VM fails to boot after restore

SUMMARY

VMware VM was restored successfully however it will not boot. VM produces errors regarding lock files.

ISSUE

VM restores successfully however when powered on the following errors are produced:

• Unable to open Swap File
• Unable to access a file since it is locked
• Unable to access a file <filename> since it is locked
• Unable to access Virtual machine configuration

RESOLUTION

This can be resolved by finding an addressing the lock (.lck) files.

For more details on how to address this condition, see VMware Knowledge Base article 10051.

Hint:  If multiple ESXi hosts are being used, the VM can be migrated to the ESXi host containing the lock file.
 

CAUSE

VMware places a lock on VMs while they are running.  If vCenter detects active locks, the VM will not power on.