Placeholder Create Error Unable to protect vm due to inventory conflict. The resource pool and folder belong to separate datacenters

Products

• VMware Live Recovery

Issue/Introduction

 A "placeholder create error" with the message "unable to protect VM due to inventory conflict: the resource pool and folder belong to separate data centers" in VMware Site Recovery Manager (SRM) means that the virtual machine you're trying to protect is located in a folder or resource pool that belongs to a different data center than the designated recovery site, causing a conflict when attempting to create a placeholder VM at the recovery site; essentially, the system cannot map the VM's location to a matching one on the recovery side due to the data center mismatch

Environment

Site Recovery Manager 8.7.x | 8.8.x | 9.0.x

Cause

A "placeholder create error" with the message "unable to protect VM due to inventory conflict: the resource pool and folder belong to separate data centers" in VMware Site Recovery Manager (SRM) indicates that the virtual machine you're attempting to protect is situated in a folder or resource pool from a different data center than the designated recovery site. This discrepancy leads to a conflict when creating a placeholder VM at the recovery site since the system cannot map the VM's location appropriately due to the data center mismatch.

Key Points About This Error:
Inventory Mapping Issue:

SRM must map the VM's folder and resource pool from the protected site to corresponding locations on the recovery site, but this fails because they are in different data centers.

 

Resolution

How to Fix:

• Check and Adjust Inventory Mappings:
• Access your SRM configuration and review the inventory mappings between the protected site and the recovery site.
• Ensure that the folder and resource pool on the recovery site are within the same data center as the VM you wish to protect.
• Modify the mappings if necessary to align with the correct data center on the recovery site.
• Move the VM to a Compatible Data Center:

If protection in its current state is necessary, consider moving the VM to a folder and resource pool within the same data center as the designated recovery site.

Verify Data Center Selection:

Double-check the selected data center on the recovery site when configuring protection for the VM.

Other Potential Causes for Placeholder Creation Errors:

VM Name Conflicts:
A VM with the same name already existing at the recovery site can cause a placeholder creation issue.

Missing Placeholder Datastore:
Ensure the recovery site has a designated datastore available for creating placeholder VMs.

Permissions Issues:
Verify that your user account has the necessary permissions to create placeholder VMs on the recovery site.

 

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