Changing vSAN storage policy for VSAN VM failed with error message "Invalid virtual machine configuration. Cannot change encryption state with virtual machine snapshots present."

Products

• VMware vSAN

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms: 

• When attempting to change or reassign a vSAN storage policy for a specific Virtual Machine (VM), the operation fails. The following error message is displayed in the vSphere Client:
  
  "Invalid virtual machine configuration. Cannot change encryption state with virtual machine snapshots present."
  

• This issue is typically observed when:

  • The vSAN Cluster is configured with the Encryption feature enabled.

  • The administrator is attempting to modify storage policy rules such as transitioning from RAID 1 to RAID 5 or RAID 6.

Environment

VMware vSAN 8.x

Cause

This issue occurs because the Virtual Machine has one or more active snapshots.

As per VMware Broadcom KB 318825, snapshots are intended for short-term use and should follow these best practices:

• Retention: A single snapshot should not be used for more than 72 hours.
• Capacity & Performance: Snapshot files grow in size the longer they are retained. Excessive growth can lead to the storage location running out of space and cause significant system performance degradation.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, snapshots must be deleted to consolidate the VM disks before the new storage policy can be applied.

1. Identify Snapshots:

   • Right-click the affected VM in the vSphere Inventory.

   • Select Snapshots > Manage Snapshots.

2. Consolidate/Delete:

   • Select Delete All to merge all delta data into the base virtual disk.

3. Monitor Task:

   • Confirm the "Remove all snapshots" task completes successfully in the Recent Tasks pane.

4. Apply Storage Policy:

   • Right-click the VM > VM Policies > Edit VM Storage Policies.

   • Change the policy to the desired configuration (e.g., RAID 6).

   • Click OK.

5. Verify Compliance:

   • Confirm the VM storage status returns to "Compliant" once the resynchronization process is finished.