VM clone operations fail when source files reside on NFS storage using NetApp VAAI plugin

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

• ESXi clone operations will fail while sending tasks through the NetApp VAAI plugin and a misconfiguration exists between the ESXi hosts and the NAS.
• /var/run/log/hostd.log contains the following error when the clone fails:

Result:
--> (vim.fault.NotAuthenticated) {
-->    object = 'nfc.NfcManager:ha-nfc-manager',
-->    privilegeId = "System.Read",
-->    msg = "",
--> }

[NFC ERROR]NfcFileDskClone: Failed to clone disk at destination /vmfs/volumes/path/to/vm.vmdk: Unknown error (318)

• ESXi uses the NetAppNasPlugin 

esxcli software vib list | grep NetApp

• OVF deployments from Content Library will show a generic error like the following:

Failed to deploy OVF package. ThrowableProxy.cause A general system error occurred: Transfer failed: IO error during transfer 

Note that this error is generic and does not indicate this issue without the associated log entries from ESXi.

Environment

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

Cause

This is generally caused by a misconfiguration of the NetApp plugin during setup. 

Resolution

To confirm you are experiencing this issue;

• You can stop the vaai-nasd service on the ESXi host, (OR)
• Remove the NetApp NFS plug-in for VAAI and test the clone operation again.

Stop the vaai service on the ESXi host: /etc/init.d/vaai-nasd stop

Start the vaai service on the ESXi host: /etc/init.d/vaai-nasd start

Review Install NetApp NFS Plug-in for VMware VAAI for more in-depth steps, specifically ensure that security and permission configurations are set up correctly between the ESXi host and the NetApp device. If you are confident that its configured correctly and still have this issue, please contact NetApp support.

Additional Information

Install NetApp NFS Plug-in for VMware VAAI