VMs containing snapshots residing on vSAN ESA tasks like cloning, snapshot deletion/consolidation, or delete from disk via Horizon fail
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VMs containing snapshots residing on vSAN ESA tasks like cloning, snapshot deletion/consolidation, or delete from disk via Horizon fail

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Article ID: 434887

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Updated On:

Products

VMware vSAN

Issue/Introduction

VMs containing snapshots residing on vSAN ESA tasks like cloning, snapshot deletion/consolidation, or delete from disk via Horizon fail with one of the below errors:

  • VC_fault_fatal: An error occurred while deleting a snapshot: a required file was not found

  • Error VC_Fault_Fatal - Detected an Invalid Snapshot Configuration

From hostd.log you see:

2026-03-06T17:29:35.674Z Wa(164) Hostd[2103328] [Originator@6876 sub=Vmsvc.vm:/vmfs/volumes/vsan:52410be7032ca140-6cab############/8db3a969-008a-b076-b5c8-############/VM_Name.vmx opID=WorkQueue-3487a66c-4e-7d34 sid=527738d8 user=vpxuser:<no user>] Failed to load the snapshot config
2026-03-06T17:29:35.674Z In(166) Hostd[2103328] [Originator@6876 sub=Vmsvc.vm:/vmfs/volumes/vsan:52410be7032ca140-6cab############/8db3a969-008a-b076-b5c8-############/VM_Name.vmx opID=WorkQueue-3487a66c-4e-7d34 sid=527738d8 user=vpxuser:<no user>] No device found for snapshot UID 1, failed to read config.
2026-03-06T17:29:35.682Z Wa(164) Hostd[2103328] [Originator@6876 sub=Vmsvc.vm:/vmfs/volumes/vsan:52410be7032ca140-6cab############/8db3a969-008a-b076-b5c8-############/VM_Name.vmx opID=WorkQueue-3487a66c-4e-7d34 sid=527738d8 user=vpxuser:<no user>] Snapshot::GetFile failed: A required file was not found
2026-03-06T17:29:35.691Z Wa(164) Hostd[2103328] [Originator@6876 sub=Vmsvc.vm:/vmfs/volumes/vsan:52410be7032ca140-6cab############/8db3a969-008a-b076-b5c8-############/VM_Name.vmx opID=WorkQueue-3487a66c-4e-7d34 sid=527738d8 user=vpxuser:<no user>] Failed to get snapshot files: A required file was not found
2026-03-06T17:29:35.691Z Db(167) Hostd[2103328] [Originator@6876 sub=Vmsvc.vm:/vmfs/volumes/vsan:52410be7032ca140-6cab############/8db3a969-008a-b076-b5c8-############/VM_Name.vmx opID=WorkQueue-3487a66c-4e-7d34 sid=527738d8 user=vpxuser:<no user>] Time to gather snapshot file layout: 17 (msecs)
2026-03-06T17:29:35.698Z Db(167) Hostd[2103328] [Originator@6876 sub=Vmsvc.vm:/vmfs/volumes/vsan:52410be7032ca140-6cab############/8db3a969-008a-b076-b5c8-############/VM_Name.vmx opID=WorkQueue-3487a66c-4e-7d34 sid=527738d8 user=vpxuser:<no user>] UpdateFileInfo: Failed to find file size for /vmfs/volumes/vsan:52410be7032ca140-6cab############/8db3a969-008a-b076-b5c8-############/VM_Name_26.vmdk: No such file or directory
2026-03-06T17:29:35.698Z Db(167) Hostd[2103328] [Originator@6876 sub=Vmsvc.vm:/vmfs/volumes/vsan:52410be7032ca140-6cab############/8db3a969-008a-b076-b5c8-############/VM_Name.vmx opID=WorkQueue-3487a66c-4e-7d34 sid=527738d8 user=vpxuser:<no user>] Incomplete layout due to descriptor file /vmfs/volumes/vsan:52410be7032ca140-6cab############/8db3a969-008a-b076-b5c8-############/VM_Name_26.vmdk not found in extent map
2026-03-06T17:29:35.704Z Db(167) Hostd[2103328] [Originator@6876 sub=Vmsvc.vm:/vmfs/volumes/vsan:52410be7032ca140-6cab############/8db3a969-008a-b076-b5c8-############/VM_Name.vmx opID=WorkQueue-3487a66c-4e-7d34 sid=527738d8 user=vpxuser:<no user>] Incomplete layout due to snapshot 15652-snapshot-1 has no devices

2026-03-06T17:29:35.729Z Wa(164) Hostd[2103328] [Originator@6876 sub=Vmsvc.vm:/vmfs/volumes/vsan:52410be7032ca140-6cab############/8db3a969-008a-b076-b5c8-############/VM_Name.vmx opID=WorkQueue-3487a66c-4e-7d34 sid=527738d8 user=vpxuser:<no user>] GetDiskParentInfo failed: cannot open /vmfs/volumes/vsan:52410be7032ca140-6cab############/8db3a969-008a-b076-b5c8-############/VM_Name_26.vmdk (25): The system cannot find the file specified
2026-03-06T17:29:35.729Z Wa(164) Hostd[2103328] [Originator@6876 sub=Vigor.Vmsvc.vm:/vmfs/volumes/vsan:52410be7032ca140-6cab############/8db3a969-008a-b076-b5c8-############/VM_Name.vmx opID=WorkQueue-3487a66c-4e-7d34 sid=527738d8 user=vpxuser:<no user>] Disk : Not all links in the chain are located, your virtual machine would not work as is.

