Documentation

VMware ESXi checklist for troubleshooting

Causes and solutions as a regular checklist for VMware ESXi backup problems

 

  1. VMware Tools must be up to date. 
  2. You can update the affected virtual machine via the vSphere Client or vSphere WebClient via "Manage" -> "Install VMware Tools" or "Update VMware Tools".
  3. Check the hardware version of the virtual machines in the overview of the vSphere Client or in the vSphere WebClient in the "Compatibility" tab. You should have at least hardware version 7 or newer. 
  4. Right-click the virtual machine and choose "Edit Settings". The virtual machine hardware version is displayed in the upper right corner of the Virtual Machine Properties dialog box.
  5. Proceed as follows to update:

    1. Shut down the virtual machine using the vSphere Client or vSphere WebClient.
    2. Right-click on the virtual machine and select "Upgrade VM Compatibility".
    3. Select the latest supported version.
    4. Start the virtual machine.

    Attention: Note the information from VMware: https://kb.vmware.com/s/articl...

  6. Windows VMware guests should only use FAT32 / NTFS or ReFS formatted virtual hard disks. Check that there are no raw or RAW partitions. ISCSI or passthrough volumes in the virtual machines are also not supported. Virtual disks in independent disk mode are also not supported.
  7. The Linux VMware guests must have the VMware Tools Filesystem Sync driver installed for VMware Tools in order to enable a backup snapshot.
  8. The free space on the VMware datastore volumes and the virtual hard disks should be at least 10 %.
  9. The size of the shadow copy space should be set to at least 5 % for the virtual machine.
  10. Make sure that the guest virtual machine does not have shadow copy space set for one volume on another volume. The allocation of the shadow copy space must remain separate on each hard drive.
  11. Check that there are no dynamic Windows disks in any virtual machine in Windows Disk Management. These are not supported by VMware. Only basic disks are supported (this does not apply to thin provisioning disks on the VMware datastore itself).
  12. The VSS provider service "VMware Snapshot Provider" must be running in the virtual machines.
  13. The location of the VMware host checkpoint file should be saved on the same datastore as the virtual hard disks for the virtual machines.


If all points have been checked, but the problem persists, there are special cases and possible solutions in the next section.