Sounds like a file locking issue. You can check if the file is locked by using the touch command:
The touch utility is designed to update the access and modification time stamp of the specified file or directory. As such, the command can be used to test the file and directory locking mechanism in the VMFS filesystem, where the procedure is expected to fail on locked files. Usingtouch is the preferred method because the changes to the resource are minimal.
To test the file or directory locking functionality, run this command:
# touch filename
Note: Performing a touch * command performs the operation on all files in the current directory.
The touch * command can result in these outcomes:
- If the
touch * command succeeds, then the command successfully made changes to the date/time stamp and has verified that the file can and has been locked (then unlocked). At this point, retry the virtual machine power-on operation to see if it succeeds. - If the
touch * command fails with a device or resource busy message, it indicates that a process is maintaining a lock on the file or directory. This may be on any of the ESXi/ESX hosts which have access to the file. If the message is reported, proceed to the next section. - If another error message is reported, it may indicate that the metadata pertaining to file or directory locking on VMFS may not be valid or corrupt. If this is the case, collect diagnostic information from the ESXi/ESX host and submit a Support Request.
Additionally, here is the KB on troubleshooting file locking issues. VMware KB: Investigating virtual machine file locks on ESXi/ESX
