The backup software fails to back up a virtual machine, displaying an error message indicating "duplicate disk identifiers detected"

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

• The backup software fails to back up a virtual machine, but snapshot creation and consolidation work successfully for the virtual machine in vCenter.
• The ddb.uuid values in the VMDK descriptor files are identical for the virtual machine when multiple VMDKs are used.

Environment

VMware ESXi 7.0.x

VMware ESXi 8.0.x

 

Resolution

Use the command vmkfstools -J setuuid as outlined in KB article 341653.

Note: The command functions even when the virtual machine is running. If snapshots exist, execute the command only for the base VMDK descriptor files.