VMware: Virtual Machine Failed to Power-on due to Disk Consolidation-Snapshot-Issue

Summary: This article explains how to resolve a situation where a Virtual Machine (VM) fails to power on due to issues with a disk consolidation or snapshot.

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.
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Symptoms

  • VM failed to power after storage outage or snapshot removal. 
  • vCenter shows Virtual Machine disk consolidation is needed alert.
  • Performing a Disk Consolidation fails and shows that Another task is in progress.
Example:
Screenshot of Task showing the Error

Cause

This issue occurs when the filename-ctk.vmdk file is missing.

Example of error log:

Screenshot of VM error log showing the disk error

Resolution

  1. Check the task list for the VM Collecting information about tasks in VMware ESXi. See Broadcom article 1013003 Collecting information about tasks in VMware ESXi This hyperlink is taking you to a website outside of Dell Technologies.
# vim-cmd vimsvc/task_list VMID
  1. Kill the process
# lsof | grep vm-name
# kill -9 process-id
  1. Move all the CTK files into a temp folder
# mkdir temp
# mv *-ctk.vmdk
  1. Comment the change, tracking file line in all .vmdk, present in .vmx
# less .vmx | grep .vmdk 
# vi .vmdk
# :wq!

 

Note: Insert # to comment the line with CTK as below.

Screenshot of editing VMX file
 

  1. Create a copy of the vmx file, and then edit it to change from TRUE to FALSE
# cp vm-name.vmx vm-name.vmx.bck
# vi vm-name.vmx
scsix:x.ctkEnabled = "TRUE" ----> scsix:x.ctkEnabled = "False"
  1. Save the file, and reload the vmx file
# vim-cmd vmsvc/reload VMID
  1. You should now be able to successfully power on the VM. The consolidation is in progress.

Affected Products

VMware ESXi 6.x, VMware ESXi 7.x, VMware ESXi 8.x

Products

Poweredge C4140, PowerEdge C6420, PowerEdge C6520, PowerEdge C6525, PowerEdge C6615, PowerEdge C6620, PowerEdge FC640, PowerEdge M640, PowerEdge M640 (for PE VRTX), PowerEdge MX5016s, PowerEdge MX740C, PowerEdge MX750c, PowerEdge MX760c , PowerEdge MX840C, PowerEdge R240, PowerEdge R250, PowerEdge R260, PowerEdge R340, PowerEdge R350, PowerEdge R360, PowerEdge R440, PowerEdge R450, PowerEdge R540, PowerEdge R550, PowerEdge R640, PowerEdge R6415, PowerEdge R650, PowerEdge R650xs, PowerEdge R6515, PowerEdge R6525, PowerEdge R660, PowerEdge R660xs, PowerEdge R6615, PowerEdge R6625, PowerEdge R740, PowerEdge R740XD, PowerEdge R740XD2, PowerEdge R7415, PowerEdge R7425, PowerEdge R750, PowerEdge R750XA, PowerEdge R750xs, PowerEdge R7515, PowerEdge R7525, PowerEdge R760, PowerEdge R760XA, PowerEdge R760xd2, PowerEdge R760xs, PowerEdge R7615, PowerEdge R7625, PowerEdge R840, PowerEdge R860, PowerEdge R940, PowerEdge R940xa, PowerEdge R960, PowerEdge T340, PowerEdge T350, PowerEdge T360, PowerEdge T440, PowerEdge T550, PowerEdge T560, PowerEdge T640 ...
Article Properties
Article Number: 000209549
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 17 Nov 2025
Version:  6
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