vMotion fails with error: "The vMotion failed because the destination host did not receive data from the source host on the vMotion network"

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi
• VMware vSphere ESX 8.x
• VMware vSphere ESX 7.x
• VMware vSphere ESX 6.x

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms: 

• vMotion is failing on one or more VM's with the following error:

The vMotion failed because the destination host did not receive data from the source host on the vMotion network

• The vmkernel.log contains All-Paths-Down errors such as as these related to the datastore the VM's are stored on: 
  
  2025-09-12T07:35:29.736Z cpu42:2097622)StorageApdHandlerEv: 110: Device or filesystem with identifier [naa.###############################] has entered the All Paths Down state.
  
  
• Retrying the vMotion does not help.
  
  
• Similar issues may be observed when NFS storage is in use where APD errors are observed:
  
  2025-11-04T04:20:07.215Z: [APDCorrlator] 365404863026us: [esx.problem.storage.apd.start] Device or filesystem with identifier [########-########] has entered the All Paths Down state.
2025-11-04T04:20:07.215Z: [vmfsCorrelator] 365501040333us: [vob.vmfs.nfs.server.disconnect] Lost connection to the server #.#.#.# mount point /<mount-point>, mounted as #########-#########-0000-000000000000 ("<NFS_Datastore_Name>")

Environment

• VMware ESXi (All Versions)

Cause

• The ESXi the VM is running on host has lost access to the datastore hosting the VM's files, so the vMotion eventually times out. 

Resolution

• Please work with your SAN/NAS team and/or your storage array vendor to investigate why the storage LUN's/Datastores have become inaccessible. See related KB: Storage device has entered the All Paths Down (APD) state

Additional Information

• There are many issues that can result in similar vMotion errors. ESXi host networking issues/misconfiguration are also a common cause. If you do not observe the "All Paths Down state" errors in the vmkernel.log, as shown above, please see the following KB's for further troubleshooting: 
  
  
  • Performing vMotion fails with error “The vmotion failed because the destination host did not receive data from the source host on the vMotion network.”
  • Troubleshooting vMotion network connectivity issues