Operating System not Found

[scherian]

Hi guys, I was hoping to get some help with one of my VMs not booting up.

I had to shutdown and move a server (HP pro DL 180 G6  ) into a cabinet this past weekend. When i turned it on I realized that the usb running Esxi was missing.

So i had to reinstall Esxi 6.5 on a USB and boot my host off that, which it did successfully.

I booted up the Esxi and got into the GUI - and browsed through my local datastore and found 3 VMs that i had previously created and was using.

I was able to register 2 of them and power them on successfully, however the 3rd one is throwing the following error

any help would be appreciated

[scherian]

Ok.. i realized my .vmdk file was not in the right folder.

so my issue now is it keeps coming up with operating system not found.. and it was working before

[a_p_]

To get a detailled picture, please enable SSH on the host, connect to it using e.g. putty, and run the following commands:

cd /vmfs/volumes/<your-datastore-name>

ls -elisaR > filelist.txt

Then use the datastore browser to download the filelist.txt, the VM's configuration (.vmx) file, as well as all of the VM's vmware*.log files. Compress/zip these files, and attach the .zip archive to a reply post.

André

[scherian]

thank you Andre, for your response

[scherian]

also when the VM was running fine 100GB disk was under the LABdb folder and 400GB 2nd hard-disk for some reason was put into a 2nd folder LABDB_1.. as shown below

[a_p_]

Please don't mind me asking, but can you confirm that both "LABdB" VMs ("LABdB" as well as "LABDB_1") should be working?

To me it looks like "LABdB" has been created, and then removed from the inventory (but not deleted from disk). Then a new "LABDB_1" VM has been created, which is the correvt one.

André

[scherian]

i don't mind the questions, i appreciate the help!

LABdB" is the correct one... with a 100 GB hard-drive which was my C: drive

after a few months, i wanted to create a 2nd HDD..400 GB - D: drive.. but  for some reason it created a 2nd folder "LABDB_1" and put the 400 GB .vmdk over there.

attached though is the .vmx file from the LABDB_1 folder

I have tried to remove/unregister from the inventory a few times and add back in.. but did not work

[scherian]

does it make sense to have a .vmx file for one VM across two folders?

i tried registering the .vmx file one at a time and powered on the VMs.. but i get this far in the boot up sequence and then it fails with Operating System not found

[a_p_]

does it make sense to have a .vmx file for one VM across two folders?

Not in this case. It's just confusing ...

From what you provided so far:

• Folder "LABdB" contains one virtual disk "LABdB" (100GB)
• Folder "LABDB_1" contains two virtual disks "LABDB_1" (100GB), and "LABDB_1_1" (400GB)
• The descriptor/header file for the 100GB virtual disk "LABDB_1" is missing (but the flat file has was in use until Aug, 2nd)!?

What I would do in this case is to recreate the missing descriptor file, then modify both VMs, so that each of them only has the 100GB .vmdk file in its own folder mapped (no cross connect), and see which one of them boots. Then remove the wrong one from the inventory, and add the 400GB virtual disk to the working VM.

Depending on which files are the used, you (we) may want to do some cleanup, i.e. move the used files into a single folder, and remove the wrong one.

Make sure that you do not accidentally select "delete from disk" when you unmap a virtual disk from a VM.

To recreate the missing .vmdk descriptor file:

1. copy LABdb/LABdB.vmdk to LABDB_1/LABDB_1.vmdk
2. edit LABDB_1.vmdk, and point it to "LABDB_1-flat.vmdk"

If you are unsure, or have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

André.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Was it helpful? Let us know by completing this short survey here.

[scherian]

Hey Andre

THANK YOU.. your email pointed me in the right direction.. You were right -ithe LABDB folder was the right one.

I was able to add the 2nd hard-disks..no problem and ALL my data is intact.. THANK YOU

The last one is giving me a hard time.. failed to add hard disk scsi 0:2 - but that is ok as  that was a shadow disk and i can recreate.

If you don't mind I would like to ask or post another question.. now that I have a better understanding of these file structures. one is related to the upgrade from vsphere 6.5 to 6.7 and the other has to do with the best backup tools to use. and method - currently I am using Veeam free version and file level backup.. but i think i should be doing vm snapshots.. I am willing to pay for something

Anyway.. thank you ANDRE

[a_p_]

Glad to hear that you were successful.

Now for the vSphere Upgrade question, I'd suggest that you open a new discussion.

Regarding Backup, since you are already using Veeam Backup, and with only a few VM's you may consider to get a vSphere Essentials Kit license, which unlocks the API so that you can use Veeam B&R. The free Veeam Backup & Replication Community Edition comes with 10 instances, so that you can backup up to 10 VMs.

André

[Alex_Romeo]

Hi,

it happened to me too, and I solved it by removing it from the inventory and register it again.

Alessandro Romeo

[Alex_Romeo]

Hi,

is the controller set on the disk correct?

Alessandro Romeo