Even though a VM is scheduled for an incremental or differential backup on a particular day, a full backup is taken of the VM instead.
An open snapshot on the VM (other than the current snapshot created by the running vRanger backup job) will make taking any other type of backup other than a full backup impossible. The snapshot must be closed (deleted) to enable the incremental/differential cycle to resume.
The snapshot(s) must be consolidated (deleted).
1) From a direct VMWare client connection to the specific HOST where the VM resides (not the Virtual Center), take a NEW snapshot of the VM. Do not snapshot virtual memory (i.e. uncheck the option). The reason for doing this from a direct host session instead of the Virtual Center is that the timeout period for removing a snapshot could conceivably be exceeded (i.e the timeout period is shorter) if this is attempted from a connection to the Virtual Center. This could result in the snapshot(s) not being entirely removed.
2)When completed, go back into snapshot manager and do a "Delete All". This will consolidate the rogue snapshots and make the incremental\differential backups work again.
If the snapshot(s) causing the problem are large or numerous (or both), this operation can take quite some time (as several GB of changes will need to be consolidated). If the amount of snapshot data is very large, powering-down the VM (if possible) and performing the resolution steps can speed up the process considerably. If this is not possible, the snapshots can still be removed, but it will likely take longer. The VM may be used during the consolidation, but as this can be a host-intensive process, there may be performance concerns based upon your individual environment's configuration that need to be considered.
