Error: "Unable to access file... since it is locked" when attempting to power on VM after cancelling OVF export task

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

• After cancelling an OVF export, a VM is unable to be powered on.
• The "Power On virtual machine" task shows a Status of:
  
  Unable to access file /vmfs/volumes/<datastore>/<VM Name>/<VM Name>-flat.vmdk since it is locked
  
  
• The listed worldName shows vpxa 
  
  worldName: vpxa
  
  

Cause

After the OVF export is cancelled, the vmdk file is locked until the internal disk transfer between the vpxa service on ESXi and the content library service on vCenter is completed.

Resolution

Restart the vpxa service on the ESXi host.

1. SSH to the ESXi host via root
2. Restart the vpxa service:
   
   /etc/init.d/vpxa restart

If this does not work, a reboot of the host holding the lock is necessary.

Additional Information

If the OVF export via ESXi Host Client is cancelled, refer to Unable to power on VM with error: "The attempted operation cannot be performed in the current state (Powered off)".