Error Unable to write VMX file: /vmfs/volumes/DATASTORE_UUID/VM_DIRECTORY/VM_NAME.vmx. An error occurred while creating a temporary dictionary file: Error. when trying to power on a virtual machine.

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Error Unable to write VMX file: /vmfs/volumes/DATASTORE_UUID/VM_DIRECTORY/VM_NAME.vmx. An error occurred while creating a temporary dictionary file: Error. when trying to power on a virtual machine.

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Article ID: 427804

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Updated On:

Products

VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Virtual machine cannot be powered on, it will return error:

"Unable to write VMX file: /vmfs/volumes/DATASTORE_UUID/VM_DIRECTORY/VM_NAME.vmx. An error occurred while creating a temporary dictionary file: Error."

Environment

vCenter Server Appliance 8.0.x

ESXi 8.0.x

Cause

Hypervisor cannot write the required vmx~ file into the VM directory for the power on

vmware.log may show lines like these:

YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) ####-# - #######-######## : SparseExtentCreate: "/vmfs/volumes/########-########-####-############/VM_NAME/VM_NAME_1-######-########.vmdk": success
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) ####-# - #######-#### : "/vmfs/volumes/########-########-####-############/VM_NAME/VM_NAME_1-######-########.vmdk": open successful (33554433) size = 341835776, hd = 0. Type 19
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) ####-# - #######-#### : "/vmfs/volumes/########-########-####-############/VM_NAME/VM_NAME_1-######-########.vmdk": closed
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) ####-# - #######-#### : "/vmfs/volumes/########-########-####-############/VM_NAME/VM_NAME_1-flat.vmdk": closed
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(00) ####-# - ConfigDB: Setting scsi0:0.fileName = "/vmfs/volumes/########-########-####-############/VM_NAME/VM_NAME_000001.vmdk"
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(00) ####-# - ConfigDB: Setting scsi0:1.fileName = "/vmfs/volumes/########-########-####-############/VM_NAME/VM_NAME_000001.vmdk"
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(00) ####-# - ConfigDB: Setting scsi0:2.fileName = "/vmfs/volumes/########-########-####-############/VM_NAME/VM_NAME_000001.vmdk"
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) ####-# - FILE: Open error on /vmfs/volumes/########-########-####-############/VM_NAME/VM_NAME.vmx~: Resource temporarily unavailable
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) ####-# - FILEIO: AtomicTempFile: Failed to create temporary file, Error (2), errno: 11
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) ####-# - FILE: Open error on /vmfs/volumes/########-########-####-############/VM_NAME/VM_NAME.vmx~: Resource temporarily unavailable
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) ####-# - FILEIO: AtomicTempFile: Failed to create temporary file, Error (2), errno: 11
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) ####-# - Msg_Reset:
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) ####-# - [msg.configdb.failcreatetemp] An error occurred while creating temporary file for /vmfs/volumes/########-########-####-############/VM_NAME/VM_NAME.vmx
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) ####-# - [msg.configdb.failcreatetemp] An error occurred while creating temporary file for /vmfs/volumes/########-########-####-############/VM_NAME/VM_NAME.vmx
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) ####-# - SNAPSHOT: SnapshotConfigWrite: Failed to write config file "/vmfs/volumes/########-########-####-############/VM_NAME/VM_NAME.vmx".
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) ####-# - PANIC: Critical snapshot error.
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) ####-# - Backtrace:
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) ####-# - Backtrace[0] 000000_ID_000000 rip=000000_ID_000000 rbx=000000_ID_000000 rbp=000000_ID_000000 r12=000000_ID_000000 r13=000000_ID_000000 r14=000000_ID_000000 r15=000000_ID_000000
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) ####-# - Backtrace[1] 000000_ID_000000 rip=000000_ID_000000 rbx=000000_ID_000000 rbp=000000_ID_000000 r12=000000_ID_000000 r13=000000_ID_000000 r14=000000_ID_000000 r15=000000_ID_000000
