Operation Failed. Object '<GID>' is locked by another ongoing operation in vSphere Replication Management Server. Try again later.

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi
• VMware Site Recovery Manager
• VMware Live Recovery

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• Attempting to forcefully remove a replication fails with the following error:

  

• Replication task appears stuck or unresponsive.

• Disk consolidation status shows as in-progress but not advancing (e.g., 0% done).

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Alternate scenario: 

• Running a Reprotect or Failback task in VMware Live Recovery (formerly SRM) fails.
• Error: VR synchronization failed for VRM group <Group_Name>. A general system error occurred: Failed to open virtual disk.
• Replication status shows "Error" or "Not Active."
• Checking file locks on the ESXi host shows an exclusive lock on the hbr-persistent-state.psf or .vmdk file.

Environment

• VMware Live Site Recovery Manager 8.x

• VMware Live Site Recovery Manager 9.x

Cause

• The replication removal operation fails due to a file lock on the VM disk (*.sesparse.vmdk) held in exclusive mode by an ESXi host. This prevents cleanup and consolidation from completing.

• The disk was locked in exclusive mode by an ESXi host, preventing replication cleanup and VM folder deletion.

• Lock was confirmed through VMFS heartbeat and MAC address identification.

  [root@xx:/vmfs/volumes/xxxx/VM] vmfsfilelockinfo -p hbrdisk.RDID-xxxx-sesparse.vmdk
vmfsfilelockinfo Version 2.0
Looking for lock owners on "hbrdisk.RDID-xxxx-sesparse.vmdk"
"hbrdisk.RDID-xxxx-sesparse.vmdk" is locked in Exclusive mode by host having mac address ['xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx']
Trying to use information from VMFS Heartbeat

  Host owning the lock on file is x.x.x.x, lockMode : Exclusive
Total time taken : 4.900337650906295 seconds.

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A stale management lock on the vSphere Replication persistent state file (.psf) or virtual disk file (.vmdk) prevents the VR appliance from mounting the disk for synchronization. This often happens if a previous task was interrupted or if the VR appliance management service becomes unresponsive.

Resolution

1. Reboot the ESXi host that owns the file lock to release the lock.

2. After the reboot:

1. Navigate to the vCenter.
2. Manually delete the corresponding VM folder from the datastore.
3. Remove the VM from replication using the vSphere Replication Management Server (VRMS) interface.

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Alternate solution: 

1. Clear File Locks:
   • Log in to the ESXi host managing the VM disks via SSH.
   • Run command: vmfsfilelockinfo -p /vmfs/volumes/<datastore>/<vm_folder>/<disk_name>.vmdk.
   • Identify the host holding the "Exclusive" lock.
2. Reboot VR Appliances:
   • Reboot the vSphere Replication virtual appliances at both the Protected and Recovery sites. This releases stale management handles without requiring a host reboot.
3. Reconfigure Replication with Seed Data:
   • Stop/Remove the replication for the affected VM.
   • Reconfigure replication for the VM.
   • When selecting the target datastore, choose the existing folder/disks at the target site.
   • Select Use as seed when prompted. This forces a checksum-based sync and establishes a fresh disk chain.
4. Resume Task:
   • Wait for the initial sync to show "Active/OK."
   • Retry the Reprotect or Recovery task.

Additional Information

• For instructions on retrieving logs, see Contact Support.
• Refer to Investigating Virtual Machine file locks on ESXi Host(s) for deeper lock troubleshooting.

 

Additional Information

For identifying and resolving VM file locks on ESXi hosts, refer to the KB : Investigating Virtual Machine file locks on ESXi Host(s)