Migrate option in VM is grayed out

[vmk2014]

Hi All,

I'm trying to migrate one of the VM's to the different data store but migrate option is showing grayed out. All other VM's are fine.

Thanks

vmk

[Buddhika01]

Try to update the client integration plugin and also check whether you have enough free space on the target datastore.

[pragg12]

Hi,

Try migrating the VM through PowerCLI in off business hours.

If it migrates, well, something's not right with GUI.

If it doesn't, you should see some error on PowerCLI, or related logs in vm's log file, or in host logs which could help us further assist you.

[StephenMoll]

Does "MBR storage device partitioning" have a bearing on this problem?

[ThompsG]

No it doesn’t. VMFS versions before this used MBR and hence the restrictions to 2TB. VMFS5 volumes that are MBR will change to GPT once extended beyond 2TB but would not impact Storage vMotion in this way.

Kind regards.

[pragg12]

vmk2014 Is the issue solved ? Let us know what's the status on this.

[darkhalo]

Hi vmk2014,

Have you tried to update the VMTools of the VM ?

It has fixed my issue this morning.

Good luck

[cheeweng]

I have this issue too. Verify the permission of Veeam account if your environment using Veeam.

[NathanosBlightc]

Did you check vMotion option of VMKernel in your hosts is enabled? (even source)

Physical device Path-through can be cause of the issue you have encountered?

[FlavioAraujo]

Unregister the host, Register the host and Migrate will be enabled again.

Works with me

[Phil52]

Thank you this helped us out

[shockvolt1]

Generally there are 3 criteria that might cause the migrate option to be grayed out.

1. There is an old snapshot or a 3rd party backup is running that has created a snapshot of the VM.  You will need to delete the snapshot to be able to migrate.

2. There is an attached device such as a CD Rom/ISO file or special port that needs to be removed in the settings of the VM.

3. There is a DRS rule that requires the VM to be on that host.  Check DRS rules on the Configuration tab and if necessary, remove the VM from the DRS rule or group.

I had a scenario where none of these applied.  I had to power the VM off, remove from inventory, then add to inventory on the host where I wanted it to reside.

Hope this helps someone.

[c0sm042]

Try this, worked for me and requires no downtime...

https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/1029926