An error occurred while taking a snapshot: Dictionary problem.

Products

• VMware vCenter Server
• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Fix the VM dictionary issue to be able to take snapshots.

Symptoms:
Failed to create a snapshot.

Error message:
Status: Invalid virtual machine configuration.

Error stack:
An error occurred while taking a snapshot: Dictionary problem.
An error occurred while saving the snapshot: Dictionary problem.

vmware.log:

2020-10-12T18:23:01.016Z| vmx| I125: DictionaryParseReadLine: syntax error with line, "0:2.red".
2020-10-12T18:23:01.016Z| vmx| I125: SNAPSHOT: SnapshotConfigInfoReadEx: Unable to load dict from '/vmfs/volumes/xxxxxx-xxxxxx-xxxxxx/xxxxxx/xxxxxx.vmx'.
2020-10-12T18:23:01.016Z| vmx| I125: SNAPSHOT: SnapshotConfigInfoReadEx failed for file '/vmfs/volumes/xxxxxx-xxxxxx-xxxxxx/xxxxxx/xxxxxx.vmx': Dictionary problem (6)
2020-10-12T18:23:01.016Z| vmx| I125: [msg.dictionary.read.syntaxError] File "/vmfs/volumes/xxxxxx-xxxxxx-xxxxxx/xxxxxx/xxxxxx.vmx" line 121: Syntax error.
2020-10-12T18:23:01.016Z| vmx| I125: SNAPSHOT: Snapshot_PrepareTake: Failed to read snapshot config info for '/vmfs/volumes/xxxxxx-xxxxxx-xxxxxx/xxxxxx/xxxxxx.vmx', Dictionary problem SnapshotVMXPrepareTakeDoneCB: Prepare phase failed: Dictionary problem (6).
2020-10-12T18:23:01.016Z| vmx| I125: SnapshotVMXTakeSnapshotComplete: Done with snapshot 'VM Snapshot 10%252f12%252f2020, 1:22:46 PM': 0
2020-10-12T18:23:01.017Z| vmx| I125: SnapshotVMXTakeSnapshotComplete: Snapshot 0 failed: Dictionary problem (6).

Resolution

To resolve this issue unregister the VM and reregister it again.

1- Note the Virtual Machine configuration file (.vmx) location.
2- Shutdown the VM.
3- In vCenter UI right click on the VM and select Remove from inventory.
4- Navigate to the vmx file location (noted in step 1)
5- Reregister the VM using the vmx file.

Additional Information

Removing and Reregistering VMs and VM Templates