Backup failure on VMware VMs – Error #3040: Failed to create snapshot

Reid Montague

We've recently started seeing backup failures on several VMware VMs.
Each attempt fails with the following error:

Error Code: #3040
Message: Failed to create snapshot

There haven’t been any recent changes to the environment (vSphere version, credentials, etc.), and the VMs are running normally otherwise.

At this point, we’ve ruled out obvious causes like storage issues or VM configuration locks.
If anyone has encountered similar behavior or knows what might trigger this error in snapshot creation, would appreciate your input.

Thanks in advance. 😀😀🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼

Dan Zeng

I had the same issue not long ago 😅
Turned out it was because I was using the free version of VMware ESXi, which doesn’t allow access to the full snapshot APIs.
After switching to a paid license, everything worked fine again ✨
If you're still on the free edition, that's probably the culprit! 🛠️

Reid Montague

Got it, that makes sense now! 🙏
Thanks a lot for the quick reply — I’ll check the license and upgrade if needed. Appreciate the help! 😊