Unable to consolidate VMware virtual machine snapshots due to file lock

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• You are unable to consolidate VMware VM snapshot due to file lock.
• Backup operation on the backup application fails or is interrupted.

Environment

VMware vSphere Data Protection 6.x

Cause

During a backup operation, the backup application creates a snapshot of the virtual machine and mounts the base disk to the backup proxy virtual machine to copy the data. When the backup is completed, the disks are mounted back to the original virtual machine and the snapshot is deleted.

This issue occurs if the backup operation fails or is interrupted. The virtual machine .vmdk files remain mounted to the backup proxy VM.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, remove the virtual machine disks from backup proxy VM.

1. Right-click the backup proxy virtual machine.
2. Click Edit Settings.
3. Expand all the Hard Disk(s).
4. Select the Hard Disk(s) which belong to the virtual machine that has the problem.
5. Click on the X beside the Hard Disk to unmount the Hard Disk from the VM.
   Caution: Do NOT select Delete files from the datastore.
    
6. Click OK.
7. Consolidate the snapshot on the VM.

For more information, see Consolidate Snapshots.

Note: The backup proxy VM is one or more of the backup application virtual machines. If you have multiple backup proxy virtual machines, it is necessary to check all the virtual machines as the disk (.vmdk file) in question may be attached to any of them.