In the /var/log/hostd.log file of the host, you see entries similar to:
2015-07-23T00:14:49.876Z info hostd[FFD40B70] [Originator@6876 sub=Vmsvc opID=EA28A43A-00028505-a5-36-80-8679 user=vpxuser:VSPHERE.LOCAL\Administrator] CreateVm: Path is not on object datastore ([]/vmfs/volumes/5252cdac-d9b13f3f-a93c-0050560304da/VirtualMachineName/VirtualMachineName.vmx) 2015-07-23T00:14:49.956Z error hostd[FFA30A70] [Originator@6876 sub=Hbrsvc] Failed to retrieve VM config (id=5) 2015-07-23T00:14:49.956Z error hostd[FFA30A70] [Originator@6876 sub=Hbrsvc] Replicator: VmReconfig failed to retrieve replication config for VM 5, ignoring: vim.fault.ReplicationVmConfigFault 2015-07-23T00:14:49.958Z info hostd[FFD40B70] [Originator@6876 sub=Vmsvc.vm:/vmfs/volumes/5252cdac-d9b13f3f-a93c-0050560304da/VirtualMachineName/VirtualMachineName.vmx opID=EA28A43A-00028505-a5-36-80-8679 user=vpxuser:VSPHERE.LOCAL\Administrator] Storage policy for disk '/vmfs/volumes/5252cdac-d9b13f3f-a93c-0050560304da/VirtualMachineName/VirtualMachineName.vmdk' not specified. 2015-07-23T00:14:49.958Z error hostd[FFD40B70] [Originator@6876 sub=Vmsvc.vm:/vmfs/volumes/5252cdac-d9b13f3f-a93c-0050560304da/VirtualMachineName/VirtualMachineName.vmx OpID=EA28A43A-00028505-a5-36-80-8679 user=vpxuser:VSPHERE.LOCAL\Administrator] ConfigRules validation failed for key-value pair {'scsi0:0.fileName', '/vmfs/volumes/5252cdac-d9b13f3f-a93c-0050560304da/VirtualMachineName/VirtualMachineName.vmdk'} 2015-07-23T00:14:49.958Z info hostd[FFD40B70] [Originator@6876 sub=Vimsvc.ha-eventmgr opID=EA28A43A-00028505-a5-36-80-8679 user=vpxuser:VSPHERE.LOCAL\Administrator] Event 114 : Cannot create virtual disk []/vmfs/volumes/5252cdac-d9b13f3f-a93c-0050560304da/VirtualMachineName/VirtualMachineName.vmdk 2015-07-23T00:14:49.959Z info hostd[FFD40B70] [Originator@6876 sub=Vmsvc.vm:/vmfs/volumes/5252cdac-d9b13f3f-a93c-0050560304da/VirtualMachineName/VirtualMachineName.vmx opID=EA28A43A-00028505-a5-36-80-8679 user=vpxuser:VSPHERE.LOCAL\Administrator] Reconfigure failed: vim.fault.InvalidDeviceOperation 505-a5-36-80-8679 user=vpxuser:VSPHERE.LOCAL\Administrator] Create failed with given spec: /vmfs/volumes/5252cdac-d9b13f3f-a93c-0050560304da/VirtualMachineName/VirtualMachineName.vmx --> (vim.vm.ConfigSpec) { --> changeVersion = <unset>, --> name = "VirtualMachineName",
Environment
VMware vCenter Server 6.0.x VMware vSphere ESXi 6.0
Cause
This issue occurs when the scratch location for the host is configured as the root of the local datastore with virtual machines running on the the datastore.
Resolution
Configuring a VMware vSphere ESXi host scratch partition to the root of its local datastore is not recommended.