Unable to edit the settings of a virtual machine that is a member of a datastore cluster in VMware vCenter Server 5.0.x and 5.1

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• You cannot edit the settings of a virtual machine that is a member of a datastore cluster.
• Your user account does not have Configure a datastore cluster permission in vCenter Server.
• You see an error similar to:

Permission to perform this operation was denied.
You do not hold privilege "Datastore cluster > Configure a datastore cluster" on Datastore cluster "Cluster Name"

• Using the same user account with the same role, you are able to edit the settings of virtual machines that are not members of a datastore cluster.

Cause

Resolution

This is a known issue affecting VMware vCenter Server 5.0, 5.0 Update 1, and VMware vCenter Server 5.1. This issue is resolved in vSphere vCenter Server 5.1 Update 1 and Client 5.0 Update 3. For more information about these version, see the vCenter Server 5.1 Update 1 release notes and vCenter Server 5.0 Update 3 Release Notes. You can download the latest release from the VMware Download Center.

Note: It is recommended that you also install the updated VMware vSphere Client when upgrading vCenter Server.

To work around this issue, perform one of these options:

1. Assign Configure a datastore cluster permission to the user account on the datastore cluster where the virtual machine resides.
2. As an Administrator click Edit Settings on the virtual machine where the non-administrative user is unable to edit the settings. Click OK, do not make any changes. This change allows the non-administrative user to edit the virtual machine's configuration.

Additional Information

To be alerted when this document is updated, click the Subscribe to Article link in the Actions box