VM Fails to Power On with "Unable to enumerate disks" Error Due to Incompletely Consolidated Snapshot

Products

VMware vSphere ESXi VMware vSphere ESXi 6.0 VMware vSphere ESXi 7.0 VMware vSphere ESXi 8.0

Issue/Introduction

VM fails to power on with error:
"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."
VM is running on an incompletely consolidated snapshot
Snapshot disk file (*-delta.vmdk) and descriptor may be missing from the VM's directory
.vmx file still references the missing snapshot disk as the current disk
.vmsd file contains stale snapshot metadata pointing to non-existent snapshot files
In Edit Settings, VM shows as running on a snapshot disk with 0 B size
Navigating via SSH or datastore browser confirms missing snapshot files
Occurs in VMware vSphere environments during or after failed/incomplete snapshot consolidation
Can cause service disruptions if the VM hosts critical workloads

/vmfs/volumes/<datastore_name>/<VM_name>/vmware.log:
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) vmx - SNAPSHOT: SnapshotConfigExtFinder: Unable to find file: '<AffectedVM>-000001.vmdk'
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) vmx - SNAPSHOT: SnapshotConfigExtFinder: Unable to find file: '<AffectedVM>-000001.vmdk'
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) vmx - SNAPSHOT: SnapshotConfigInfoExpandDisks: SnapshotConfigInfoExpandDisksInt Error 7
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) vmx - SNAPSHOT: SnapshotConfigInfoExpand SnapshotConfigInfoExpandDisks: Error 7
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) vmx - ConsolidateStart: Could not initialize configInfo caching: A required file was not found.
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) vmx - SNAPSHOT: SnapshotConfigExtFinder: Unable to find file: '<AffectedVM>-000001.vmdk'
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) vmx - SNAPSHOT: SnapshotConfigInfoExpandDisks: SnapshotConfigInfoExpandDisksInt Error 7
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) vmx - SNAPSHOT: SnapshotConfigInfoExpand SnapshotConfigInfoExpandDisks: Error 7
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) vmx - SNAPSHOT: SnapshotConsolidateWorkItemArrayGet failed: A required file was not found (7)
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) vmx - ConsolidateStart: Failed to get consolidate work items: 'A required file was not found' (7)
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) vmx - VigorTransport_ServerSendResponse opID=########-####### seq=######: Completed Snapshot request with messages.

/var/run/log/hostd.log
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(166) Hostd[#######]: [Originator@6876 sub=Libs opID=########-#######-auto-###x-h5:########-##-##-##-##-##-##-### sid=######## user=vpxuser:<no user>] SNAPSHOT: SnapshotConfigExtFinder: Unable to find file: '<AffectedVM>-000001.vmdk'
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(166) Hostd[#######]: [Originator@6876 sub=Libs opID=######xx-######xx-auto-###x-h5:########-##-##-##-##-##-##-### sid=######## 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-DDTHH:MM:SS In(166) Hostd[#######]: [Originator@6876 sub=Libs opID=########-########-auto-###x-h5:########-##-##-##-##-##-##-### sid=######## 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

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 8.x
VMware vSphere ESXi 7.x

Cause

VMware snapshots capture the VM’s state at a specific point in time, enabling users to revert when needed. When a snapshot is deleted, changes made since the snapshot are merged into the base disk through consolidation.If this process is interrupted, it may lead to an incompletely consolidated snapshot, potentially corrupting the base disk.

Common causes of incomplete snapshot consolidation:

Ransomware activity – Malicious encryption or file tampering can interrupt or corrupt consolidation.
Unexpected ESXi host shutdown – Power loss or hardware failure during consolidation can leave snapshot chains incomplete.
Manual termination of consolidation tasks – Forcefully ending the process can cause snapshot metadata inconsistency.
Storage connectivity issues – Latency or disconnections during the operation may cause failures in completing consolidation.

Resolution

To resolve the issue of a VM failing to power on due to incomplete snapshot consolidation or missing disk references, follow the steps below:

Check for disk geometry mismatch on the datastore
- If the VM was manually moved or restored to a datastore with a different disk geometry, the virtual disk descriptor file (.vmdk) may need to be recreated.
- Refer to KB Recreating a missing VMware virtual machine disk descriptor file (.vmdk) for step-by-step instructions.
Verify the integrity of the VM configuration file (.vmx)
- A corrupted or unreadable .vmx file may prevent the VM from starting.
- Create a new VM shell and attach the existing virtual disks to it, or rebuild the .vmx file using the vmware.log file as reference.
- Refer to KB Rebuilding the virtual machine's .vmx file from vmware.log for guidance.
Manually correct the snapshot disk reference in the .vmx file
- If the .vmx file references a snapshot disk that no longer exists, edit the .vmx file using a text editor (e.g., vi) and update the disk entry to point to the base disk or the most recent valid child disk.
Restore or rebuild the virtual machine
- If the above steps do not resolve the issue, consider restoring the VM from a known good backup or rebuilding it from scratch using the available virtual disks or configuration data.

Additional Information

If further assistance is required or additional issues arise, please submit a support case through the Broadcom Support Portal. Our support team will be glad to assist you promptly and effectively.