Error: VLR/SRM failover or re-protect fails with Unable to access file and status Incomplete Recovery
Article ID: 323022
Updated On:
Products
Issue/Introduction
Symptoms:
- During a VMware Live Site Recovery (formerly SRM) disaster recovery drill, a failover or re-protect operation may stop with an "Incomplete recovery" status. This typically occurs when the recovery host cannot access the required placeholder files.
- Protection configuration fails with a placeholder creation error.
- Placeholder VMs are not created successfully in the recovery site inventory.
- Error logs in vmware-dr.log contain:
(vim.fault.CannotAccessFile) ... message = "/vmfs/volumes/UUID could not be created".
Specific error: Unable to access file ds:///vmfs/volumes/UUID/VMNAME-phVm.vmx. - The migration has shut down the VM on the production site and currently is in process of creating a placeholder VM under the same production site.
- In the /var/log/vmware/srm/vmware-dr.log file, you see entries similar to:
03:00 [92668 verbose 'LocalVcServer-PCM' opID=279bbc83 remoteTask=task-488793] [PCM] Recording new filter 'sessionId[522b6]52cd053a-2d2e-ed16-580c-b972dda651df' for token '509' and connection version '1'
2017-10-26T20:23:38.343+03:00 [92668 error 'RemoteTaskMonitor' remoteTask=task-488793] Dr::Internal::RemoteTaskBase::HandleTaskError: The remote task failed, error=
--> (vim.fault.CannotAccessFile) {
--> faultCause = (vmodl.MethodFault) null,
--> faultMessage = (vmodl.LocalizableMessage) [
--> (vmodl.LocalizableMessage) {
--> key = "com.vmware.vim.vpx.file.creation.Error",
--> arg = (vmodl.KeyAnyValue) [
--> (vmodl.KeyAnyValue) {
--> key = "filename",
--> value = "/vmfs/volumes/54465721-########-####-##########39"
--> }
--> ],
--> message = "/vmfs/volumes/54465721-########-####-##########39 could not be created"
--> }
--> ],
--> file = "ds:///vmfs/volumes/54465721-########-####-##########39/"
--> msg = "Unable to access file ds:///vmfs/volumes/54465721-########-####-##########39/"
--> }
03:00 [92668 error 'RemoteTaskMonitor' remoteTask=task-488793] Dr::Internal::RemoteTask<class Dr::TypedMoRef<class Vim::VirtualMachine,void> const >::Fail: The remote task failed- Recovery plan report error similar to:
Prepare VMs for migration,Unable to access file ds:///vmfs/volumes/54465721-########-####-##########39/Environment
VMware Live Recovery
VMware Site Recovery Manager 8.x, 9.x
Cause
The placeholder datastore configured in VLR site pair mappings is not visible or accessible to the ESXi host at the recovery site (or production site during re-protect). VLR cannot write the placeholder configuration files (.vmx) if the host lacks read/write access to the LUN.
This issue typically occurs during the creation of a placeholder VM in Site Recovery Manager (SRM). It happens when the placeholder datastore configured in the SRM mappings is not visible to the ESXi host on the production site for the affected virtual machines.
Since the placeholder VM relies on the datastore being accessible, its creation will fail if the datastore cannot be accessed by the ESXi host.
Resolution
- Verify that the LUN designated as the Placeholder Datastore is masked and zoned to all ESXi hosts in the recovery cluster.
- Log in to the vSphere Client and navigate to Site Recovery > Site Pairs > Configure > Placeholder Datastores.
- Ensure the selected datastore is visible to all hosts. If it is only visible to a subset of hosts, select a different datastore that is shared across the cluster.
- Remove the affected VM from the Protection Group.
- Delete the orphaned placeholder VM from the vCenter inventory (it may appear as "Inaccessible").
- Re-add the VM to the Protection Group to recreate the placeholder.
- Run the Test Recovery or Re-protect again.
If the issue persists, see . Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on your respective region.
Additional Information
- For more information on subscription updates, see .
Feedback
