Virtual machine options are grayed out in vSphere Client

Products

• VMware vCenter Server
• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

This article provides troubleshooting steps when virtual machine options are grayed out in vSphere Client.

• Virtual machine operations are grayed out
• Unable to perform operations on the virtual machine
• Menu options are grayed out when the virtual machine is right-clicked
• The "Register VM" option is grayed out when attempting to register a VM from the datastore browser
• There is an error message:
  
  Another task in progress

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 7.x
VMware vCenter Server 8.x
VMware vCenter Server 9.x

Cause

This issue occurs when:

• Permissions are not set correctly
• There are virtual machine tasks running in the background
• The .vmx file is corrupted.
• There are invalid arguments in the .vmx file.
• There are file locks
• VM Backup is in Progress. 

Resolution

Note: The virtual machine must be powered off to edit the .vmx file as required.

 

Permissions Are Not Set Correctly

• Ensure that there are sufficient permissions on the virtual machine.

  1. In the vSphere Client, select the virtual machine.

  2. Click the Permission tab.

  3. Ensure that sufficient permissions are applied to the user/group.

• If permissions are defined at a host, cluster, datacenter, or vCenter level, apply the required permissions to the user or group to edit the virtual machine settings.

• Attempt to use the [email protected] account to edit a VM from the vCenter GUI.

Virtual Machine Tasks are Running in the Background

• Virtual machine tasks that cannot be seen in the vSphere Client Tasks & Events tab or the Recent Tasks pane may be running in the background.
• To check if other virtual machine tasks are running in the background:

1. 1. Log into the ESXi host using SSH or on the console.
   2. List all registered virtual machines:
      
      vim-cmd vmsvc/getallvms
      
      Note: Make note of the vmid for the problem virtual machine.
      
      
   3. Check running tasks on the virtual machine:
      
      vim-cmd vmsvc/get.tasklist vmid
      
      Note: If a task is running on that virtual machine, the output will list the tasks. For example:
      
      (ManagedObjectReference)
['vim.Task:haTask-8-vim.VirtualMachine.createSnapshot-534613324',
'vim.Task:haTask-8-vim.VirtualMachine.powerOn-534613303']
      
      Note: Wait for the task(s) to finish before performing operations on the virtual machine.
      
      If there is no task running on that virtual machine, the output will be:
      
      (ManagedObjectReference) []

Corrupted .vmx File

• The .vmx file associated with the virtual machine may be corrupted. The .vmx file size displays as zero, and the content may be garbled or empty. 
• Please refer to Rebuilding the virtual machine's .vmx file from vmware.log on how to rebuild the .vmx file.

Invalid Entries Within The .vmx File

• To check if the .vmx file contains blank lines or invalid arguments:

1. 1. Take a backup of the .vmx file before modifying it.
   2. Open the .vmx file using a text editor.
   3. Search for any blank lines and delete them.
      
      Note: To delete a line using vi editor, press d twice.
      
      
   4. Compare the .vmx file with a working virtual machine .vmx file and see if there are any invalid arguments.
   5. To apply the changes, reload the .vmx file by running the command:
      
      vim-cmd vmsvc/reload vmid
      
      For more information, see Tips for editing a .vmx file (1714).
      
      Note: The default location of the .vmx file:
      
      /vmfs/volumes/name_of_the_datastore/VM_name/VM_name.vmx

Virtual machine file locks

• Please refer to Investigating Virtual Machine file locks on ESXi Host(s) to determine what process, VM, or host is locking the file(s).
• For file locks on different datastore types:
  • VMware virtual machine file lock on VMFS datastore
  • Understanding the NFS .lck lock file to understand the ESX host and NFS filename it refers to
  • Investigating virtual disk file locks on vSAN

Additional Information

Tips for editing a .vmx file
Using ESXi Shell in ESXi 5.x and 6.x