Error 1: Failed to lock the fileThe error
Failed to lock the file means that another process is opening the file and the process you are using cannot open the file properly.
This typically occurs if you:
- Attempt to start a second virtual machine using the same virtual machine configuration .vmx file
- Power on a virtual machine with mounted disks via the vmware-mount utility
- Try to turn on a virtual machine through the user interface during a snapshot operation
- Try to add a virtual disk to a virtual machine that is already in use
To resolve this issue, see the Knowledge Base article
Investigating virtual machine file locks on ESXi.
Error 2: The parent virtual disk has been modified since the child was createdThis error occurs when snapshots are in a bad state, either through manual intervention or through a system failure.
To resolve this issue, see the Knowledge Base article
"The parent virtual disk has been modified since the child was created" error.
Error 3: The destination file system does not support large filesThis issue occurs if the block size of the destination datastore does not support a VMDK as large as the source.
To resolve this issue, ensure that the destination datastore is formatted with a block size that is large enough to support the VMDK file of the source machine. For more information, see the Knowledge Base article
Block size limitations of a VMFS datastore.
Error 4: Could not open/create change tracking fileThis issue may occur if a filename-ctk.vmdk file was earlier created and has not been cleared.
To resolve this issue, see the Knowledge Base article
“could not open/create change tracking files” error when powering on VM.
Error 5: Cannot allocate memoryThis issue may occur if the VMFS module runs out of heap space.
To resolve this issue, see the Knowledge Base article
ESXi/ESX host reports VMFS heap warnings when hosting virtual machines that collectively use 4 TB or 20 TB of virtual disk storage.
Error 6: The file specified is not a virtual diskThis issue may occur when the
.vmdk descriptor file is corrupt or missing.
To resolve this issue, create a new
.vmdk descriptor file for this disk and then unregister and re-register the virtual machine. This ensures that the vSphere Client detects the correct disk size and the virtual machine powers on correctly.
For more information on creating a new descriptor file, see the Knowledge Base article
Recreating a missing virtual machine disk descriptor file.
Error 7: Insufficient permission to access fileThis issue is usually observed in virtual machines located on NFS datastores. This issue may occur due to permissions issues on the NFS datastore.
To resolve this issue, ensure that the host has the correct read/write permissions to access the NFS export. If your storage array has the No Root Squash option, ensure that the option is enabled or contact your Storage Administrator.
Error 8: older VMware Hardware VersionTo resolve this issue, upgrade the VM's hardware version to the latest available.