Orphaned VMs in vCenter after HCX Migration Interrupted by vCenter Maintenance

Products

• VMware HCX

Issue/Introduction

• HCX migration fails or stalls during the switchover phase.
• Source or destination vCenter shows virtual machines as 'Orphaned'.
• Migration correlates with vCenter Server patching, reboots, or unresponsiveness during the switchover phase.

Environment

VMware HCX

Cause

This issue occurs when the vCenter Server service (at either the source or destination site) is restarted or becomes unresponsive while HCX is orchestrating the final stages of a migration. The disruption breaks the synchronization session between the HCX management plane and the vCenter inventory, preventing HCX from correctly updating the VM status and resulting in stale orchestration records.

Resolution

Note: Do not schedule a migration switchover or initiate active migrations if there is planned maintenance, patching, or reboots scheduled for the source or destination vCenter Server. Ensure the management plane is stable throughout the entire migration cycle.

To resolve orphaned VMs and clear the environment for a retry, follow these steps:

1. Verify VM State

• Confirm if the 'live' copy of the virtual machine is successfully running on the destination host/datastore.
• Ensure the source VM is powered off.

2. Manual Cleanup

• ESXi Host Cleanup: Log in directly to the source ESXi hosts and unregister any stale VM configurations if they still appear in the host inventory.
• vCenter Inventory: Right-click the orphaned VM in the vCenter inventory and select Remove from Inventory.

3. Determine if Retry is Required

• Successful Migration: If the VM is confirmed as running and healthy on the destination, no further migration action is needed once the stale source entries are removed.
• Failed/Incomplete Migration: If the migration (RAV/Bulk) did not complete and the VM is not running on the destination, initiate the migration wizard again.

Additional Information

Best Practices

• Maintenance Windows: Avoid all vCenter Server management-plane disruptions while HCX migrations are active.
• Seed Checkpoint: Always enable 'Seed Checkpoint' for Bulk or RAV migrations to preserve transferred data in the event of a management-plane failure.