PBM Error migrating VM’s from VSAN Datastore

Occasionally, and by that I mean very rarely, VM’s can refuse to migrate on or off VSAN storage (I know, I know, why would you every want to migrate off VSAN?).

The error will look something similar to:

A general system error occurred: PBM error occurred during PreMigrateCheckCallback: pbm.fault.PBMFault; Internal error during SPBM validation;
No VASA Provider for schema namespace (VSAN) found.

You’ll also find that you can’t create new storage providers.

The official reason is: Official: This issue occurs due to inconsistent data between the Storage Management Service (SMS) and the Storage Based Policy Manager (SPBM).

While VMware claim that this is only an issue with VSAN 5.5, I have seen it occur in VSAN 6.0. To be fair it was in my lab, and I was testing “dirty” power down of VSAN hosts.

So to the Fix

NB: As this is a VASA related issue it might work for other storage providers too. In the testing I’ve done its been non-disruptive but as always proceed with caution.

  1. In the vSphere Web Client Navigate to the vCenter Server (Not the VSAN Cluster)
  2. Select the Configure tab on the right.
  3. Select the Storage Providers Menu Item.
  4. In the Storage Providers window pane: click the storage icon with the red circular arrows. 
  5. Once done, the Cluster with VSAN will be scanned and you should be able to move your VM’s about.

One thought on “PBM Error migrating VM’s from VSAN Datastore

  1. I hit the issue too on VC6.7+VSAN. In my case, the log file at /storage/log/vmware/vsan-health/vmware-vsan-health-summary-result.log was about 4G, no more log could be added to that file, caused the VSAN health service stopped, led to such behavior.

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