VM Fails to Power On with "Unable to enumerate disks" Error Due to Incompletely Consolidated Snapshot
Article ID: 367705
Updated On:
Products
Issue/Introduction
• Users may encounter difficulties powering on a VMware virtual machine (VM) that has an incompletely consolidated snapshot.
• The VM may display an error message stating, "Unable to enumerate all disks. One of the disks in this virtual machine is already in use by a virtual machine or by a snapshot."
• This issue can cause significant disruptions to business operations, particularly if the affected VM hosts essential services.
Environment
- VMware vSphere environment
- VM with an incompletely consolidated snapshot
- The snapshot file may or may not be missing entirely
- VM's snapshot descriptor file (.vmsd) still shows references to the snapshot file even if it is missing
- Edit settings for the VM will show VM is running on Snapshot Disk, and the size will be showing as 0 B and when checking through ssh session by navigating to VM's Directory the snapshot disk and its descriptor will be missing, vmx for the VM will have reference to snapshot disk as its current disk.
-vmware.log reports message similar to:yyyy-mm-dd THH:MM:SS.Z In(05) vmx - SNAPSHOT: SnapshotConfigExtFinder: Unable to find file: '<AffectedVM>-000001.vmdk'yyyy-mm-dd THH:MM:SS.Z In(05) vmx - SNAPSHOT: SnapshotConfigExtFinder: Unable to find file: '<AffectedVM>-000001.vmdk'yyyy-mm-dd THH:MM:SS.Z In(05) vmx - SNAPSHOT: SnapshotConfigInfoExpandDisks: SnapshotConfigInfoExpandDisksInt Error 7yyyy-mm-dd THH:MM:SS.Z In(05) vmx - SNAPSHOT: SnapshotConfigInfoExpand SnapshotConfigInfoExpandDisks: Error 7yyyy-mm-dd THH:MM:SS.Z In(05) vmx - ConsolidateStart: Could not initialize configInfo caching: A required file was not found.yyyy-mm-dd THH:MM:SS.Z In(05) vmx - SNAPSHOT: SnapshotConfigExtFinder: Unable to find file: '<AffectedVM>-000001.vmdk'yyyy-mm-dd THH:MM:SS.Z In(05) vmx - SNAPSHOT: SnapshotConfigInfoExpandDisks: SnapshotConfigInfoExpandDisksInt Error 7yyyy-mm-dd THH:MM:SS.Z In(05) vmx - SNAPSHOT: SnapshotConfigInfoExpand SnapshotConfigInfoExpandDisks: Error 7yyyy-mm-dd THH:MM:SS.Z In(05) vmx - SNAPSHOT: SnapshotConsolidateWorkItemArrayGet failed: A required file was not found (7)yyyy-mm-dd THH:MM:SS.Z In(05) vmx - ConsolidateStart: Failed to get consolidate work items: 'A required file was not found' (7)yyyy-mm-dd THH:MM:SS.Z In(05) vmx - VigorTransport_ServerSendResponse opID=xxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxx seq=xxxxxx: Completed Snapshot request with messages.- hostd.log reports messages similar to:yyyy-mm-dd THH:MM:SS.Z In(166) Hostd[xxxxxxx]: [Originator@6876 sub=Libs opID=xxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxx-auto-xxxx-h5:xxxxxxxx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xxx sid=xxxxxxxx user=vpxuser:<no user>] SNAPSHOT: SnapshotConfigExtFinder: Unable to find file: '<AffectedVM>-000001.vmdk'yyyy-mm-dd THH:MM:SS.Z In(166) Hostd[2098692]: [Originator@6876 sub=Libs opID=xxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxx-auto-xxxx-h5:xxxxxxxx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xxx sid=xxxxxxxx user=vpxuser:<no user>] SNAPSHOT: SnapshotDiskTreeAddFromSnapshot: Trying toadd snapshot <AffectedVM>-Snapshot7.vmsn to disk /vmfs/volumes/<VMDatastoreUUID>/<AffectedVM>/<AffectedVM>.vmdk which already has snapshot currentState.yyyy-mm-dd THH:MM:SS.Z In(166) Hostd[xxxxxxx]: [Originator@6876 sub=Libs opID=xxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxx-auto-xxxx-h5:xxxxxxxx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xxx sid=xxxxxxxx user=vpxuser:<no user>] VigorOfflineGetAllDisks: Failed to retrieve disk files: One of the disks in this virtual machine is already in use by a virtual machine or by a snapshot
Cause
VMware snapshots capture the state of a VM at a specific point in time, allowing users to revert back to that state if needed. When a snapshot is deleted, the changes made since the snapshot was taken are consolidated into the base virtual disk. However, if the consolidation process is interrupted, it can lead to an incompletely consolidated snapshot, resulting in a corrupted base virtual disk.
There are several scenarios that can cause an incomplete snapshot consolidation:
1. Ransomware attacks: Ransomware can disrupt the snapshot consolidation process by encrypting or modifying files, leading to corruption.
2. Abrupt shutdown of the ESXi host: If the ESXi host is forcefully shut down (e.g., power outage, hardware failure) during the consolidation process, it can result in an incomplete consolidation.
3. Manually killing the consolidation process: If a user intentionally terminates the consolidation process, it can leave the snapshot in an inconsistent state.
4. Storage connectivity issues: Disruptions in storage connectivity during the consolidation process can cause the process to fail, resulting in an incompletely consolidated snapshot.
Resolution
To resolve the issue:
1. Rule out whether the issue is a datastore with a different disk geometry:
- If the VM was manually moved or restored to a datastore with different disk geometry than it had been on before, it may require rebuilding the virtual disk (.vmdk) descriptor file. Refer to the knowledgebase article "Recreating a missing VMware virtual machine disk descriptor file (.vmdk)" https://knowledge.broadcom.com/external/article?legacyId=1002511 for instructions.
2. Rule out whether the issue is a corrupted VM descriptor file (.vmx):
- If the VM descriptor file (.vmx) is corrupted, creating a new VM and attaching the affected VM's virtual disks to it may resolve the issue. If the affected VM's configuration information is not available or readable, follow the steps in the knowledgebase article "Rebuilding the virtual machine's .vmx file from vmware.log" https://knowledge.broadcom.com/external/article?legacyId=1023880.
3. If the Snapshot Disk is not found and vmx has entry for it then edit vmx by using vi editor and point it to base disk or the last child disk to base disk for the VM
4. If the previous three steps have not resolved the issue, you will have to restore an older version of the VM or rebuild it.
Additional Information
If you encounter further issues or have questions feel free log a ticket with us using Broadcom Support Portal and we will be there to assist you
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