An error occurred while taking a snapshot: Dictionary problem.

Products

• VMware vCenter Server
• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Fix the VM dictionary issue to be able to take snapshots.

Symptoms:
Failed to create a snapshot.

Error message:
Status: Invalid virtual machine configuration.

Error stack:
An error occurred while taking a snapshot: Dictionary problem.
An error occurred while saving the snapshot: Dictionary problem.

vmware.log:

[YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS]| vmx| I125: DictionaryParseReadLine: syntax error with line, "0:2.red".
[YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS]| vmx| I125: SNAPSHOT: SnapshotConfigInfoReadEx: Unable to load dict from '/vmfs/volumes/######-######-######/######/######.vmx'.
[YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS]| vmx| I125: SNAPSHOT: SnapshotConfigInfoReadEx failed for file '/vmfs/volumes/######-######-######/######/######.vmx': Dictionary problem (6)
[YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS]| vmx| I125: [msg.dictionary.read.syntaxError] File "/vmfs/volumes/######-######-######/######/######.vmx" line 121: Syntax error.
[YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS]| vmx| I125: SNAPSHOT: Snapshot_PrepareTake: Failed to read snapshot config info for '/vmfs/volumes/######-######-######/######/######.vmx', Dictionary problem SnapshotVMXPrepareTakeDoneCB: Prepare phase failed: Dictionary problem (6).
[YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS]| vmx| I125: SnapshotVMXTakeSnapshotComplete: Done with snapshot 'VM Snapshot 10%252f12%252f2020, 1:22:46 PM': 0
[YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS]| vmx| I125: SnapshotVMXTakeSnapshotComplete: Snapshot 0 failed: Dictionary problem (6).

Resolution

To resolve this issue unregister the VM and reregister it again.

1. Note the Virtual Machine configuration file (.vmx) location.
2. Shutdown the VM.
3. In vCenter UI right click on the VM and select Remove from inventory.
4. Navigate to the vmx file location (noted in step 1)
5. Reregister the VM using the vmx file.

Additional Information

Removing and Reregistering VMs and VM Templates