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Cannot power on an ESX/ESXi virtual machine when nothing changed
Symptoms
Cannot power on an ESX/ESXi virtual machine
Power on button grayed out
Error messages
Virtual machine crashes
boot-guest-os power-on-option-greyed-out
Purpose
This article guides you through the process of troubleshooting being unable to power on a virtual machine that you were able to power on previously, and where you are not aware of any changes having been made to your environment since the last successful power on. The article provides steps that assist you in eliminating common causes for your problem by verifying that the virtual machine is healthy, that there are sufficient resources and permissions to power it on, and that there is nothing wrong with the storage system on which it is located.
Resolution
Validate that each troubleshooting step below is true for your environment. Each step provides instructions or a link to a document, in order to eliminate possible causes and take corrective action as necessary. These steps are ordered in the most appropriate sequence to isolate the issue and identify the proper resolution. Do not skip a step.
Note: If you perform a corrective action in any of the following steps, attempt powering on the virtual machine again.
Confirm that you are trying to power on the correct virtual machine. You may be powering on a virtual machine that does not actually correspond to the virtual machine that you are trying to work with. For more information, see Identifying the location of virtual machine files (1006737).
File a support request with VMware Support and quote this Knowledge Base article ID (1027188) in the problem description. For more information, see How to Submit a Support Request.
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