Virtual Machine Management Service Error (code 2421)

Applies to: Windows Server 2008

Situation

A backup plan terminates with the following error: Virtual Machine Management Service error

The event log contains the following ID: 16010 and the following records: The operation failed

Cause

This error may occur due to an incorrect path to virtual hard disks.

Solution

Follow Microsoft best practices to work around the case. Refer to the Event ID 16010 — VMMS chapter at docs.microsoft.com

Restart VMMS

Vmms.exe (by default in the %windows%\system32 directory) is the service that uses the Msvm_VirtualSystemManagementService WMI object to perform Virtual System Management related operations in Hyper-V and the Hyper-V Manager. A number of different settings and actions on virtual machines may cause the VMMS to timeout or a shutdown.

Ensure a connection to a Domain Controler, and then restart the Virtual Machine Management Service (VMMS).

To restart VMMS using the Service Manager:

1. In the Hyper-V Manager, click the server on which you want to stop the service, then click Action, then click Stop Service.
2. Click Action, and then click Start Service.

To restart the VMMS service using the command prompt:

1. On the computer that has the stopped service, open a command prompt as a local administrator and type the following:

net stop nvpswmi

If the service is not running, you will see the error: The Hyper-V Networking Management service is not started.

2. On the command prompt type the following command to start the nvpswmi service

net start nvspwmi

If the service start starts you will see the message: The Hyper-V Networking Management service was started successfully

To restart VMMS using PowerShell:

1. On the computer that has the stopped service, open a command prompt as a local administrator and type the following:

C:\PS>restart-service vmms

If this error occurs only with Windows Server 2008 x86 virtual machines that were created in Virtual Server or Virtual PC, then the HAL may not be set as ACPI.

To check this:

1. On the virtual machine, open an elevated Command Prompt window.

2. Type devmgmt.msc to open the Device Manager

3. Click the computer node. If you see “Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) PC” you must change the HAL.

To change the HAL on the virtual machine:

1. On the virtual machine, open an elevated Command Prompt window.
2. Type msconfig. exe.
3. Click the Boot tab.
4. Click the Detect HAL checkbox.
5. Click OK twice to close and restart the virtual machine.
6. After the virtual machine is restarted, open the device manager and the computer node listing should be "“ACPI x86-based PC.”

Once you are done, check that the VMMS service is in the running state in the Service Control Manager and that the failed operation now succeeds.