Cannot find "disk.EnableUUID = "TRUE"" parameter in vmx file, when creating Windows Server 2016 virtual machine using Host Client

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi
• VMware vSphere ESXi 7.0
• VMware vSphere ESXi 8.0

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• A virtual machine with OS type “Windows Server 2016” is created using a Host Client.
• You cannot find the “disk.EnableUUID = “TRUE”” parameter in the vmx file by default.
• Additionally we may also see that the Quiesce snapshots will also fail with the below messages 

           [msg.snapshot.quiesce.startfail] Failed to start quiescing operation in the virtual >machine.

The error message was: Error initializing quiesce operation.
 ToolsBackup: changing quiesce state: IDLE -> DONE
 SnapshotVMXTakeSnapshotComplete: Done with snapshot 'ShadowCopyEnabled': 0
 SnapshotVMXTakeSnapshotComplete: Snapshot 0 failed: Failed to quiesce the virtual machine >(29).

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 6.5
VMware vSphere ESXi 7.x
VMware vSphere ESXi 8.x

Resolution

To resolve this issue, perform one of the below options:

• Create a Windows Server 2016 virtual machine using a vSphere Web Client.
• After creating a Windows Server 2016 virtual machine using the Host Client, add a virtual machine’s disk.EnableUUID attribute manually with following steps:

1. Open the Host Client, and log in to the ESXi.
2.  Locate the Windows Server 2016 virtual machine for which you are enabling the disk UUID attribute, and power off the virtual machine.
3.  After power-off, right-click the virtual machine, and choose Edit Settings.
4.  Click VM Options tab, and select Advanced.
5.  Click Edit Configuration in Configuration Parameters.
6.  Click Add parameter.
7.  In the Key column, type disk.EnableUUID.
8.  In the Value column, type TRUE.
9.  Click OK and click Save.
10. Power on the virtual machine

Additional Information

• Adding a virtual disk to a virtual machine that already has a virtual disk with the same UUID fails