Symptoms
Non-cloud-managed Virtual machines names appear as:
ds:///vmfs/volumes/datastore/vm_name
These virtual machines (VMs) are unmanageable by vCenter Server and ESXi hostsThe VM is not accessible.
Purpose
This article provides steps to troubleshoot and fix non-cloud-managed VMs which appear as a file path (ds:///vmfs/volumes/datastore/vm_name) instead of the VM name.For cloud-managed environments, see "ds:///vmfs/volumes/datastore/vm_name" name appears for cloud-managed virtual machines
Cause
The VM name appearing as ds:///vmfs/volumes/datastore/vm_name issue is caused by the VM's files cannot be found by the ESXi host. Some potential causes include:
Communication problems between ESXi hosts and arrayDatastore problems/corruptionStorage array configurationStorage array problemsVM file corruption
Resolution
Verify datastore accessibility in the vCenter Server and ESXi host
Ensure the datastores with the VM's files is accessible to the vCenter Server in the vSphere Client.Ensure the datastores with the VM's files is accessible in the ESXi host client.If the datastores are inaccessible, see Performing a rescan of the storage on an ESX/ESXi hostReboot the vCenter Server.
If the VM files are not accessible
Remove affected VMs showing as paths from the vCenter inventory per Remove VMs or VM Templates from vCenter Server or from the DatastoreRe-register the affected VMs per How to register or add a Virtual Machine (VM) to the vSphere Inventory in vCenter ServerIf VM will not re-register, the VM's descriptor file (*.vmx) may be corrupt.
Create a new VM with the same settings. If you don't know the settings you can use Rebuilding the virtual machine's .vmx file from vmware.logAttach the existing virtual disks to the new VMIf it still doesn't power on, you will need to restore the VM from backup or rebuild it
If the datastores are still not accessible
troubleshoot the datastore problems
or
restore or rebuild VM to healthier datastore
Related Information
Failed to power on virtual machine
