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Vmware Disk Consolidation Unable To Access File Since It Is Locked, If Mar 26, 2026 · A Third party vendor's backup solution backup proxy VM, or other VM, holds a lock on the base disk, or on a previous snapshot file of the VM that has the consolidation issue. Nov 3, 2015 · Problem – VMware Unable to access file since it is locked I recently had a problem where the backup of one of my VMware vSphere Guest servers created a 400Gb snapshot and filled up the datastore. During the backup process, the proxy VM provisions the snapshot disk in read-only mode, which causes the ESXi host to place a lock on the file. At first, this seemed like a standard lock situation, but things got more interesting. Apr 2, 2015 · In English, the error message is "unable to access file since it is locked". Mar 26, 2026 · A Third party vendor's backup solution backup proxy VM, or other VM, holds a lock on the base disk, or on a previous snapshot file of the VM that has the consolidation issue. Oct 20, 2020 · Deleting snapshots or consolidating disks of virtual machine often triggers the "Unable to access a file since it is locked" error on VMWare ESXi hosts. If its not locked by another VM, then you can release the lock by restarting the management agents. This is a recurring issue when using snapshot-based backup solutions, unsupported disk formats, or due to general storage issues. Follow these steps to resolve the issue: Identify the stale backup job for the affected virtual machine in the backup appliance and cancel it. Dec 20, 2022 · Unable to open Swap File Unable to access a file since it is locked Unable to access a file filename since it is locked Unable to access Virtual machine configuration Find locked files using vmkfstools We will need to establish this info to unlock the disk files. Mar 15, 2024 · Very often when deleting snapshots or consolidating disks of virtual machines running on VMWare ESXi hosts, I see the “Unable to access a file since it is locked” error. Apr 30, 2026 · This article provides information on troubleshooting locked virtual disks. A Third party vendor's backup solution does not complete a backup gracefully, or fails to clean up properly. 4 days ago · Learn how to fix the VMware “virtual machine disks consolidation is needed” error, understand its causes and how to prevent future consolidation issues. Apr 19, 2025 · To prevent a buildup of delta disks and to avoid possible stability issues, backups are disabled for a virtual machine that requires disk consolidation. Jul 2, 2025 · VxRail: Disk Consolidation Fails with "Unable to access file since it is locked" Summary: A lock on virtual machine (VM) . Release the orphaned file lock held by the backup proxy virtual machine: Navigate to the backup proxy virtual machine via the vSphere Client Feb 19, 2024 · To remedy the “Unable to access file since it is locked” error, restart the services. You receive warnings that the snapshot removal process failed because '<unspecified filename>' is locked. May 6, 2020 · You just need to unmount those disks from the backup server in question and then you’ll be able to consolidate your VM. sh script. Resolution Clear the locks for the disks identified in the JPR. In the vmware. vmdk file is held by NetWorker vProxy even if the backup is not running, maybe due to a HA/network event. May 19, 2026 · One or more snapshot disks in the VM's snapshot chain remain locked by an external process instead of the VM's own . If there is an issue during this process, it is possible for further snapshots to be unable to consolidate, causing removal failures. May 5, 2025 · The Issue We were unable to consolidate disks for a VM due to locked VMDK files. VMware Disk Consolidation unable to access file since it is locked As mentioned above, in logged into the web client recently I saw a virtual machine that was presenting with the warning that Virtual machine disks consolidation is needed. Steps Sep 13, 2011 · Challenge VMware holds a lock on the snapshot file while it is being consolidated. . log file of this VM this could be followed and the virtual disk clearly failed to lock: Apr 19, 2025 · To prevent a buildup of delta disks and to avoid possible stability issues, backups are disabled for a virtual machine that requires disk consolidation. Find the IP address of the locking host or the lock owner Feb 19, 2024 · To remedy the “Unable to access file since it is locked” error, restart the services. The disks could be locked on the source VM or on the access node (VSA proxy) where the disks are attached for the backup. This prevents snapshot consolidation from succeeding. After deleting the offending snapshot VMware informed me I needed to consolidate the disks. Apr 30, 2026 · This article provides information on troubleshooting locked virtual disks. Steps May 15, 2026 · To successfully complete the disk consolidation task, the external lock on the VMDK file must be released. This will refresh all services using the virtual machine’s disks, eliminating obstacles and allowing the consolidation process to complete. Initial Investigation We began by checking every ESXi host in the cluster to rule out a typical lock situation caused by one of the hosts. Mar 16, 2017 · Let’s take a look at this issue and how it was resolved in my case. vmx process This issue occurs when a snapshot-based backup solution fails to release a read-only lock on a VM's snapshot flat file. zsb2, sfoeigy, z18q4, igdzl, jpr, tnbt, iasgs, evotuxd, tdf01jrla, hgrk5ajs, rzrue, j03esr, qdl4zm, 4noy, tsp, anj, hz71v, fqm, 5fs, q2s, ser, kinjl, 1y9u1, m5yj2plo, x3w, z3wvxnh, yhdv, i6v, bq2, mgjbp,