Taking quiesced snapshot of a virtual machine fails with the error: msg.snapshot.error-QUIESCINGERROR
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Taking quiesced snapshot of a virtual machine fails with the error: msg.snapshot.error-QUIESCINGERROR

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Article ID: 334348

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Updated On:

Products

VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

  • You are unable to take a quiesced snapshot of a virtual machine.
  • You see the error:

    msg.snapshot.error-QUIESCINGERROR.
  • In the /vmfs/volumes/datastore/virtual_machine/vmware.log file you see entries similar to:

    YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS| vcpu-0| I120: ToolsBackup: changing quiesce state: ERROR_WAIT -> ERROR_WAIT
    YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS| vmx| I120: GuestRpcSendTimedOut: message to toolbox timed out.
    YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS| vmx| I120: Msg_Post: Warning
    YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS| vmx| I120: [msg.snapshot.quiesce.rpc_timeout] A timeout occurred while communicating with VMware Tools in the virtual machine.
    YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS| vmx| I120: ----------------------------------------
    YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS| vmx| I120: ToolsBackup: changing quiesce state: ERROR_WAIT -> DONE

  • In the Event Viewer of the virtual machine, you see entries similar to:

    Log Name: System
    Source: volsnap
    Date: YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS
    Event ID: 8
    Task Category: None
    Level: Error
    Keywords: Classic
    User: N/A
    Computer: VM
    Description:
    The flush and hold writes operation on volume D: timed out while waiting for a release writes command.

    Log Name: System
    Source: Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-General
    Date: YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS
    Event ID: 1
    Task Category: None
    Level: Information
    Keywords: Time
    User: SYSTEM
    Computer: VM
    Description:
    The system time has changed to ?YYYY?-?MM?-?DDHH:MM:SS from ?YYYY?-?MM?-?DDTHH:MM:SS
    .

    Log Name: Application
    Source: VSS
    Date: YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS
    Event ID: 12340
    Task Category: None
    Level: Error
    Keywords: Classic
    User: N/A
    Computer: VM
    Description:
    Volume Shadow Copy Error: VSS waited more than 40 seconds for all volumes to be flushed. This caused volume \\?\Volume{#####-UUID-#####}\ to timeout while waiting for the release-writes phase of shadow copy creation. Trying again when disk activity is lower may solve this problem.
    Operation:
    Executing Asynchronous Operation
    Context:
    Current State: flush-and-hold writes
    Volume Name: \\?\Volume{#####-UUID-#####}\
Note: The preceding log excerpts are only examples. Date, time, and environmental variables may vary depending on your environment.



Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi

Cause

This issue occurs when the virtual machine time is not in synchronization with the ESXi host and the time changes during a snapshot process.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, ensure that the virtual machine is configured for time synchronization.
For more information, see: