"Detected an invalid snapshot configuration" error creating a snapshot

Products

• VMware vCenter Server
• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

• Cannot take snapshot from this virtual machine.
• Attempting to take a snapshot fails with:

Detected an invalid snapshot configuration. An error occurred while taking a snapshot: A required file was not found.


• Snapshot based backup will not complete successfully.

Environment

• VMware vSphere ESXi
• VMware vCenter Server

Cause

This issue occurs when there are snapshots that are not part of a snapshot chain (orphaned snapshots) in the virtual machine directory while the VM is not running on snapshots.

Resolution

1. Verify the VM is running on the base disk by editing the VM settings.
2. Select the VM that is having this issue and click the hard disk and verify the disk mounted:
   • Snapshot will look like VMName-00000x.vmdk (For example VMName-000001.vmdk)
   • Base disks will look like VMName.vmdk

3. Remove any existing snapshots.
4. Verify VM is now running on the base disks. If not, STOP IMMEDIATLY. DO NOT CONTINUE.
5. Make a note of the datastore where the VM is stored.
6. Connect to the ESXi host with an SSH session.
7. Navigate to the datastore from step 4.
   
   cd /vmfs/volumes/DATASTORE/VM_Name/
   
   Note: Alternatively, the vCenter or Host UI can be used to perform the following steps.
   
   
8. List all the files in the folder:
   
   ls -l
   
   
9. Look for snapshot files similar to VMName-00000x.vmdk
10. Create a temporary directory to store the snapshots:
    
    mkdir delete_me
    
    
11. Move the snapshot files to the temporary directory:
    
    mv snapshot_file ./delete_me
    
    For example:

mv VMName-000001.vmdk ./delete_me
    
    
12. Move vmname.vmsd to the temporary folder.
    
    mv VMName.vmsd ./delete_me
    
    
13. Create a snapshot.