Attempting to power on a restored virtual machine fails with the error: An error was received from the ESX host while powering on VM
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Attempting to power on a restored virtual machine fails with the error: An error was received from the ESX host while powering on VM

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Article ID: 312675

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Updated On:

Products

VMware vSphere ESXi VMware Live Recovery

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

  • Powering on a restored virtual machine fails.
  • A virtual machine fails to power on after a restore.
  • In the vSphere Client, you see entries similar to:

    An error was received from the ESX host while powering on VM virtual_machine.
    Failed to start the virtual machine.
    Module DevicePowerOn power on failed.

    An error was received from the ESX host while powering on VM Guest_recovered.
    Failed to start the virtual machine.
    Module DevicePowerOn power on failed.
    Unable to create virtual SCSI device for scsi0:0, '/vmfs/volumes/xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx/Guest_recovered.vmdk'
    Failed to attach filter 'hbr_filter' to scsi0:0: Bad parameter (195887111).
    hbr_filter missing required option: gid.

    An error was received from the ESX host while powering on VM Guest_recovered.
    Failed to start the virtual machine.
    Module DevicePowerOn power on failed.
    Unable to create virtual SCSI device for scsi0:0, '/vmfs/volumes/xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx/Guest_recovered.vmdk'
    Failed to attach filter 'None' to scsi0:0: Not found (195887107).

    An unexpected error was received from the ESX host while powering on VM vm-number

You see the following errors under the tasks of ESXi hosts -

Task Name : Power On virtual machine
Status    : hbr_filter missing required option: gid. Failed to start the virtual machine. Module DevicePowerOn power on failed. Unable to create virtual SCSI device for scsi0:0, '/vmfs/volumes/xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx/VMware/VMware.vmdk' Failed to attach filter 'hbr_filter' to scsi0:0: Bad parameter (195887111).
Error stack:
Module DevicePowerOn power on failed.
Unable to create virtual SCSI device for scsi0:0, '/vmfs/volumes/xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx/VMware/VMware.vmdk'
Failed to attach filter 'hbr_filter' to scsi0:0: Bad parameter (195887111). hbr_filter missing required option: gid.

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi

Cause

The virtual machine configuration file (.vmx) contains stale vSphere Replication (HBR) filter metadata. When a backup software restores a VM that was previously under active replication, these filter entries are preserved in the .vmx. During power-on, the ESXi host attempts to initialize the hbr_filter for the virtual disk but fails because required replication state parameters (such as the Group ID or gid) are missing from the configuration or the associated .psf state files are absent in the restored directory.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, create a new virtual machine configuration file and point it to the existing virtual disk (.vmdk) file.

To create a new virtual machine configuration file and point it to the existing .vmdk file:

  1. Connect to vCenter Server using the vSphere Client as an administrator
  2. Note the original virtual machines configuration so you can recreate it exactly
  3. Right-click the affected virtual machine and click Remove from Inventory

    Note: The virtual machine must be powered down to remove from inventory
     
  4. Right-click the ESX/ESXi host where you want the virtual machine to run
  5. Click the New Virtual Machine
  6. Select Custom
  7. Since the old machine was removed from inventory, you can name the virtual machine the same as before or name it differently
  8. Select the desired datastore for the new virtual machine
  9. Select the same virtual machine version as the original virtual machine
  10. Select the same operating system, CPU, memory, networking, and SCSI controller as the original machine
  11. Select Use an existing virtual disk
  12. Browse to and select the .vmdk file from the original virtual machine
  13. In Advanced options, select the configuration as it was on the original virtual machine. If you do not know what this was, leave it as default
  14. Click Finish to complete the Create New Virtual Machine wizard


This procedure recreates the configuration file (.vmx) for the virtual machine and other supporting files. You can now start the virtual machine from the inventory of the vSphere Client.


Workaround:


Hash out the SCSI disks attached to the hbr_filter in the VMX file. These lines can be hashed or removed completely from the VMX file and it will have no impact on the VM operations or future replication operations. vSphere replication will recreate this information when the VM is added back to replication.  

#scsi0:0.hbr_filter.rdid = "RDID-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxXXXXXX"
#scsi0:0.hbr_filter.persistent = "hbr-persistent-state-RDID-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxXXXXXX.psf"
#scsi0:0.filters = "hbr_filter"
#scsi0:1.hbr_filter.rdid = "RDID-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxYYYYYY"
#scsi0:1.hbr_filter.persistent = "hbr-persistent-state-RDID-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxYYYYYY.psf"
#scsi0:1.filters = "hbr_filter"
#scsi0:2.hbr_filter.rdid = "RDID-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxZZZZZZ"
#scsi0:2.hbr_filter.persistent = "hbr-persistent-state-RDID-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxZZZZZZ.psf"
#scsi0:2.filters = "hbr_filter"

Reload the VMX file and power ON the VM 

Reloading a vmx file without removing the virtual machine from inventory

Additional Information

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