Storage vMotion fails on vCloud Director VMs

[CSIEnvironments]

So I was testing out Jake Robinsons PowerCLI script to storage vmotion a vm in a vCD vApp and got a weird error:

"A specified parameter was not correct."

Then I tried a Storage VMotion of the same VM in the vSphere Client and I got the same error!

Hostd.log has the following:

[2E6A2B90 warning 'Default' opID=90D07B00-00000CE6-ee-74] Unexpected type received in extra config for key: guestinfo.ovfEnv

Googling has produced:

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=201212...

Resolution

To workaround this issue:

1. Right-click the virtual machine and click Power Off.
2. Right-click the virtual machine and click Migrate.
3. Complete the steps to move the virtual machine to the destination host.

I cannot power off production machines just to Storage VMotion machines. What is causing the error? Is there anything I can do to rectify the issue?

[CSIEnvironments]

No responses from vmware :smileycry: If there is an Official KB article does that mean they acknowledge there is a bug/issue and they working to fix it? Currently not being able to storage vmotion running vCloud Director VM's is major one for us. Wish it was possible to track progress on bugs/feature requests of VMware Products.

[CSIEnvironments]

Looks like this has been resolved in version 1.5.1. I upgraded and can now successfully vmotion vm's managed by vCloud Director although it does not appear here: https://www.vmware.com/support/vcd/doc/rel_notes_vcloud_director_151.html#resolvedissues

It's either coincidence or it has been fixed. Would love to know.

[millennia]

Did you do anything specifically after you upgraded? Because I've just gone to 1.5.1 after having this problem and still cannot Storage vMotion VMs.

Weird thing is that I used to be able to, this problem has only appeared recently and it's been a while since I did any updates.

[bparlier]

Does the KB in the link below appear to relate to the problem you are seeing?

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=201212...

[alwaysnodowntim]

To my knowledge Storage vMotion is not to be enabled for VMs that are managed by vCloud Director 1.5. This is why you have to power off and manually migrate the vm.

[bparlier]

Are you talking about Storage DRS or storage vMotion? If you look at the KB listed in an earlier comment, you can Storage vMotion...but as far as I know, Storage DRS is not supported.

[alwaysnodowntim]

You're correct, I was talking about SDRS. Good catch.

[millennia]

It would be absolutely ridiculous to have to power off a cloud server to move it between storage pools. It goes against everything the 'cloud' is.

I need to migrate a VM with 2TB of storage from one datastore to another because of maintenance and I can't afford the VM to be down for 10 hours while it happens!

VMware have acknowledged it as a bug and say it's fixed in vCenter 5.0 U1 and vCD 1.5.1, however not for me it wasn't!

The workaround number 2 does work, but still needs me to power down the VM to change the setting - which is hardly ideal. I do have a Windows maintenance slot for the big VM though, so I'll be setting the workaround to enable a live move.

[bparlier]

So, you've upgraded to 5.0 U1 and vCD 1.5.1 and no luck? Or, are you in the process of either upgrade, and; did you follow the upgrade procedures, etc...?

[millennia]

I did the upgrade of both, which were successful, but I still can't svMotion unless I unset the VMTools flag as indicated in the workaround.

Also I've no idea what that flag is supposed to do, you would think it was switched on for a reason?

[CSIEnvironments]

VMware have acknowledged it as a bug and say it's fixed in vCenter 5.0 U1 and vCD 1.5.1, however not for me it wasn't!

I rebuilt my setup from scratch when the new update came out. Since then I can storage vmotion virtual machines from within Virtual Center and via PowerCLI. Looks like they updated the KB in my first post and acknowledge it's an issue and has now be resolved.

[millennia]

The KB article in your first post was recently updated with:

"This issue has been resolved in vCenter Server 5.x Update 1.  In order to permanently fix this issue, upgrade to vCenter Server 5.x Update 1. "

I have a feeling it doesn't fix until you completely shutdown a vApp, but that's going to require some testing. In the meantime the workaround will do fine.

[CSIEnvironments]

Yeah thanks I see they have updated it. Shocking they had to resolve it before they acknowledged it was a bug and not an issue with my setup.

[redscorpion]

İ have same issue in my environment. i have opened a case to vmware i  am expecting to see a valid solution or fix for that issue. i will update if i have a solution.

[redscorpion]

Hi Everybody,

After i have upgraded my esxi 5.0 to 5.0 update1 now storage vmotion does not fail. the kb note says only upgrade vcenter not esxi servers.

Thanks

[millennia]

Exactly what I've just discovered. I upgraded vCenter and vCloud Director and no fix, but after patching the hosts to the latest level I can now svMotion again.

John