The virtual machine fails to start with the error: msg.vmx.poweron.failedErrorCode

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• Cannot start a virtual machine
• The virtual machine fails to start
• You see an error similar to:
  
  An error was received from the ESX host while powering on VM xxxx (VM name).
  Failed to start the virtual machine (error -18).

Environment

VMware ESXi 4.0.x Embedded
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.1
VMware ESXi 4.0.x Installable
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.5
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Embedded
VMware vSphere ESXi 6.0
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.0
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Installable

Cause

This issue occurs due to any of these reasons:

• If the entries in the virtual machine's configuation file (.vmx) do not adhere to the rules that are set in the /etc/vmware/configrules file.
• If the virtual machine was created by a product that is incompatible with this version of ESXi and, therefore, cannot be used.
• If the virtual machine's configuration file does not contain the config.version entry.
• If the path of the virtual machine's configuration file is invalid.

Resolution

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

• Ensure that the entries in the virtual machine's .vmx file are correct. For more information, see:
  
• • Verifying ESX/ESXi virtual machine file integrity (1003743)
  • Validating the .vmx settings of a virtual machine (1003748)

If there are any inconsistencies, manually edit the .vmx file of the virtual machine and make the necessary corrections. For more information on how to edit .vmx file, see Tips for editing a .vmx file (1714).

• Create a new virtual machine and then add the existing virtual disks and devices to the newly created virtual machine.

Additional Information

Verifying ESX/ESXi virtual machine file integrity
Validating the .vmx settings of a virtual machine
Tips for editing a .vmx file
仮想マシンの起動が次のエラーで失敗する：msg.vmx.poweron.failedErrorCode
虚拟机无法启动，并显示以下错误：msg.vmx.poweron.failedErrorCode