Cloning a virtual machine in vSphere fails with the error Number of virtual devices exceeds the maximum for a given controller

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:
When cloning a virtual machine or deploying from a template, cloning fails at approximately 90% on the vSphere Client with this error:

Number of virtual devices exceeds the maximum for a given controller

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 6.x
VMware vCenter Server 7.x
VMware vCenter Server 8.x

Cause

This issue occurs when the [Customize this virtual machine's hardware] checkbox is selected as a cloning option in vCenter Server.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, clone the virtual machine again without selecting the [Customize this virtual machine's hardware] option.

Additional Information