If you have used any backup software to backup your VM, you probably have seen this. We use Backup Exec and VMs are occasionally stuck at “backing up” status. If you tried to turn off the VM (as I did above), the VM is still “backing up” and you won’t be able to start it up again. If you try to start the VM, you will get an error message that the VM cannot be start and the Eventlog does not tell you much.
To refresh the status, you can restart the Hyper V Virtual Machine Management service.
It may fail to stop and the service may get stuck at “stopping” state. If that’s the case, you will have to end the process. It is the process “vmms.exe”
To do it using Powershell
Restart-Service vmms
If it fails, you will need to kill the process by either ending the vmms.exe process in task manager or using the taskkill command with an elevated CMD.
After vmms is restarted, the VM may be moved to a different node if you have a Fail Over Hyper V Cluster. Make sure you refresh the console to get the most updated info on the VM before attempting to start it up again.
KennyL System Admin 