There is no more space for virtual disk '.vmdk'

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

• Datastore was running with low free space
• VM stops working. 
• In vSphere, the error message presented is similar to:

"There is no more space for virtual disk '<name of disk>.vmdk'. You might be able to continue this session by freeing disk space on the relevant volume, and clicking Retry. Click Cancel to terminate this session."

 

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 6.7

VMware vSphere ESXi 7.x

VMware vSphere ESXi 8.x

Resolution

To resolve this issue, follow the steps below:

1. Clear unwanted data like old log bundle, iso images, etc... and free space on the Datastore
2. If snapshots are present then consolidate the snapshots
3. If the swap file is too large for the VM, consider temporarily adding a memory reservation to the VM
4. Do consider increasing the space of actual LUN.
5. If the LUN is thin provisioned from the storage array, ensure the pool has enough free capacity. 
6. Restarting any of ESXi service or reboot of ESXi server will not help to free-up the space

Additional Information

VMware Skyline Health Diagnostics for vSphere - FAQ
Failed to power on virtual machine