Virtual machine vMotion fails with IO Filter compatibility

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

• Virtual machine enabled IO Filter in ESXi host 7.0 was migrated to ESXi host 8.0.
• However it can not migrate back to ESXi host 7.0 from 8.0 with the error messages:
  
  The virtual machine version is not compatible with the version of the host '<ESXi-7.0-FQDN-or-IP>'.
The version of the IO Filter(s) 'vmwarelwd' configured on the VM's disk are not compatible with the one installed on the destination host.

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 7.0
VMware vSphere ESXi 8.0

Cause

When virtual machine migrated to ESXi 8.0 its IO Filter will be upgraded in background. However IO Filter can not be downgraded if migrate back to ESXi host with old version. 

Resolution

To resolve the issue, consider the either options:

• Upgrade the ESXi host with old version to the same version of ESXi host 8.0
• Remove the IO filter for virtual machine. See Putting ESXi into maintenance mode, vMotioning, or reconfiguring a VM fails, or snapshots are slow, due to the vmwarelwd ioFilter being attached

Additional Information

Virtual machine failed to power on due to unsupported LWD filter