Hot Add Mode Cannot be Used

Product version: 7.5

Last modified: 27 June 2018

Problem

VMware VM processing fails. The following error message is displayed:

Hot Add transport mode cannot be used by the transporter to access one or more disks of this VM.

Background

NAKIVO Backup & Replication can read data directly from VMware VM disks, bypassing the network, which can significantly increase job performance.
This is achieved with VMware's Hot Add for VMware technology, which enables attaching source VM disks to a different VM and reading data directly from the disk.

In order for the Hot Add to work, the source Transporter (the one reading data from the source VM) should have access to all datastores of the source VM.
Another important requirement is having the source Transporter VM present in the NAKIVO Backup & Replication inventory.

Note
If Hot Add cannot be enabled for at least one disk of a source VM (even if this disk is excluded from the job), Hot Add may be unavailable for the entire VM.

Possible Cause

Transporter VM Is Not in the Inventory

In order for Hot Add to function properly, the Transporter VM must be present in the Inventory.
To solve this issue, add the vCenter or ESXi host where NAKIVO Backup & Replication Transporter VM is running to the Inventory.

Transporter VM is in a Different Datacenter

If NAKIVO Backup & Replication Transporter VM and the source VM are in different datacenters, Hot Add will not be functional (even if there is a shared datastore).
To solve this problem, deploy another Transporter VM in the same datacenter and select it in the job settings.

Backed Up VM Contains IDE Disks

Hot Add is not possible for VMs with IDE disks. If your source VM contains an IDE disk, Hot Add mode will not be applicable for the entire VM.
To solve this problem, convert your virtual IDE disks into SCSI disks or process such VM by a separate job in LAN or SAN mode.

Transporter Doesn't Have Access to Datastore

There are no Transporters that can attach all disks of this source VM.
For example, your Transporter may run on a host that does not have access to the datastore with your source VM's disks.

Transporter and Backed Up VM Have Same BIOS UUID

If NAKIVO Backup & Replication Transporter VM and the source VM have the same BIOS UUID, Hot Add will not be functional.
To solve this problem, deploy another VM with a Transporter that has a different BIOS UUID, and use it to back up your VM(s).

Old Version of TLS in ESXi 5.5

Starting from NAKIVO Backup & Replication v7.5, TLS 1.0 that is used by ESXi 5.5, is not supported by default.
We recommend updating your vSphere environment to the latest version to avoid usage of the old TLS.

If this solution is not available, create a configuration file on the machine on which the source Transporter is installed:

  • Windows - C:\Windows\System32\config\systemprofile\AppData\Roaming\VMware\config.ini

  • Linux - /etc/vmware/config

The following line must be present in the configuration file:

tls.protocols=tls1.0,tls1.1,tls1.2