Unable to protect VM due to unresolved devices.

Products

• VMware Live Recovery

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• Configuring protection for a VM fails with the specific internal error: "Internal error: Provider returned incorrect device set."
• This error occurs when using Array-Based Replication (ABR) if the VM has hardware attachments that the Storage Replication Adapter (SRA) cannot resolve.
• A VM deployed via vRA automation workflow fails when SRM protection tasks begin with the error: "Unable to protect VM due to unresolved devices. Error code: com.vmware.vcDr.dr.replication.fault.DevicesNotResolved"

Note: The VM template can be deployed manually without issues; however, when deployed via automation, this error occurs.

Environment

Live Site Recovery 9.x

Cause

When automation deploys a VM, it often attaches certain devices (like ISO files, USB controllers, or CD/DVD drives). However, protecting a VM with these attached devices is not supported by SRM. As a result, the replication or protection task fails whenever such devices are present.

• Serial Ports: SRM does not support protecting VMs with attached serial ports (either physical or network-backed).
• Device Backing Mismatch: The error triggered by serial ports may manifest as an "incorrect device set" because the storage provider cannot reconcile the VM's full hardware stack with the replication groups on the array.

Resolution

Remove the attached devices from the VM before protecting it using SRM.

• Remove Serial Ports: Edit the VM settings and remove any Serial Port devices before attempting to protect the VM.
• If the error persists after removing the device, remove the VM from the vCenter inventory and re-register it to clear stale metadata.