vMotion Fails with "No valid database found while restoring the namespace fields"

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

VM vMotion or Storage vMotion fails during the resume phase at the destination host.

The vCenter Server task fails with the following message: Migration failed after VM memory precopy. Please check vmkernel log for true error.

In the vmware.log file of the affected virtual machine, you observe entries similar to:

<TIMESTAMP> In(05) vmx - NamespaceMgrCheckpoint: No valid database found while restoring the namespace fields.
<TIMESTAMP> In(05) vmx - Progress 0% (none)
<TIMESTAMP> In(05) vmx - Progress 101% (none)
<TIMESTAMP> In(05) vmx - MigrateSetStateFinished: type=2 new state=MIGRATE_FROM_VMX_FINISHED
<TIMESTAMP> In(05) vmx - MigrateSetState: Transitioning from state MIGRATE_FROM_VMX_CHECKPT (11) to MIGRATE_FROM_VMX_FINISHED (12).
<TIMESTAMP> In(05) vmx - Migrate: Caching migration error message list:
<TIMESTAMP> In(05) vmx - [msg.checkpoint.migration.failedReceive] Failed to receive migration.
<TIMESTAMP> In(05) vmx - [msg.checkpoint.mrestoregroup.failed] An error occurred restoring the virtual machine state during migration.

 

Environment

vCenter 8.0 U3

Cause

This issue is caused by corruption, inconsistency, or missing entries within the Namespace Manager database file (.db) associated with the virtual machine. During a vMotion operation, the VMX NamespaceMgr checkpointing mechanism attempts to restore the namespace state at the destination. If the database file is invalid or mismatched with the VMX's in-memory state, the migration fails.

This often occurs in environments using Guest Introspection (GI) or Network Introspection where a namespacemgr.db file is generated in the VM's working directory.

Resolution

This issue is resolved in VMware ESXi 7.0 Update 3q and 8.0 Update 3e.

Workaround If an immediate upgrade is not possible, follow these steps to clear the corrupted database state:

1. Power off the affected virtual machine.
2. Take a snapshot or backup of the VM (specifically the .vmx and .db files) as a precaution.
3. Connect to the ESXi host where the VM resides via SSH.
4. Navigate to the virtual machine's directory: cd /vmfs/volumes/<DatastoreName>/<VMFolderName>/
5. Clean up the VMX file:
   • Open the .vmx file using a text editor (e.g., vi).
   • Locate and remove any lines referencing the database file, such as: namespaceMgr.dbFile = "VMNAME.db"
   • Save and exit the editor.
6. Remove the corrupted database:
   • Create a temporary folder: mkdir temp_db_backup
   • Move the existing .db file to this folder: mv <VMNAME>.db temp_db_backup/
7. Reload the VM configuration:
   • Identify the VMID: vim-cmd vmsvc/getallvms | grep -i <VMNAME>
   • Reload the configuration: vim-cmd vmsvc/reload <VMID>
8. Power on the virtual machine.
9. Attempt the vMotion again.