VMware VDDK backup fails: Snapshot not taken due to no state change

May 16, 2025

Product Version

AhsayOBM: 7.5.0.0 to 7.17.x

Operating System

Windows

Symptom

When performing a VMware ESXi/vCenter backup job in VDDK mode the following error message is shown in the backup log:

No.TypeTimestampLog
*.........
*erroYYYY/MM/DD hh:mm:ssFailed to create snapshot. [VmshGate.waitForSnapshot] Failed to create snapshot. Error=Snapshot not taken since the state of the virtual machine has not changed since the last snapshot operation.
*info......

Cause

The error message is returned by the VMware host, it is caused when a guest VM on the VMware ESXi/cCenter host machine is suspended and a snapshot is taken of the guest VM while it is in a suspended state using the vSphere snapshot manager.

This issue only occurs on VDDK/CBT mode backups, non-VDDK mode backup job work without this issue.

Resolution

There are two workarounds available to resolve this issue either:

  1. Delete the current snapshot which was created after suspending the VM.

    OR

  2. Switch the guest VM from a suspended state to power on state.
Troubleshooting