Purge orphaned vSAN namespace objects following incomplete Veeam replication cleanup

Products

• VMware vSAN

Issue/Introduction

Virtual machine replica residues persist on vSAN datastores after Veeam replication tasks. These orphaned directories remain registered in the vSAN object database even when the associated virtual machines have been removed from the vCenter inventory. Symptoms include:

• Persistent directories with VM replica names (e.g., <VM_NAME>-DR-New) visible on the vSAN datastore.

• vSAN objects associated with these directories remain in the object store despite no logical connection to the hypervisor management layer.

• Inability to reclaim storage space via the vSphere Client UI.

Environment

VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) / vSphere Foundation (VVF)
vSAN Cluster OSA
8.0.x & 7.0.x

Cause

Residue is caused by incomplete cleanup operations from the Veeam replication process. If replication jobs fail or are deleted without proper synchronization, vSAN namespace objects remain registered in the object database despite being logically removed from the hypervisor's VM management layer.

Resolution

To manually purge identified orphaned objects, perform the following steps on an ESXi host with access to the vSAN cluster:

1. Verify Inventory: Ensure all VMs associated with the orphaned directories are fully removed from the vCenter inventory.

2. Access ESXi Shell: Log in to the ESXi host via SSH.

3. Execute Deletion: For each identified UUID, run the objtool command using the force flag: /usr/lib/vmware/osfs/bin/objtool delete -u <UUID> -f