VMware restore fails with “Fault type is 3424” (4033194)

VMware restore of VM to vSphere Distributed Switch fails with Fault type 3424 trying to use its original port. This can be seen in the subtext of the binary log error Failed to add VM to target server's inventory

From binary log:

Error      2013/11/28 12:43:11        153         Data Plugin         W2K8T33             Failed to add VM to target server's inventory

Binary log sub text:

VMWVIM  :03680  116       0 124315 Fault string is 'The resource '391' is in use.'

VMWVIM  :03680  117       0 124315 Fault type is 3424

VMWVIM  :03680  617       0 124315 Failed to create VM from config info

VMWRESTR:03680  105       0 124315 Failed to add VM to server inventory

when we restore the VM getting the error as 'The resource '391' is in use.' where 391 is a port id. This tell us that the port we are trying to use in restore has been used by another VM.

There seems to only be two options to work around this bug

1/ move the VM that has taken the original port to a different switch temporarily, restore the VM and move back the VM from the switch.

2/ use restore to files see details below:

a/ restore the Vm-system using the restore option 'Restore files from backup'

b/ put the files on to the required datastore in a directory with the same name of as you intend to call the system you want to restore.

c/ you can now use the VMware converter tool to convert this Vm-system into a format that the esx can read.
For an example of this see:
http://docs.bakbone.com/docs/NetVault_Backup_VMware_Plugin_Users_Guide_English.pdf
page 50
Recovering a Virtual Machine from a VADP Backup


Or cat the vmx file and look for the following line:

scsi0:0.fileName = "converted vmdk file name"

Example:
scsi0:0.present = "true"
scsi0:0.fileName = "DC1-000001.vmdk"
scsi0:0.deviceType = "scsi-hardDisk"

This gives you the name of the VMDK file it wants. As an example the file is DC1-000001.vmdk


d/ we now need to convert these files into the correct format for esx server to read. This using the following command.

vmkfstools -i scsi0.vmdk -d thin ./new.vmdk



Example for system called DC1:

vmkfstools -i scsi0-0-DC1.vmdk -d thin ./DC1-000001.vmdk

you should see the following output:

Destination disk format: VMFS thin-provisioned
Cloning disk ' scsi0-0-DC1.vmdk'...
Clone: 100% done.

e/ Now browse the datastore from the Vsphere client, right click the .vmx file.
In this example case DC1.vmx, and select Add to inventory and follow the steps in the wizard that pops up.

f/ Power-on the new virtual system and you will asked either by pop-up message or in the summary window of the new virtual system, whether the system is "copied" or "moved".
Select the "Copied" option and ok.


Explanation:
When the VMware files are backed up they are presented to NetVault:Backup by the VMware protocol VADP, in a different format than the one they normally are on the datastore .
VADP is the VMware backup interface that must be used when backing up Vm-systems. When a normal restore takes place the conversion is done automatically but if we restore the files for any reason we have to do a manual conversion as shown here.