vSphere Virtual machines get into an orphaned state after experiencing a PDL

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:
After experiencing a Permanent Device Loss (PDL) on the environment, you experience these symptoms:

• VMware vSphere Virtual machines get into an orphaned state even if HA is enabled.
• In the vpxd.log file, you see entries similar to:
  
  vpxd-87.log: 2019-06-14T06:21:12.040Z verbose vpxd[39037] [Originator@6876 sub=InvtVm opID=HB-host-1687@198220-3df0cbd9] Renaming vm: [vim.VirtualMachine:vm-4463,H32-10.172.44.72-example_vm] from H32-10.172.44.72-example_VM to %2fvmfs%2fvolumes%2f5cfa13a3-####-####-####-########790%2fH32-10.172.44.72
  vpxd-87.log: 2019-06-14T06:21:12.048Z verbose vpxd[39037] [Originator@6876 sub=InvtId opID=HB-host-1687@198220-3df0cbd9] Registering UUID, IP, MAC, and WWN for VM %2fvmfs%2fvolumes%2f5cfa13a3-####-####-####-########790%2fH32-10.172.44.72
  
  Note: The preceding log excerpts are only examples. Date, time, and environmental variables may vary depending on your environment.

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 6.0
VMware vSphere ESXi 6.7
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.5
VMware vSphere ESXi 6.5

Cause

This issue occurs when the Dvport file is unexpectedly removed during PDL because the fake vm configInfo may have synced to vpxd.

HA failed to failover the VMs because the dvport file is unexpectedly removed.

Resolution

This is a known issue affecting VMware vSphere ESXi 5.5.x, 6.0.x, 6.5.x and 6.7.x.

Currently, there is no resolution or workaround.