Unable to power on VM due to file lock

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

When attempting to start up a virtual machine (VM), it fails to power on stating it is unable to access a file since it is locked.

Unable to access file /vmfs/volumes/########-########-####-#########/###############################-flat.vmdk since it is locked

Environment

• vSphere 7.x
• vSphere 8.x

Cause

Locked virtual disks can occur as a result of, but are not limited to, the following:

• A powered-on virtual machine contains locks on all files in use by the owning ESXi host to facilitate read and write access.
• Other locks may be created by hot-adding disks to snapshot-based backup appliances during the backup process.
• Failure to create a lock / start a virtual machine can occur if an unsupported disk format is used or if a lock is already present.

Resolution

Consult KB article 316576 for troubleshooting locked virtual disks:

• Troubleshooting issues resulting from locked virtual disks

Consult KB article 314365 for troubleshooting VM file locks on ESXi hosts:

• Investigating Virtual Machine file locks on ESXi Host(s)