Converting a virtual machine template to a virtual machine fails with "No connected and accessible host is attached to this datastore"

Products

• VMware vCenter Server
• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

• In order to make modifications to a virtual machine template, the template must be converted to a virtual machine.
• When attempting to convert a template to a virtual machine, the following message appears in the upper right corner of the vSphere Client screen and the operation fails.
  Operation failed
Datastore ##### is not accessible. "No connected and accessible host is attached to this datastore."
• Although the main files related to the virtual machine template are located on an accessible datastore, the "Datastore" tab includes datastores that are inaccessible from any ESXi host. In this state, the error occurs when attempting to convert the template to a virtual machine.

Environment

vSphere 8.0

Cause

Generally, converting a VM template to a virtual machine will fail if the template is stored on an inaccessible datastore. If you encounter this failure even when the template resides on an accessible datastore, refer to the workaround provided in this KB.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, create a clone of the affected template.
During the cloning process, you must select a valid destination datastore. This action creates a new copy of the template (or virtual machine) without the reference to the inaccessible datastore.

Refer to the following documentation for cloning procedures.

Clone a Template to a Template