Hot-add CD-ROM fails with error "The attempted operation cannot be performed in the current state ('Powered on')"

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

When attempting to hot-add a CD-ROM device to a powered-on virtual machine, the following error is reported,

The attempted operation cannot be performed in the current state ("Powered on")

Environment

• VMware vSphere environment
• Virtual machine is powered on
• Hardware version of the virtual machine is 9 or earlier

Cause

This behavior is expected due to virtual hardware limitations:

• IDE devices do not support hot-add operations
• For virtual machines with hardware version 9 or earlier, SATA controllers are not supported
• As a result, when adding a CD-ROM device to a virtual machine with hardware version 9 or earlier, the system defaults to an IDE CD-ROM, since SATA controller is not available
• Since IDE CD-ROM devices cannot be added while the virtual machine is powered on, the operation fails with the reported error

Resolution

Option 1 (Recommended) – Upgrade virtual hardware

1. Shut down the virtual machine

2. Take a snapshot (optional but recommended)

3. Upgrade the virtual hardware to version 10 or later

4. Power on the virtual machine

5. Retry the operation

After the upgrade:

• The CD-ROM device will default to SATA

• SATA CD-ROM supports hot-add, so the operation will succeed

Option 2 – Workaround when hardware version upgrade is not possible

1. Shut down the virtual machine

2. Manually add an IDE CD-ROM device

3. Power on the virtual machine

4. Use the API or UI to mount the ISO

Note:

• Adding the device requires the virtual machine to be powered off

• Mounting an ISO to an existing CD-ROM device is supported while powered on

Additional Information

• SATA controllers are supported starting from virtual hardware version 10
• Virtual hardware upgrade is non-reversible