Hyper-V: Delete Checkpoint Catastrophic Failure
By Steve Bowman
Published March 9, 2016
Estimated Reading Time: < 1 minute

Do you have a VM with checkpoints or a checkpoint subtree that you want to delete but receive the following error? I have seen the Windows Backup tool create a new checkpoint upon every backup resulting in dozens of checkpoint in a long and nasty tree that simply will not allow you remove it, whether through the admin interface or PowerShell.

[br]

Virtual machine failed to generate VHD tree: ‘Catastrophic failure'(‘0x8000FFFF’)

[br]

Here’s a quick and painless option to try before punching your Hyper-V server:

[br]

*Note: This process will merge changes so previous checkpoints will no longer be available for rollback.

[br]

  • Locate the most recent snapshot and select it.
  • Click Export from the actions menu.
  • Export the VM to a new location.
  • Shutdown the VM.

[br]

Once the export completes you will have a new merged vhdx!

[br]

  • Click Import Virtual Machine.
  • The VM will have the name of the snapshot. Power the VM on and validate it’s working as desired.
  • Once satisfied with the new VM, delete the offending VM.
  • Rename the newly imported VM.
  • Enjoy the lack of snapshots.
Post Tags: checkpoint | Hyper-v
Article By Steve Bowman
Steve Bowman is a Partner at Model Technology as well as their Vice President of Sales and Marketing. Steve is a father, husband, Franciscan, and lover of technology. He's bilingual in business and technology and have over 30 years of experience in selling enterprise technology solutions in a variety of industries.

Related Posts