"The value was rejected by rule "No System Files". This virtual machine is not configured according to rules specified in /etc/vmware/configrules." while trying to add an existing hard disk to a VM

Products

• VMware vCenter Server
• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

• Trying to add an existing Hard drive to the VM errors with the following: 
  Invalid virtual machine configuration. Invalid value "/vmfs/volumes/<datastore name>/<VM name>/<VM name>.vmdk" for configuration key "scsi1:0.fileName". The value was rejected by rule "No System Files". This virtual machine is not configured according to rules specified in /etc/vmware/configrules. Failed to add disk scsi1:0.

• /var/run/log/hostd.log reports the following errors:
  yyyy:dd:mmThh:mm:ssZ Db(167) Hostd[2255099]: [Originator@6876 sub=Vigor.Vmsvc.vm:/vmfs/volumes/<datastore name>/<VM name>/<VM name>.vmx opID=m353rcbu-1802685-auto-12mym-h5:70166734-ef-01-7b-76a8 sid=52ee083e user=vpxuser:<user>] Set disk device backing info message: The backing path name is invalid. yyyy:dd:mmThh:mm:ssZ Db(167) Hostd[2255058]: --> Invalid value "/vmfs/volumes/<datastore name>/<VM name>/<VM name>.vmdk" for configuration key "scsi0:0.fileName". The value was rejected by rule "No System Files".



Environment

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

Cause

This issue arises when the ESXi host's scratch location is set to the root of a datastore that also hosts running virtual machines.

Resolution

It is not recommended to configure a VMware vSphere ESXi host's scratch partition to the root of a datastore, as this setup can cause issues with file organization, management, and overall system performance.

To resolve the issue, it is recommended to set the scratch location of the ESXi host to a sub-directory within the configured datastore. 

For detailed instructions: Creating a persistent scratch location for ESXi 8.x/7.x/6.x