PowerProtect: VM backups fail with ABV0016 indicating "types.InvalidState"

Summary: The virtual machine (VM) backups fail with exit status ABV0016 during the creation of the Light Weight Delta (LWD) snapshot step.

This article applies to This article does not apply to This article is not tied to any specific product. Not all product versions are identified in this article.
Check out other resources

Symptoms

The PowerProtect Data Manager is used to protect the vSphere environment with the Transparent Snapshot Data Mover (TSDM) solution. The virtual machine (VM) backups fail with exit status ABV0016 during the "Creating LWD snapshot" step. The PowerProtect Data Manager Interface job details show: 
ABV0016: VM Direct engine 'localhost' is unable to back up the virtual machine '<my-vm>' on vCenter 'my-vcenter.domain.local' because of a vCenter API issue.

The VM Direct engine cannot complete the backup of this virtual machine because a vCenter API operation did not complete successfully.

 To troubleshoot this issue: 1) Verify that the vCenter can be reached. 2) If the vCenter is busy, wait for some activities to complete and then retry the operation. 3) Verify that the virtual machine exists on the vCenter. 

Read Less

taskInfo.Error.Fault = '*types.InvalidState', &{VimFault:{MethodFault:{FaultCause:<nil> FaultMessage:[]}}}


The vSphere Web Client shows tasks for the affected VM shows continuous error tasks when taking the LWD-based snapshot.

vSphere Web Client Screenshot showing continuous LWD snapshot errors.


The backup export log shows:

YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS DEBUG:  [a2aaedf09233d1a7;b0db985f58505615] SDM Data Mover: Create LWD Snapshot: vCenter SOAP call 'DpSnapshot' was accepted.
YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS DEBUG:  [a2aaedf09233d1a7;b0db985f58505615] SDM Data Mover: Create LWD Snapshot: taskInfo.Error.Fault = '*types.InvalidState', &{VimFault:{MethodFault:{FaultCause:<nil> FaultMessage:[]}}}
YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS ERROR:  [a2aaedf09233d1a7;b0db985f58505615] SDM Data Mover: Create LWD Snapshot: vCenter task 'task-1960194' failed.
YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS ERROR:  [a2aaedf09233d1a7;b0db985f58505615] SDM Data Mover: Create LWD Snapshot: Unable to create LWD snapshot.
YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS DEBUG:  [a2aaedf09233d1a7;b0db985f58505615] SDM Data Mover: Create LWD Snapshot: Retrying in 15s...

The ESXi host tsdm.log shows a continuous failure when trying to communicate with the Data Protection Daemon (DPD).

YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS tsdm[2099213]: IPCMGR: Unable to connect to UDS at /var/run/vmwarelwd/daemon: No such file or directory
YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS tsdm[2099213]: IPCMGR: Error creating a connection to add to pool 'dpd': No such file or directory
 

Cause

The DPD is an invalid state on the ESXi server hosting the affected VMs. The vSphere Web Client shows the DPD daemon in a Stopped status.
 

ESXi server dpd daemon status

The cause of the DPD being invalid and showing a Stopped state is unknown. The ESXi host dpd.log shows an exception a few days ago and then stopped logging. 
YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS error dpd[2147513] [Originator@6876 sub=vmomi.soapStub[0]] Resetting stub adapter: service state request failed; /sdk/vimService, <last binding: <<TCP '127.0.0.1 : 31138'>, <TCP '127.0.0.1 : 80'>>>, N7Vmacore15SystemExceptionE(Host not found (authoritative))
--> [context]zKq7AVICAgAAABAEVQEOZHBkAAAtoUJsaWJ2bWFjb3JlLnNvAADiZx0ALdEbANJCFwAcoC0AwG8zAD9zMwDhTTQAy1wuAMzHLQBUAy4AAhE/ATt9AGxpYnB0aHJlYWQuc28uMAACbdEObGliYy5zby42AA==[/context]

Resolution

The DPD must be restarted on the affected ESXi host. The DPD may be started using an ESXi ssh session:

[root@my-esx:~] /etc/init.d/dpd status
dpd is stopped
[root@my-esx:~] /etc/init.d/dpd start
Starting dpd:Setting the memory limit for dpd resource pool on this host to 320 MB
Setting max number of file descriptors to 800
Setting MALLOC_ARENA_MAX to 20
success

[root@my-esx:~] /etc/init.d/dpd status
dpd is running


The DPD may also be started using the vSphere Web Client for the affected ESXi host under "Configure > Services":
 

Start dpd via the vSphere Web Client


If required, contact VMware Support to further investigate the DPD being invalid and showing a Stopped state.

Article Properties
Article Number: 000223336
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 21 Nov 2025
Version:  2
Find answers to your questions from other Dell users
Support Services
Check if your device is covered by Support Services.