As organizations scale their operations and expand their virtual environments, a common problem that is often overlooked is the presence of “orphaned” virtual machines. What risks do orphaned VMs pose and how can they be effectively managed?
An orphaned VM is a virtual machine that has lost its connection to the management platform or the underlying infrastructure, but it still exists within the virtualization environment. And this situation typically occurs in environments where virtual machines are managed through a centralized platform.
So how can we verify an orphaned VM? We can just use the monitoring tools within your virtualization management platform which often flag orphaned VMs as “Disconnected” or “Invalid”, or auditing your VM inventory regularly can also help identify VMs that are no longer properly managed.
If orphaned VMs occurred, have you ever thought about what factors will cause an orphaned VM? Following are some factors that can lead to an orphaned VM and you can understand these causes to prevent this.
When the physical host running the VM fails or becomes unresponsive, the VM might become orphaned. The management platform can no longer communicate with the VM, leaving it disconnected. And this is the most common and relatable reason
VMs are often migrated between hosts for load balancing or maintenance, it seems like a seamless task, but if this migration process fails or is interrupted, the VM can become orphaned.
Corrupt or inconsistent databases within the management platform can lead to orphaned VMs. The VM's records may still exist in the database, but the actual VM is no longer accessible or manageable.
If the storage location where the VM file are stored becomes inaccessible or is disconnected, the VM might be orphaned as the management platform loses access to its files.
Orphaned VMs sound like a small issue, but it can also have a significant impact on your IT infrastructure. For example, orphaned VMs continue to consume storage space which causes resource wastage, also it can lead to data loss, for it may contain data that is no longer backed up, and management will spend more time on cleaning up orphaned VMs, this can complicate the overall management.
Due to there are so many risks when orphaned VMs occur, several steps can be taken to remove an orphaned VM from vCenter.
In some cases, you can just re-establish the connection between VM and the management platform, this could solve the problem. This way involved restart management agent or the service on the host.
Click the orphaned VM in the Client and select “Remove from Inventory”, but this action only removes the VM from the inventory list, it does not delete the VM files from the datastore.
Navigate to the datastore where the VM’s files are stored, and locating the VM’s configuration file (.vmx). Then click the .vmx file and select “Register VM”, following the prompts to add the VM back into the inventory.
Once the VM is re-registered, check its status in the Client, ensuring there is no orphaned and is associated with a host. If it’s connected, you can power it and verify the function.
In the vSphere Client, navigate to a virtual machine and on the Update tab, click Check Status.
If the issue was caused by a database inconsistency, repairing the database may restore the VM’s connectivity. Use tools provided by your virtualization platform to repair the database, this can restore the VM’s manageability.
Before making any changes, ensure that you have a full backup of your vCenter Server database.
If orphaned records are no longer needed, you can remove these directly from the database, but this should be done with caution.
After removing orphaned entries, run integrity checks on the database to ensure there are no other issues. You can use Check Database Integrity Task in SQL Server Integrity Service (SSIS) to check database integrity.
If the issue is related to the host itself, restarting the physical host where the orphaned VM was running can help re-establish the connection and bring the VM back under management.
Here are some steps to reboot the ESXi host:
A critical aspect of VM management is to ensure that all virtual machines whether actively used or orphaned are regularly backed up. Backing up virtual machines not only prevents data loss, but also facilitates recovery in the case of failure, migration or accidental deletion. For organizations using VMware ESXi, having a reliable backup solution is critical to protecting virtual machines and maintaining business continuity.
AOMEI Cyber Backup is a powrful, user-friendly VMware backup solution designed specifically to address the needs of virtual environments, including those running VMware ESXi. It offers comprehensive features that make it an ideal tool for ensuring the security and integrity of your virtual machines, whether they are in active use or have become orphaned.
AOMEI Cyber Backup supports both paid and free versions of VMware ESXi 6.0 and later version. You can just click the following button to download the 30-day free trial.
Here are steps to create automatic backup tasks:
Step 1. In the AOMEI Cyber Backup’s interface, click Source Device and choose VMware, then click +Add VMware ESXi, and add VMs by entering the host information.
Step 2. Click Backup Task on the left pane to Create New Task. Choose VMware ESXi Backup as the backup type. Then setup Task Name, Target, Archive, Schedule, and other settings based on your need.
Step 3. Click Start Backup you can select to Add the schedule only, or Add the schedule and start backup now.
Orphaned VMs are a common problem in virtualized environments, but can lead to major issues if not addressed in a timely manner. By understanding the causes and risks, you can remove, or restore orphaned VMs from backups in time, so you can maintain a healthy, efficient, and stable virtual infrastructure.