Looking at the vmdks listed in the VM directory we see the base disk files missing:

/vmfs/volumes/vsan:52410be7032ca140-6cab############/8db3a969-008a-b076-b5c8-############:
VM_Name_26-000001-digest.vmdk
VM_Name_26-000001.vmdk

Checking the snapshot info for the VM we can see the base disk snapshot is gone

[root@bhhvesxpwaEclt37:/vmfs/volumes/vsan:52410be7032ca140-6cab############/86b4a969-fc9b-4056-47ab-############] grep RW VM_Name_26-000001.vmdk
RW 251658240 VSANSPARSE "vsan://52410be7032ca140-6cab############/87b4a969-c0ee-8af8-eda3-############"

[root@bhhvesxpwaEclt37:/vmfs/volumes/vsan:52410be7032ca140-6cab############/86b4a969-fc9b-4056-47ab-############] /usr/lib/vmware/osfs/bin/objtool listSnapsho
t -u 87b4a969-c0ee-8af8-eda3-############
Snapshot list:
0,
Object listsnapshot succeeded

[root@bhhvesxpwaEclt37:/vmfs/volumes/vsan:52410be7032ca140-6cab############/86b4a969-fc9b-4056-47ab-############] /usr/lib/vmware/osfs/bin/objtool querySnapsh
otTag -u 87b4a969-c0ee-8af8-eda3-############ -I 0
Snapshot Tag: /vmfs/volumes/vsan:52410be7032ca140-6cab############/86b4a969-fc9b-4056-47ab-############/VM_Name_26-000001.vmdk

Viewing the descriptor file for VM_Name_26-000001.vmdk shows references to the base disk VM_Name_26.vmdk that no longer exists

[root@bhhvesxpwaEclt37:/vmfs/volumes/vsan:52410be7032ca140-6cab############/86b4a969-fc9b-4056-47ab-############] cat VM_Name_26-000001.vmdk
# Disk DescriptorFile
version=4
encoding="UTF-8"
CID=d3ffb2fd
parentCID=35dbe9e3
createType="vsanSparse"
parentFileNameHint="/vmfs/volumes/vsan:52410be7032ca140-6cab############/ce609f69-a298-097c-7aa8-############/cp-replica-7172bd62-eec2-428b-8e38-############_  26.vmdk"
# Extent description
RW 251658240 VSANSPARSE "vsan://52410be7032ca140-6cab############/87b4a969-c0ee-8af8-eda3-############"

# The Disk Data Base
#DDB

ddb.digestFilename = "VM_Name_26-000001-digest.vmdk"
ddb.digestType = "vsan"
ddb.fcd.uuid = "00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00-00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00"
ddb.longContentID = "03c407cdee4061a7bb81ce8dd3ffb2fd"
ddb.nativeParentCID = "35dbe9e3"
ddb.nativeParentHint = "VM_Name_26.vmdk"

Note: In this example it's the base disk missing but this applies for any disk in the snapshot chain that is missing with it's respective snapTag.

Environment

VMware vSAN ESA (All Versions)

VMs contain Native Snapshots

Cause

This is caused due to a missing descriptor files and their corresponding snapTag no longer exist within the snapshot chain, however the snapshot database and other descriptor files still contain a reference to the missing descriptor file.

From the vCenter vpxa logs we see the snapshot vmdk was deleted from vCenter UI datastore browser. When deleting the disk descriptor file from the datastore browser this will also delete the entire vmdk.

