vCenter Server logs show "The object or item referred to could not be found" during VKS PVC reconciliation

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

The error message "The object or item referred to could not be found" within the vCenter Server Task view frequently noticed during host maintenance tasks. 

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 8.x

vSphere with Tanzu (vSphere Kubernetes Service - VKS)

Cause

This error is triggered by the Container Storage Interface (CSI) component (com.vmware.cns). During the background health reconciliation process, VKS Persistent Volume Claims (PVCs) are re-queued. If a volume is in the process of being detached or has already been removed, the vCenter Server Management component may attempt to query the object, resulting in a vim.fault.NotFound exception. This is expected behavior and is by design; the system successfully handles the cleanup, but the transient error message is recorded in the task history and logs.

Resolution

No action is required. This is an informational log entry and does not indicate a system failure or data corruption.

Workaround Not applicable. This behavior is by design.

Additional Information

• Verify the integrity of the affected virtual machine or volume. If the operation (e.g., vMotion or migration) completed successfully, the error can be ignored.
• If the task associated with the error is marked as "Completed" or "Succeeded," confirm that no operational impact was observed.
• If persistent errors are creating noise in your monitoring or logging tools, ensure that your log aggregation solution (e.g., Aria Operations for Logs) is configured to filter out these specific vim.fault.NotFound entries related to com.vmware.cns or retrieveVStorageObject.