Placeholder VM creation error:The name 'placeholder_VM _name' already exists

Products

• VMware Live Recovery

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• When trying to protect a VM , below error message will be displayed 

Environment

VMware Site Recovery Manager 8.x
VMware Live Recovery 9.x

Cause

• This issue arises if a virtual machine with the same name as the placeholder already exists at the SRM Recovery Site.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, follow these steps and ensure there are no conflicts with other virtual machine names:

• If the virtual machine at the Recovery Site is needed, rename the virtual machine at Recovery Site vCenter
• If the virtual machine at the Recovery Site is not needed (for example, it may be an old placeholder or an incorrectly created VM), remove it from the inventory.
• Once above steps are taken the follow the below steps to restore placeholder
  • Return to the Site Recovery UI on the Production Site.
  • Navigate to Protection Group > VMs, and select the VM name.
  • Click the three dots [...] and choose Restore All Placeholder VMS