Uploading OVA or OVF fails in VMware Cloud Director with error: "virtual machine not supported on the target datastore"

Products

• VMware Cloud Director

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms

• Uploading OVA or OVF fails in VMware Cloud Director Content Hub with the error: The virtual machine is not supported on the target datastore.
• Importing any virtual machine from vCenter to Cloud Director also fails with the same error.
• Deploying the same OVF directly through vCenter Server succeeds.
• In VMware Cloud Director UI, you notice the task fails with the following stack trace:

com.vmware.ssdc.util.LMException: The following error was encountered while processing the OVF file you provided: The virtual machine is not supported on the target datastore..

at com.vmware.ssdc.util.LMException.wrap(LMException.java:135)

at com.vmware.ssdc.library.vim.LmVim.Convert(LmVim.java:513)

at com.vmware.vcloud.val.internal.impl.ImportVAppFromOvfActivity$ImportOvfToVcPhase.initiateImportFromOvf(ImportVAppFromOvfActivity.java:858)

at com.vmware.vcloud.val.internal.impl.ImportVAppFromOvfActivity$ImportOvfToVcPhase.invoke(ImportVAppFromOvfActivity.java:247)

at com.vmware.vcloud.activity.executors.ActivityRunner.runPhase(ActivityRunner.java:175)

at com.vmware.vcloud.activity.executors.ActivityRunner.run(ActivityRunner.java:112)

Environment

VMware Cloud Director 10.6.x

Cause

This issue occurs when the underlying Provider Virtual Data Center (PVDC) resource pool is 100% utilized with respect to CPU and memory.

While individual Organization VDCs (Org VDCs) may report that they have available resources, the validation fails because the root Resource Pool backing the PVDC in vCenter Server has misconfigured reservation settings or has exhausted its available compute capacity. Because VCD cannot allocate the necessary backing compute resources during the initial validation phase, the system erroneously throws a datastore support error.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, you must free up or add more compute resources or adjust the CPU and memory reservation settings at the vCenter Server root resource pool level that backs the affected Provider VDC.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Identify the Backing Resource Pool:

   • Log into the VMware Cloud Director Provider Portal.

   • Navigate to Resources > Provider VDCs and note the name of the vCenter Server cluster or resource pool backing the affected PVDC.

2. Adjust Resource Pool Settings in vCenter Server:

   • Log into the vSphere Client managing the underlying infrastructure.

   • Locate the root Resource Pool (RP) associated with the PVDC.

   • Right-click the Resource Pool and select Edit Settings.

   • Review the CPU and Memory reservation settings. If the pool is 100% utilized or over-reserved at the root, clean up or lower the strictly reserved values to free up unreserved capacity.

   • Ensure that the resource pool allocation permits expandable reservations if necessary, or add additional physical resources (ESXi hosts) to the backing cluster.

3. Verify and Retry:

   • Return to the VMware Cloud Director Provider Portal.

   • Verify that the PVDC metrics reflect adequate CPU and memory headroom.

   • Re-attempt the OVA/OVF upload into the Content Hub/Catalog. The template should now successfully upload and process into a vApp Template.