2026-03-05T17:27:01.074Z In(166) Vpxa[2104200]: [Originator@6876 sub=vpxLro opID=mm74yv6j-2074490-auto-18gvf-h5:70183883-ea-13] [VpxLRO] -- BEGIN task-322709 -- vpxa -- vpxapi.VpxaService.DeleteFile -- 5245c604-cd7d-8198-0ae9-############
vpxa.4:2026-03-05T17:27:01.118Z In(166) Vpxa[2104200]: [Originator@6876 sub=Libs opID=mm74yv6j-2074490-auto-18gvf-h5:70183883-ea-13] OBJLIB-VSANOBJ: VsanObjUnlinkInt: Unlinking '/vmfs/volumes/vsan:52410be7032ca140-6cab############/8db3a969-008a-b076-b5c8-############' -- 'vsan://52410be7032ca140-6cab############/8eb3a969-b000-3314-588e-############::1' (flag: 256).
vpxa.4:2026-03-05T17:27:01.125Z In(166) Vpxa[2104200]: [Originator@6876 sub=Libs opID=mm74yv6j-2074490-auto-18gvf-h5:70183883-ea-13] VSANOBJLIB: VsanObjLib_DeleteSnapshot: cid: 52410be7032ca140-6cab############ objUuid: 8eb3a969-b000-3314-588e-############ snapshotId: 1, cookie: No.   <===== corresponding to VM_Name_26.vmdk
vmkernel.1:2026-03-05T17:27:01.125Z In(182) vmkernel: cpu0:32528937)ZDOM_SnapshotDelete:2233: 8eb3a969-b000-3314-588e-############: snapshot 1 is logically deleted.
vpxa.4:2026-03-05T17:27:01.167Z In(166) Vpxa[2104200]: [Originator@6876 sub=Libs opID=mm74yv6j-2074490-auto-18gvf-h5:70183883-ea-13] OBJLIB-VSANOBJ: VsanObjUnlinkInt: Unlinking '/vmfs/volumes/vsan:52410be7032ca140-6cab############/8db3a969-008a-b076-b5c8-############' -- 'vsan://52410be7032ca140-6cab############/8eb3a969-b000-3314-588e-############' (flag: 256).

vpxa.4:2026-03-05T17:27:01.167Z Er(163) Vpxa[2104200]: [Originator@6876 sub=Libs opID=mm74yv6j-2074490-auto-18gvf-h5:70183883-ea-13] OBJLIB-VSANOBJ: VsanObjLock: Could not lock object 'vsan://52410be7032ca140-6cab############/8eb3a969-b000-3314-588e-############': Failed to lock the file (4).
vpxa.4:2026-03-05T17:27:01.168Z Er(163) Vpxa[2104200]: [Originator@6876 sub=DiskLib opID=mm74yv6j-2074490-auto-18gvf-h5:70183883-ea-13] DISKLIB-LIB   : DiskLibUnlinkInt: Disk delete failed to complete { result:16392, errMsg:'Failed to lock the file', fileName:'/vmfs/volumes/vsan:52410be7032ca140-6cab############/8db3a969-008a-b076-b5c8-############/VM_Name_26-000001.vmdk'}

Note: The preceding log excerpts are only examples. Date, time, and environmental variables may vary depending on your environment.

This issue occurs when a .vmdk descriptor file belonging to an active snapshot chain is deleted via a file-level operation (such as the datastore browser or command-line interface), bypassing vCenter-aware processes like the snapshot manager. Because the file-level deletion removes both the descriptor and the corresponding vSAN object snapshot without updating the .vmsd / .vmsn snapshot database and the surviving descriptor files continue to point to the now-missing parent. This broken dependency chain is what causes subsequent clone, consolidate, or "Delete from Disk" operations to fail.

 

Resolution

To resolve this snapshot inconsistency perform one of the following options:

  1. Power down the VM and then clone the VM (With the VM powered down the VM will clone successfully)

  2. If Powering down the VM is not an option then edit the respective descriptor file to make the chain consistent:
    1. Base disk missing:
      1. Edit the snapshot descriptor file just before the base disk and comment out all lines containing ddb.nativeParent

        For Example:
        #ddb.nativeParentCID = "fffffffe"
        #ddb.nativeParentHint = "TestVM.vmdk"

      2. Delete All Snapshots, clone the VM, or delete the VM from Horizon (whatever the task was you were trying to do that was failing.)
        Note: The snapshot descriptor file you edited to comment out all lines containing ddb.nativeParent will now be your base disk, meaning the descriptor file will have a snapshot naming convention of 000001.vmdk. To correct this just clone the VM. 

    2. Snapshot disk missing in the chain
      1. Edit the snapshot descriptor file just before the missing snapshot disk and point the ddb.nativeParentHint to the next disk in the chain

        For example if the missing snapshot is 000001 then edit the snapshot descriptor for 000002 to point to the base disk
        Change: ddb.nativeParentHint = "TestVM-000001.vmdk"
        To: ddb.nativeParentHint = "TestVM.vmdk"

      2. Create a DeleteMeLater folder within the VM directory by running mkdir DeleteMeLater
      3. Move all .vmsn and .vmsd files into the DeleteMeLater folder mv *.vmsn *.vmsd DeleteMeLater
      4. Take a snapshot of the VM to create a new vmsd snapshot DB file
      5. Delete All Snapshots, clone the VM, or delete the VM from Horizon (whatever the task was you were trying to do that was failing.)

To prevent this from happening DO NOT delete vmdk files from the datastore browser of vCenter or the Host UI. If you need to delete individual vmdk files of a VM ensure they're not part of an active snapshot chain and/or the disk is truly no longer needed.

If you need to delete a VM from the environment delete the VM by right clicking the VM and choosing "Delete From Disk" to ensure proper clean up of that VM.

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