Storage vMotion of a VM with native snapshots may lead to inconsistencies, under rare conditions

Products

• VMware vSAN 8.x

Issue/Introduction

Under rare circumstances, migrating VMs from a vVol datastore or vSAN ESA datastore using storage vMotion may lead to data inconsistencies at the destination datastore.

Environment

VMware vSphere 6.0 or above environment with vVol datastore associated, or

VMware vSAN ESA on 8.x

Cause

Storage vMotion from a vVol datastore or a vSAN ESA datastore may encounter a rare issue when using the MoveAllDiskBackingsAndConsolidate option through the VMODL API. This option consolidates a virtual disk with a snapshot chain into a single disk on the destination. However, if applied to a VM with native snapshots, it may lead to incomplete data transfer. 

In contrast, when the storage vMotion is invoked through the vSphere UI or API without specifying a disk move type, it defaults to the MoveAllDiskBackingsAndDisallowSharing option, which avoids this issue. 

Resolution

Currently there is no resolution and the issue will be resolved in a future ESXi release. 



Workaround

Do Not use the moveAllDiskBackingsAndConsolidate disk move type when performing Storage vMotion from vVol or vSAN ESA datastore.
If the goal is to consolidate the snapshot chain at the destination, ensure that all snapshots are removed using the consolidate option before initiating Storage vMotion.This will help avoid potential issues and ensure a seamless migration.