message prevent any meaningful work or does it merely disturb you? In the latter case you can safely ignore it.

score 4 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 25 '12 at 20:48

If you want to prevent the Intel CPU microcode from starting at boot, you can disable it as follows: (Run the command as root)

# chkconfig microcode_ctl off

This will prevent the microcode service from trying to apply the update at boot, since it will fail on your VMs every time.

score 3 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 22 '14 at 15:33

On a CentOS 6 installation, microcode_ctl doesn't seem to be invoked via the /etc/init.d (chkconfig) mechanism any more. I achieved the same effect by uninstalling the package:

# rpm --erase microcode_ctl

(I know the original question was centOS 5.5, but a search brought me here...)

Intel CPU microcode update fails everytime

3 Answers3