"File VMNAME-000000#.vmdk was not found Failed to start the virtual machine" error after VM disk consolidation

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

After disk consolidation, you attempt to start the VM but it fails due to an inability to find snapshot file (00000#.vmdk).

Environment

vCenter/ESXi 8.x

Cause

VM's .vmx file is still pointing to the snapshot disks but they no longer exist as they were consolidated. Thus, when attempting to start the VM, the hypervisor cannot locate the hard disk files and power on operation fails.

Resolution

Solution: Change the hard disk :fileName" values in the VM's .vmx file to point towards the base .vmdk file names.

UI method:

1. Edit VM settings
2. Remove the offending hard disk (DO NOT CHECK DELETE)
3. Add new hard disk
4. Select base vmdk associated with the hard disk that was deleted.

CLI method:

1. SSH to the host on which the VM resides
2. Locate the directory for the vm in question

find /vmfs/volume/ -iname vm_name

3. Change to that directory using "cd" command
4. ls the directory, determine if any lingering snapshot .vmdk files are present (the ones ending in 000000). If so, contact Broadcom support to help with determining next steps.
5. vi VM_NAME.vmx
6. Locate the offending virtual disk lines from the error message, they will look like the following example:

scsi0:1.fileName = "VMNAME-000001.vmdk" (there will be one of these per disk)

7. Remove the -000000# from the line, so it looks like this example:

scsi0:1.fileName = "VMNAME.vmdk"

8. Do that for each offending hard disk. Write and quit the file in vi. 
9. Reload the vmx
9. Attempt to start the VM again