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) ####-# - Backtrace[2] 000000_ID_000000 rip=000000_ID_000000 rbx=000000_ID_000000 rbp=000000_ID_000000 r12=000000_ID_000000 r13=000000_ID_000000 r14=000000_ID_000000 r15=000000_ID_000000
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) ####-# - Backtrace[3] 000000_ID_000000 rip=000000_ID_000000 rbx=000000_ID_000000 rbp=000000_ID_000000 r12=000000_ID_000000 r13=000000_ID_000000 r14=000000_ID_000000 r15=000000_ID_000000
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) ####-# - Backtrace[4] 000000_ID_000000 rip=000000_ID_000000 rbx=000000_ID_000000 rbp=000000_ID_000000 r12=000000_ID_000000 r13=000000_ID_000000 r14=000000_ID_000000 r15=000000_ID_000000
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) ####-# - Backtrace[5] 000000_ID_000000 rip=000000_ID_000000 rbx=000000_ID_000000 rbp=000000_ID_000000 r12=000000_ID_000000 r13=000000_ID_000000 r14=000000_ID_000000 r15=000000_ID_000000
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) ####-# - Backtrace[6] 000000_ID_000000 rip=000000_ID_000000 rbx=000000_ID_000000 rbp=000000_ID_000000 r12=000000_ID_000000 r13=000000_ID_000000 r14=000000_ID_000000 r15=000000_ID_000000
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) ####-# - Backtrace[7] 000000_ID_000000 rip=000000_ID_000000 rbx=000000_ID_000000 rbp=000000_ID_000000 r12=000000_ID_000000 r13=000000_ID_000000 r14=000000_ID_000000 r15=000000_ID_000000
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) ####-# - Backtrace[8] 000000_ID_000000 rip=000000_ID_000000 rbx=000000_ID_000000 rbp=000000_ID_000000 r12=000000_ID_000000 r13=000000_ID_000000 r14=000000_ID_000000 r15=000000_ID_000000
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) ####-# - Backtrace[9] 000000_ID_000000 rip=000000_ID_000000 rbx=000000_ID_000000 rbp=000000_ID_000000 r12=000000_ID_000000 r13=000000_ID_000000 r14=000000_ID_000000 r15=000000_ID_000000
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) ####-# - Backtrace[10] 000000_ID_000000 rip=000000_ID_000000 rbx=000000_ID_000000 rbp=000000_ID_000000 r12=000000_ID_000000 r13=000000_ID_000000 r14=000000_ID_000000 r15=000000_ID_000000
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) ####-# - SymBacktrace[0] 000000_ID_000000 rip=000000_ID_000000 in function Panic in object /bin/vmx loaded at 000000_ID_000000
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) ####-# - SymBacktrace[1] 000000_ID_000000 rip=000000_ID_000000 in function (null) in object /bin/vmx loaded at 000000_ID_000000
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) ####-# - SymBacktrace[2] 000000_ID_000000 rip=000000_ID_000000 in function (null) in object /bin/vmx loaded at 000000_ID_000000
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) ####-# - SymBacktrace[3] 000000_ID_000000 rip=000000_ID_000000 in function (null) in object /bin/vmx loaded at 000000_ID_000000
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) ####-# - SymBacktrace[4] 000000_ID_000000 rip=000000_ID_000000 in function (null) in object /bin/vmx loaded at 000000_ID_000000
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) ####-# - SymBacktrace[5] 000000_ID_000000 rip=000000_ID_000000 in function (null) in object /bin/vmx loaded at 000000_ID_000000
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) ####-# - SymBacktrace[6] 000000_ID_000000 rip=000000_ID_000000 in function (null) in object /bin/vmx loaded at 000000_ID_000000
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) ####-# - SymBacktrace[7] 000000_ID_000000 rip=000000_ID_000000 in function (null) in object /bin/vmx loaded at 000000_ID_000000
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS In(05) ####-# - SymBacktrace[8] 000000_ID_000000 rip=000000_ID_000000 in function (null) in object /lib64/libpthread.so.0 loaded at 000000_ID_000000

Resolution

Option 1: Storage vMotion the virtual machine.

If you cannot migrate the whole VM including the disks, you can use the "Configure per Disk" option and migrate only the configuration files of the VM.
Ref: How to Migrate Your Virtual Machine with Storage vMotion.

Option 2: Recreate the VMX file as per KB 316605 (Rebuilding the virtual machine's .vmx file from vmware.log)

Option 3: Create a new VM with no disks and add the existing disks to the new VM.

You need to obtain the details of the VM such as number of CPU and memory and also the scsi devices for each disk.

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