Error: 'The operation is not allowed in the current state." for disk format upgrade

Products

VMware vSAN VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

The on-disk format conversion (diskformatconverter) fails with a SOAP fault. The vsanvcmgmt.log on the vCenter Server confirms the failure: vsanvcmgmt.log

info vsanvcmgmtd[10031] [vSAN@6876 sub=vmomi.soapStub[0] opID=agw-0009013-d0e3] SOAP request returned HTTP failure; <<cs p:00007ff0a43240b0, TCP:localhost:8085>, /sdk>, method: UpdateProgress; code: 500(Internal Server Error); fault: (vim.fault.InvalidState) {

--> faultCause = (vmodl.MethodFault) null,

--> faultMessage = <unset>

--> msg = "Received SOAP response fault from [<<cs p:00007ff0a43240b0, TCP:localhost:8085>, /sdk>]: UpdateProgress

--> The operation is not allowed in the current state."

The vsan-mgmt logs indicate the VsanVcDiskFormatConverterImpl encounters a configuration inconsistency:

2026-07-24T16:17:12.229+07:00 ERROR vsan-mgmt[23332] [VsanSpaceReportSystemImpl::_QuerySpaceUsage opID=7e4ddd33] Inconsistency config found.

vmware-vsan-health-service.log on vCenter show the below failure events for objects.

2026-07-24T16:21:14.004+07:00 ERROR vsan-mgmt[10031] [VsanVcDiskFormatConverterImpl::_BatchConvertObjects opID=agw-0009013-d0e3] uuid a284e864-f8f1-4d07-eb38-####: Error while converting object.;uuid 8dd31f66-de4d-df0d-5982-####: Error while converting object.

Environment

vCenter Server: 8.0.3
ESXi Host: 8.0.3
VMware vSAN 8.x

Cause

A configuration mismatch exists between the vCenter Server and the ESXi hosts. The vCenter Server identifies the cluster object as Original Storage Architecture (OSA), while the underlying ESXi hosts are members of a vSAN Express Storage Architecture (ESA) cluster. This discrepancy triggers a validation fault during the disk format upgrade, as the disk format converter cannot reconcile conflicting cluster architecture settings.

Log analysis confirms the vSAN ESA status is reported as False in the converter service logic, despite the hosts being configured for ESA:

2026-07-24T15:19:36.880+07:00 INFO vsan-mgmt[10031] [VsanVcDiskFormatConverterImpl::_isVsanMaxConfigEnabled opID=agw-0009013-d0e3] vSAN ESA enabled status: False

However, vSAN cluster configuration at the host level show ESA

[root@localhost:~] localcli vsan cluster get
Cluster Information:
vSAN ESA Enabled: true

This discrepancy indicates the vCenter object properties do not match the actual host-level ESA configuration, leading to the InvalidState fault.

Resolution

Determine if the setup is expected to be vSAN ESA or OSA based on hardware and licensing requirements.

If the environment requires ESA (and hardware is supported):

Ensure a verified, healthy backup of all virtual machines is available.
NOTICE: Review and assess impact on the components that depend on the cluster. Example: NSX components, VDI infra and other cluster dependent solutions.
In the vSphere Client, rename the current cluster by appending "-old".
Create a new cluster object with settings identical to the original (e.g., Deduplication and Compression, Encryption, Advanced options).
SSH into each vSAN host and execute the following command to prevent cluster member list update partitions: esxcfg-advcfg -s 1 /VSAN/IgnoreClusterMemberListupdates
Disconnect each vSAN host from the old cluster in the vSphere Client.
Move each disconnected host into the newly created cluster.
Verify cluster membership on each host using: esxcli vsan cluster get.
Right-click each host in the new cluster and select Connect.
Navigate to Cluster > Monitor > vSAN Health. Verify the only triggered alarm is: "vSAN Skyline Health Service - Cluster health – vCenter state is authoritative."
SSH into the vSAN hosts and revert the advanced configuration: esxcfg-advcfg -s 0 /VSAN/IgnoreClusterMemberListupdates
In the vSphere Client, navigate to Cluster > Monitor > vSAN Health, click Troubleshoot on the "vCenter state is authoritative" alarm, and select Remediate Inconsistent Configuration.