Removing Stuck VMDK From the Veeam Proxy

• A virtual machine (VM) processed with Veeam Backup & Replication (VBR) has a warning that consolidation is required, but consolidation attempts fail.
  
  or
• A VM that VBR processed is found to have an orphaned snapshot.

This may occur when Virtual Appliance Mode (HOTADD) is used to back up a VM and the following occurs:

• VMware does not process the command to release the VM's disk from the proxy.
• The Veeam Backup Server crashes while processing a VM.
• Jobs running within VBR were forced to stop.
• A backup or replication job creates a snapshot on the backup proxy while another job is using that proxy.
  Note: It is advised to build dedicated VMware Backup Proxies and not back them up or replicate them.

Before You Begin

Ensure that all jobs have stopped. This will ensure that the only disks that will be found attached to proxies will be the proxy's own disks and the ones that need to be removed.

Identify Problem VMs

1. Using a vSphere Client, find any VMs displaying a warning that consolidation is needed.
   
    
2. Perform consolidation and note which VMs continue to have a warning regarding consolidation.
   
   
   
   
    

Find Stuck HOTADDed Disks

Review the settings of each Veeam VMware Backup Proxy, looking for any disks that match the following:

• The name of the VMDK does not match the proxy, but it matches a VM identified in the previous section.
• The disk has a Disk Mode of [Independent - NonPersistent]
  Note: If the proxy is used as a Target Proxy for replication, the replica disks will be attached as Independent - Persistent.
  
  
   

Release Stuck HOTADDed Disks

Once you have found a disk HOTADDed to a proxy that needs to be released, perform the following steps to release it.

1. Click the ⦻ symbol to select the disk for removal.
   
   Note: Do not check the box to delete files from datastore!
   
2. Click [OK] to Confirm the removal.
3. After the disk is released from the proxy, attempt Consolidation again.

If you find that a specific proxy continues to have issues with disks becoming stuck HOTADDed to it, please review https://www.veeam.com/kb1882.

For more information regarding orphaned snapshots, please review:
Broadcom (VMware) KB310765: Determining if there are leftover delta files or snapshots that VMware vSphere or Infrastructure Client cannot detect

^{*Due to restructuring at VMware after the Broadcom acquisition, some of their articles may be temporarily unavailable. If the article above fails to load, please contact VMware support for more information.}