VMs under vApp stuck in "Partially Powered Off" state in VMware Cloud Director

Products

• VMware Cloud Director
• VMware Telco Cloud Platform

Issue/Introduction

 

• When initiating a power-on request for a vApp or individual Virtual Machines (VMs) from the VMware Cloud Director (VCD) UI, the task fails to complete successfully.

• The VM or vApp status in VCD remains stuck in a Partially Powered Off state instead of transitioning to fully powered on.

 

Environment

VCD 10.6.1

TCP 5.0.1

Cause

• This issue occurs when the vSphere Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS) automation level on the underlying vCenter Server cluster is set to Manual (or Partially Automated).
  
  
• When host resource availability varies across physical ESXi hosts in a cluster, powering on VMs requires DRS to generate host placement recommendations. If DRS is set to Manual, vCenter waits for an administrator to manually approve placement recommendations. Because VCD expects non-blocking, automated host placement during power-on operations, it cannot complete the task while waiting for manual vCenter intervention, resulting in the Partially Powered Off status.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, update the vSphere cluster DRS settings to Fully Automated:

1. Log into the vSphere Client with administrative privileges.

2. Navigate to Inventory > Hosts and Clusters.

3. Select the cluster backing the Provider Virtual Data Center (pVDC) where the issue is occurring.

4. Click the Configure tab.

5. Under Services, select vSphere DRS and click Edit....

6. Set the Automation level to Fully Automated.

7. Click OK to save the configuration.

8. Return to the VMware Cloud Director (VCD) portal.

9. Completely Power Off the affected vApp or VMs.

10. Initiate the Power On request again from VCD.

Additional Information

For more information Create a Provider Virtual Data Center in Your VMware Cloud Director