Problem description
VMware backup fails with the following error:
VMWARE_VMOMI65535: An error occurred while taking a snapshot: Unable to open the snapshot file.
Cause
The size of the snapshot file created is larger than the available free space in the datastore where the VM is located.
Traceback
Phoenix job log shows the following error while taking the snapshot of the virtual machine:
[2020-03-24 07:04:41,351] [ERROR] Exception: Unable to access file snapshot (#10006ffff : vim.fault.CannotAccessFile) (Error Code : VMWARE_VMOMI65535).
Error message:
An error occurred while taking a snapshot: Unable to open the snapshot file.
In the /var/log/vpxa.log file, you see the following entries:
--> message = "An error occurred while taking a snapshot: There is not enough space on the file system for the selected operation."
...
--> msg = "Insufficient disk space on datastore ''."
Resolution
Perform housekeeping of the datastore or increase the datastore space. Trigger a manual snapshot to check if snapshot creation is successful or not. Follow these steps:
On the ESXi host search for the VM that you have configured for backup.
Right-click the VM, and click on Snapshot > Take Snapshot.
Enter a name and description for the snapshot and select the Quiescence guest file system (needs VMware tools installed ) checkbox. Phoenix always quiescence the VM while taking the snapshot.
Click Take Snapshot.
If the manual snapshot is successful, then trigger the Phoenix backup.