VMware ESXi + NFS (Synology) – VMs not booting after full shutdown, disk enumeration error
Budget: $30 – $250 USD
I need help from an experienced VMware ESXi / vSphere engineer to recover virtual machines that stopped booting after a planned full power-off of the rack.
Environment
VMware ESXi hosts: 4 hosts
Storage: Synology NAS (NFS datastore)
vCenter Server: VMware vCenter 8.0.3 (build 24322831)
Datastores:
NFS datastore on Synology (VMs stored here)
Local VMFS datastores on each ESXi host (vCenter VM was on local storage)
HA was enabled
VMs were gracefully powered off before the outage
What happened
All VMs were cleanly shut down
Entire rack was powered off (hosts + NAS)
After power-on:
ESXi hosts boot normally
NAS is reachable and NFS mounts correctly
Datastore content is visible (VM folders and files exist)
Virtual machines fail to power on
Current Issue / Error
VMs are registered but fail to start
Error message:
“Failed to enumerate all disks”
Same error via:
ESXi Web UI
SSH / CLI
Re-mounting NFS datastore does not fix it
Registering VMs again does not fix it
Creating a new VM and attaching existing disks does not fix it
Disk / Snapshot State
VM folders contain:
Base disk (*.vmdk and *-flat.vmdk)
Snapshot descriptor (*-0001.vmdk)
Snapshot delta (*-0001-delta.vmdk)
Snapshot files exist and timestamps look correct
No files are missing
ESXi seems unable to rebuild disk chain metadata
Additional Notes
vCenter VM was apparently stored on local datastore, not on NFS
After reboot, vCenter path appeared as unknown / invalid
No snapshots visible in vSphere UI, only at filesystem level
Issue likely caused by NFS + snapshots + clean shutdown + datastore unmount/remount
What I’m looking for
Recovery of VMs without data loss
Identify whether:
Disk descriptor (.vmdk) needs repair
Snapshot chain needs consolidation manually
vmkfstools -i cloning is required
Restore ability to boot:
At least one critical VM (OPC server)
vCenter VM if possible
Prefer minimal-risk approach
Remote assistance is OK (screen share)
Skills Required
VMware ESXi / vSphere (advanced)
NFS datastores (Synology experience a plus)
Snapshot chain recovery
VMFS / VMDK troubleshooting
Disaster recovery scenarios
Deliverable
At least one VM successfully booting
Clear explanation of what broke and how to prevent it in the future
Environment
VMware ESXi hosts: 4 hosts
Storage: Synology NAS (NFS datastore)
vCenter Server: VMware vCenter 8.0.3 (build 24322831)
Datastores:
NFS datastore on Synology (VMs stored here)
Local VMFS datastores on each ESXi host (vCenter VM was on local storage)
HA was enabled
VMs were gracefully powered off before the outage
What happened
All VMs were cleanly shut down
Entire rack was powered off (hosts + NAS)
After power-on:
ESXi hosts boot normally
NAS is reachable and NFS mounts correctly
Datastore content is visible (VM folders and files exist)
Virtual machines fail to power on
Current Issue / Error
VMs are registered but fail to start
Error message:
“Failed to enumerate all disks”
Same error via:
ESXi Web UI
SSH / CLI
Re-mounting NFS datastore does not fix it
Registering VMs again does not fix it
Creating a new VM and attaching existing disks does not fix it
Disk / Snapshot State
VM folders contain:
Base disk (*.vmdk and *-flat.vmdk)
Snapshot descriptor (*-0001.vmdk)
Snapshot delta (*-0001-delta.vmdk)
Snapshot files exist and timestamps look correct
No files are missing
ESXi seems unable to rebuild disk chain metadata
Additional Notes
vCenter VM was apparently stored on local datastore, not on NFS
After reboot, vCenter path appeared as unknown / invalid
No snapshots visible in vSphere UI, only at filesystem level
Issue likely caused by NFS + snapshots + clean shutdown + datastore unmount/remount
What I’m looking for
Recovery of VMs without data loss
Identify whether:
Disk descriptor (.vmdk) needs repair
Snapshot chain needs consolidation manually
vmkfstools -i cloning is required
Restore ability to boot:
At least one critical VM (OPC server)
vCenter VM if possible
Prefer minimal-risk approach
Remote assistance is OK (screen share)
Skills Required
VMware ESXi / vSphere (advanced)
NFS datastores (Synology experience a plus)
Snapshot chain recovery
VMFS / VMDK troubleshooting
Disaster recovery scenarios
Deliverable
At least one VM successfully booting
Clear explanation of what broke and how to prevent it in the future