Hardware changes to a VM fail in vCloud Director with the error: PBM error occurred during PreMigrateCheckCallback

Products

• VMware Cloud Director

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• Making a hardware change to a virtual machine in vCloud Director fails with the error:

[ <REQUEST_UUID> ] A general system error occurred: PBM error occurred during PreMigrateCheckCallback: vmodl.fault.InvalidArgument;

vCenter Server task (moref: task-123) failed in vCenter Server '' (<VC_UUID>).
- A general system error occurred: PBM error occurred during PreMigrateCheckCallback: vmodl.fault.InvalidArgument;

• In the C:\ProgramData\VMware\vCenterServer\logs\vmware-vpx\vpxd.log file, you see entries similar to:

2017-02-03T15:43:49.570+01:00 error vpxd[166784] [Originator@6876 sub=pbm opID=vcd-<REQUEST_UUID>;activity=urn:uuid:<ACTIVITY_UUID>] PBMCallback: PbmCallBack::FillRelocateSpecWithSourceVmDisk: Invalid disk vm-123:2002 profile setting. Host and datastore are not changed. May use VM reconfig instead
2017-02-03T15:43:49.570+01:00 error vpxd[166784] [Originator@6876 sub=pbm opID=vcd-<REQUEST_UUID>;activity=urn:uuid:<ACTIVITY_UUID>] PBMCallback: PbmService::HandleInternalFaultMessage: PBM error occurred during PreMigrateCheckCallback: vmodl.fault.InvalidArgument;

2016-12-21T10:41:57.826+01:00 error vpxd[04304] [Originator@6876 sub=pbm opID=vcd-<REQUEST_UUID>;activity=urn:uuid:<ACTIVITY_UUID>] PBMCallback: PbmCallBack::FillRelocateSpecWithSourceVmHome: VM PbmCallBack::FillRelocateSpecWithSourceVmHome: Invalid VM home profile setting. Host and datastore are not changed. May use VM reconfig instead
2016-12-21T10:41:57.826+01:00 error vpxd[04304] [Originator@6876 sub=pbm opID=vcd-<REQUEST_UUID>;activity=urn:uuid:<ACTIVITY_UUID>] PBMCallback: PbmService::HandleInternalFaultMessage: PBM error occurred during PreMigrateCheckCallback: vmodl.fault.InvalidArgument;

2016-12-21T10:41:57.852+01:00 error vpxd[04304] [Originator@6876 sub=vpxLro opID=vcd-<REQUEST_UUID>;activity=urn:uuid:<ACTIVITY_UUID>] [VpxLRO] Unexpected Exception: vmodl.fault.SystemError
2016-12-21T10:41:57.852+01:00 info vpxd[04304] [Originator@6876 sub=vpxLro opID=vcd-<REQUEST_UUID>;activity=urn:uuid:<ACTIVITY_UUID>] [VpxLRO] -- FINISH task-internal-793610
2016-12-21T10:41:57.852+01:00 info vpxd[04304] [Originator@6876 sub=Default opID=vcd-<REQUEST_UUID>;activity=urn:uuid:<ACTIVITY_UUID>] [VpxLRO] -- ERROR task-internal-793610 -- -- VmprovWorkflow: vmodl.fault.SystemError:
--> Result:
--> (vmodl.fault.SystemError) {
--> faultCause = (vmodl.MethodFault) null,
--> reason = "PBM error occurred during PreMigrateCheckCallback: vmodl.fault.InvalidArgument;
--> ",
--> msg = ""
--> }
--> Args:
-->

Note: This log excerpt is an example. Date, time, and environmental variables may vary depending on your environment.

 

Environment

VMware Cloud Director 9.x

Cause

This issue occurs when, as a part of the hardware reconfiguration, first attempt to relocate a virtual machine is made where the host and datastore do not change.

Resolution

This is a known issue in VMware vCloud Director 8.10 and 8.20 that can affect the ability to make hardware changes to a virtual machine.

This issue is resolved in vCloud Director 9.0, available at VMware Downloads.

Workaround:

To work around the issue perform these steps:

 

Note: These steps may migrate VMs to different datastores when changing the Storage Policy of the VMs.

1. Create a new (Temp-SP) Storage Policy in vCenter Server which is accessible to all shared vCD used Datastores in vCenter Server.
2. Add the newly created Storage Policy to the Provider VDCs and Org VDCs where affected VMs reside.
3. Go to the VM Properties of an affected VM.
4. In the General Tab make a note of the current Storage Policy and change it to Temp-SP.
5. In the Hardware Tab, make a note of the current Storage Policy settings of the Disks and change them to Temp-SP.
6. Click OK.
   
   Note: You should see the VM update moving it to the new Storage Policy.
    
7. After the change is complete, access the VM Properties again and set the Storage Policies back to their previous settings.
8. Click OK.
   
   Note: You should see the VM update again changing the Storage Policy information to as it was before.
    
9. Repeat for other affected VMs.
10. Remove Temp-SP from vCloud Director and vCenter Server after the successful completion of the steps.

After completing the preceding steps, the affected VMs should be manageable via vCloud Director again.

Additional Information

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