Virtual machines names appear as ds:///vmfs/volumes/datastore/vm

Products

VMware vCenter Server VMware vSphere ESXi VMware vSphere ESXi 6.0 VMware vSphere ESXi 7.0 VMware vCenter Server 6.0 VMware vCenter Server 7.0

Issue/Introduction

This article provides steps to troubleshoot non-cloud-managed VMs which appear as a file path (ds:///vmfs/volumes/datastore/vm_name) instead of the VM name.

For cloud-managed environments, see "ds:///vmfs/volumes/datastore/vm_name" name appears for cloud-managed virtual machines

Symptoms:

Non-cloud-managed virtual machines names appear as ds:///vmfs/volumes/datastore/vm_name
These virtual machines cannot be managed by vCenter server or ESXi hosts

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 6.5.x
VMware vCenter Server 6.7.x
VMware vCenter Server 7.x
VMware vCenter Server 8.x

VMware vSphere ESXi 6.5.x
VMware vSphere ESXi 6.7.x
VMware vSphere ESXi 7.x
VMware vSphere ESXi 8.x

Cause

The issue occurs where the ESXi host is unable to locate the guest VM's files. Possible causes include:

Communication issues between the ESXi host and the storage array
Datastore problems or datastore corruption
Incorrect storage array configuration
Storage array malfunction
Corruption of virtual machine files

Resolution

Verify datastore accessibility in the vCenter Server and ESXi host:

Ensure the datastores with the VM's files is accessible to the vCenter Server.
Ensure the datastores with the VM's files is accessible in the ESXi host client.
If the datastores are inaccessible, see Performing a rescan of the storage on an ESX/ESXi host
Reboot the vCenter Server.

If the VM files are not accessible:

Remove affected VMs from the vCenter inventory per Remove VMs or VM Templates from vCenter Server or from the Datastore
Re-register the affected VMs per How to register or add a Virtual Machine (VM) to the vSphere Inventory in vCenter Server
If the virtual machine will not re-register, the descriptor file (*.vmx) may be corrupt. To address the issue:
1. Create a new VM with the same settings. See Rebuilding the virtual machine's .vmx file from vmware.log
2. Attach the existing virtual disks to the new VM
3. If it still doesn't power on, restore the virtual machine from backup, or rebuild the virtual machine

If the datastores are still not accessible:

Troubleshoot the datastore problems.
Restore the VM or rebuild the VM to a healthier datastore.

If unable to power on VM, error states not able to lock the file, along with file open error (failed to open (Invalid argument): ObjLib_Open failed Type 3)this is not a typical lock but a corruption in flat.vmdk

While trying to power on the VM, following errors are reported.

In(05) worker-31882256 - FILE:open error on /vmfs/volumes/Datastore/<VMNAME>/<VMNAME>-flat.vmdk: Invalid argument
In(05) worker-31882256 - AIOGNRC: Failed to open '/vmfs/volumes/Datastore/<VMNAME>/<VMNAME>-flat.vmdk' : Invalid argument (160002) (0x42001).
In(05) worker-31882256 - OBJLIB-FILEBE : FileBEOpen: can't open '/vmfs/volumes/Datastore/<VMNAME>/<VMNAME>-flat.vmdk' : Invalid argument (1441796).
In(05) worker-31882256 - DISKLIB-VMFS : "/vmfs/volumes/Datastore/<VMNAME>/<VMNAME>-flat.vmdk" : failed to open (Invalid argument): ObjLib_Open failed. Type 3

To resolve the issue, follow the steps below:

Try creating a new descriptor file. Recreating a missing VMware virtual machine disk descriptor file (.vmdk). Issue still persists, proceed to next step
Try migrating the disk to a new datastore and validate the same. Issue still persists, proceed to next step
Unmount the datastore, run VOMA to correct any physical errors reported on the disk. Issue Still persists, Proceed to next step
Use mv command to initiate the copy and then cancel the task so as to create a new reference on the new datastore and then delete the fiat file (This step is followed to permanently delete the flat file reference from the storage)
Restore the VM from the Backup

Additional Information

Failed to power on virtual machine