Inaccessible machine still shows up as using disk space on vCenter

[oferi]

Hi,

I am using a ESX 4 server as a host of a vCenter. One of our machines was probably deleted via the ESX itself some time ago and doesn't exist on the datastore, yet when browsing the host when connected to the vCenter, I see the machine showing up as "inaccessible". Now, when I look at the host Virtual Machines tab, I see that the machine is using up 25GB disk space, but this machine really doesn't exist on the datastore. I've tried refreshing and so on, but the machine still shows up as existing and taking up space. Can someone explain why this is the case?

Also, can I remove the machine from the inventory and no block will stay reserved for this machine?

Thanks,

Ofer

[geddam · Accepted solution]

If you are sure, that concerned VM is not needed, Right click the VM and remove from inventory. This will not be carrying any swap file lock in the datastore as the heartbeat for this VM is already lost.

Usually a VC service restart and removing the VM directly from host should fix the issue.

Thanks,,

Ramesh. Geddam,

VCP 3&4, MCTS(Hyper-V).

Please award points, if helpful

[oferi]

Hi Ramesh,

Thanks for your quick reply. Just to understand better, how is it that refreshing the view doesn't show that this machine has been deleted. Perhaps if you could say a few words about how the inventory is stored / updated could be helpful.

Thanks,

Ofer

[geddam]

Inventory of VMs are generally stored in VC DB..dbo.vpx_vm and the same is stored on host known as inventory.xml....If stale entries are left over...sometime we need to remove them manually.

VMs are inaccessible mainly if...storage is lost where the VM was residing or deletion of VM is not committed properly.

Thanks,,

Ramesh. Geddam,

VCP 3&4, MCTS(Hyper-V).

Please award points, if helpful

[oferi]

Hi Ramesh,

Looks like my problem here is with the commit of the VM deletion. How does this problem arise?

By the way, what is the difference between the "unaccessible" to "orphaned" tag on a VM?

Thanks,

Ofer

[geddam]

Its not unaccessible, but they will shown as inaccessible, which means VM still carry its UUID with host but for some reason...heart beat is lost( mean no communication happening between host and VM), For this kind of VM, if VM directory and all required files are restored back to original location, we dont need to perform a register of this VM, VM will automatically regain its info with specified UUID.

Orphaned VMs will not carry any UUID info...They are actually treated as stale entries.

KB to remove orphaned VMs, http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1011468

Thanks,,

Ramesh. Geddam,

VCP 3&4, MCTS(Hyper-V).

Please award points, if helpful

[oferi]

Thanks for your help Ramesh.