NVP-vProxy: Error disabling storage migration, retrying, error: VDDK Error: 20005: The operation has been disabled by the guest operating system.

Summary: NetWorker VMware Protection (NVP) Virtual Machine (VM) backups fail, reporting an error disabling storage migration.

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Symptoms

VM backups performed through the NetWorker VMware Protection (NVP) vProxy appliance fail with: 
2017/01/23 13:28:21 WARN:   [@(#) Build number: 43] Error disabling storage migration, retrying, error: VDDK Error: 20005: The operation has been disabled by the guest operating system.
2017/01/23 13:28:21 ERROR:  [@(#) Build number: 43] Failed to disable storage migration for virtual machine "vm-2159": VDDK Error: 20005: The operation has been disabled by the guest operating system.
2017/01/23 13:28:21 ERROR:  [@(#) Build number: 43] Error disabling storage migration for virtual machine "VM_NAME".

Cause

vProxy attempts to disable VM migration (storage vMotion) before backup. However, the vCenter server has already been set with an option to disable VM relocation. This option can be set by user or an application like a previous backup using NVP. If NVP sets this flag, it should clear after backup, but a bad backup termination can prevent the cleanup from running.

Resolution

Steps to verify the issue:

  1. Log in to vProxy as admin, then switch to root: sudo su -
  2. Change to bin directory  
    cd  /opt/emc/vproxy/bin
  3. Run below command to load library path: 
    source ../unit/vproxy.env
  4. Check if the migration is disabled with the 'vmconfig' tool:  
    ./vmconfig -c info -k "vm-MOREF" -l moref -p Password-for-vCenter -u username-for-vCenter -v vcentername
Example output:
Connected to session on vCenter 'vc.ad.box' Version '#####, API:##', Uuid:F8C1509A-EEFA-47E7-AF4A-87C5804B27E6.
Searching for virtual machine with MORef "vm-94" ...
Querying vCenter for definition of virtual machine with MORef of "vm-94" ...
Found virtual machine "VM1" with MORef "vm-94".
Name: "VM-dir-101".
CBT Enabled: true.
Migration Enabled: false.
NOTE: To get the 'vm-MOREF' go to NMC, click 'show message' and 'Get Full log', here you see the MoRef similar to 'vm-94'. For more help- type './vmconfig'


If Migration Enabled is 'false'- proceed with the below workaround. If Migration enabled is 'true'- further diagnosis may be needed.


Workaround:

Run the vmconfig tool with "enable-migration" to manually enable migration.

./vmconfig -c "enable-migration" -k "vm-MOREf" -l moref -p **** -u username -v vcentername

Example:

./vmconfig -c "enable-migration" -k vm-94 -l moref -p *** -u administrator@vsphere.local -v 10.1.2.3

Additional Information

NVP vProxy: Backups intermittently fail with "VDDK Error: 18000: Cannot connect to the host"

Affected Products

NetWorker

Products

NetWorker
Article Properties
Article Number: 000051964
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 17 Apr 2026
Version:  5
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