Virtual machine missing from vCenter inventory after being restored from backup

Products

• VMware vSphere ESX 8.x

Issue/Introduction

• After restoring a virtual machine from a backup, the VM does not appear in the vCenter Server inventory.
• In the ESXi host client, the restored VM is visible and can be managed normally.
• In the /var/log/vmware/vpxd.log, the following entries may be observed:
  
  [YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS] warning vpxd[06880] [Originator@6876 sub=InvtVm opID=HB-host-####@######-########] Host [vim.HostSystem:host-####,<ESXi_hostname>] passed in multiple VMs with same instanceUuid but different vmids: existing VM [vim.VirtualMachine:vm-####,<VM_name>], vmid ##, path /vmfs/volumes/<path_to_VM>/<VM_name>.vmx, new VM path /vmfs/volumes/<path_to_VM>/<VM_name>.vmx, vmid ##; ignoring new VM

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 8.x

VMware vSphere ESXi 8.x

Cause

This issue occurs because the UUID of the restored VM is identical to the UUID of the original VM that still exists in the vCenter inventory. As a result, vCenter Server ignores the new VM, assuming it is a duplicate of the existing one.

Resolution

The issue can be resolved using one of the following methods, depending on the requirement:

Option 1: Remove the original VM from the vCenter inventory

1. Log in to the vCenter Web Client.

2. Locate the original VM.

3. Right-click the VM and select Remove from Inventory.

4. SSH to the ESXi host where the restored VM resides.

5. Restart the ESXi management agents:
   
# /etc/init.d/hostd restart
# /etc/init.d/vpxa restart

Option 2: Modify the UUID of either the original or restored VM

For detailed steps, see the "Specifying a UUID for a Virtual Machine" section in KB: Changing or keeping a UUID for a moved virtual machine