Datastore URL conflict error in vCenter when reconnecting an ESXi host - 'Datastore 'X' conflicts with an existing datastore in the datacenter that has the same URL'
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Datastore URL conflict error in vCenter when reconnecting an ESXi host - 'Datastore 'X' conflicts with an existing datastore in the datacenter that has the same URL'

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Article ID: 451900

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Updated On:

Products

VMware vCenter Server 8.0 VMware vSphere ESXi 8.0

Issue/Introduction

When attempting to reconnect or add an ESXi host to vCenter Server, the operation fails with the following error message:

Datastore 'X' conflicts with an existing datastore in the datacenter that has the same URL (Y), but is backed by different physical storage.

  • The ESXi host appears as (Not responding) or Disconnected in the vSphere Client.

  • VMs running on the affected host continue operating without interruption.

  • Storage commands (esxcli storage filesystem list) executed locally on the host via SSH confirm the datastore is mounted natively and healthy across all cluster nodes.

  • esxcli storage vmfs snapshot list returns no snapshot/volume collisions.

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 8.x

VMware vSphere ESXi 8.x

Cause

This issue occurs when an ESXi host loses management-plane communication with vCenter Server while holding active VMFS mounts.

When the management host agent daemon (hostd) or vCenter proxy agent (vpxa) hangs or stops responding, vCenter retains a stale or locked database reference for the datastore's inventory URL. Upon reconnection, vCenter interprets the host's existing mount as a duplicate volume conflict rather than matching it to the active inventory datastore.

Resolution

 

  • Establish SSH Connection: Connect via SSH to the disconnected ESXi host using root credentials.

  • Restart ESXi Management Agents: Execute the following command to restart both hostd and vpxa daemons:

    /etc/init.d/vpxa restart
/etc/init.d/hostd restart

  • Resynchronize Host in vSphere Client:

    • Open vSphere Client.

    • Right-click the disconnected host > Host > Connection > Reconnect.

  • Verify Storage and Cluster Health:

    • Confirm the host status changes to connected/green.

    • Perform a storage rescan across the cluster: Right-click Cluster > Storage > Rescan Storage.

 

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