Unable to convert vmdk to pRDM

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Unable to run a conversion using vmkfstools unless the vmdk is empty. Any data results in failure of metadata.

Attempts to clone vmdk to physical RDM fail.

vmkfstools -i /vmfs/volumes/xxxxxxx /mint_test/test.vmdk  -d rdmp:/vmfs/devices/disks/naa.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx testrdm.vmdk -v 0

DISKLIB-LIB_CLONE   : DiskLibCloneGrowInt: Failed to clone disk using Object Cloning.
...
DISKLIB-LINK  : DiskLinkNativeVmfsClone: Incompatible disk types.
OBJLIB-FILEBE : FileBEIoctl: ioctl operation IOCTLCMD_VMFS_MOVEDATA(3030) failed on '/vmfs/volumes/xxxxxxx -xxxx-xxxx-xxxx/mint_test/test-flat.vmdk' : Connection timed out (7208962)
DISKLIB-VMFS :Vmfs_MoveData : failed to move data (Connection timed out:0x6e0009).
DISKLIB-LIB_CLONE   : DiskLibCloneWholeDisk: Failed to clone whole disk: Connection timed out
DISKLIB-LIB_CLONE   : DiskLibCloneGrowInt: Failed to clone whole disk: Connection timed out
...
Failed to clone disk: Connection timed out (7208969).-xxxx/mint_test/test-flat.vmdk" : open successful (269) size = 4294967296, hd = 0. Type 3

Environment

 VMware vSphere ESXi 7.x and above

Cause

This error appears when:

 • The source and target datastores are on incompatible storage systems (e.g., different vendors, local + SAN, etc.)

 • One of the datastores does not support XCOPY

 • XCOPY support is misconfigured or blocked in ESXi or the storage array

The failure is shown in vmkernel.log files showing XCOPY failing with Invalid metadata error.

2025-05-29T14:24:26.597Z Wa(180) vmkwarning: cpu17:2097828)WARNING: ScsiCore: 1975: Invalid XCOPY request for device naa.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. Host 0x0, Device 0x2, Plugin 0x0, Valid sense data: 0xa 0x26 0xff Invalid metadata
2025-05-29T14:24:26.597Z In(182) vmkernel: cpu17:2097828)DM: 2300: Failed to issue DataMover task of length 4194304 at offset 8388608 (Invalid metadata)
2025-05-29T14:24:26.604Z Wa(180) vmkwarning: cpu17:2097828)WARNING: DM: 1228: Token 0x45d9802427c0 failed: sIdx: 0 sOffset: 0 fIdx: 0 fOffset: 0
2025-05-29T14:24:26.604Z In(182) vmkernel: cpu31:7668718)FS3DM: 2375: status Invalid metadata copying 1 extents between two files, bytesTransferred = 0 extentsTransferred: 0
2025-05-29T14:24:26.604Z Wa(180) vmkwarning: cpu31:7668718)WARNING: Fil3: 8331: Data Move error: Invalid metadata

 

Resolution

Disable XCOPY for Incompatible Storage Pairs

You can tell ESXi not to use XCOPY via advanced settings. Setting them to 0 disables XCOPY and forces software-based data movement.

Via ESXi shell or SSH:

• esxcli system settings advanced set -o /DataMover/HardwareAcceleratedMove -i 0
• esxcli system settings advanced set -o /DataMover/HardwareAcceleratedInit -i 0

Via vSphere Client:

1. Go to Host > Configure > Advanced System Settings
2. Find both:
   DataMover.HardwareAcceleratedMove
   DataMover.HardwareAcceleratedInit
3. Set both to 0

Reboot the host after changing the settings.

Additional Information

Disabling Hardware Accelerated Move (XCOPY) in ESXi

Configuring XCOPY Parameters