vmdk will not mount???

[suntzu-global]

Hello,

Thank you in advance for any help on this problem.

Host: Esxi 4.0

Guest: Windows 2008 Server r2

The problem: A vm was built and needed access to an offline vm disk. The offline vm disk was mounted to a new vm and and after testing the new vm was no longer needed and subsequently deleted. The offline vm now will not power on AND/OR the disk cannot be mounted by another vm???

Within the directory of the offline vm that needs to be recovered is:

/vmfs/volumes/4c36ff94-df594ef4-f92f-001517606d69/vcc # ls -la

drwxr-xr-x 1 root root 3360 Aug 9 05:17 .

drwxr-xr-t 1 root root 4900 Aug 9 05:44 ..

-rw------- 1 root root 3053537280 Aug 4 12:59 vcc-000001-delta.vmdk

-rw------- 1 root root 287 Aug 9 05:44 vcc-000001.vmdk

-rw------- 1 root root 83968 Aug 9 05:09 vcc-000002-delta.vmdk

-rw------- 1 root root 294 Aug 9 05:44 vcc-000002.vmdk

-rw-rr 1 root root 13 Aug 9 05:09 vcc-aux.xml

-rw------- 1 root root 42949672960 Jul 25 04:05 vcc-flat.vmdk

-rw------- 1 root root 8684 Aug 4 12:59 vcc.nvram

-rw------- 1 root root 590 Aug 9 05:44 vcc.vmdk

-rw------- 1 root root 530 Aug 9 05:09 vcc.vmsd

-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 4681 Aug 9 05:17 vcc.vmx

-rw------- 1 root root 258 Aug 8 07:27 vcc.vmxf

-rw------- 1 root root 17163175936 Aug 4 12:59 vcc_1-000001-delta.vmdk

-rw------- 1 root root 291 Aug 2 12:51 vcc_1-000001.vmdk

-rw------- 1 root root 83968 Aug 9 05:09 vcc_1-000002-delta.vmdk

-rw------- 1 root root 298 Aug 9 05:09 vcc_1-000002.vmdk

-rw-rr 1 root root 34819 Aug 8 07:22 vmware-17.log

-rw-rr 1 root root 34819 Aug 8 07:23 vmware-18.log

-rw-rr 1 root root 34819 Aug 8 07:27 vmware-19.log

-rw-rr 1 root root 34819 Aug 8 09:08 vmware-20.log

-rw-rr 1 root root 34779 Aug 8 14:30 vmware-21.log

-rw-rr 1 root root 34776 Aug 8 14:33 vmware-22.log

-rw-rr 1 root root 37912 Aug 9 05:17 vmware.log

When the vmware.log is searched the problem turns up (as per below):

Aug 09 05:17:46.983: vmx| DISKLIB-LINK : Opened '/vmfs/volumes/4c36ff94-df594ef4-f92f-001517606d69/vcc/vcc_1-000001.vmdk' (0xe): vmfsSparse, 83886080 sectors / 40 GB.

Aug 09 05:17:46.984: vmx| DISKLIB-DSCPTR: DescriptorDetermineType: failed to open '/vmfs/volumes/4c36ff94-df594ef4-f92f-001517606d69/vcc/vcc_1.vmdk': Could not find the file (63)

Aug 09 05:17:46.984: vmx| DISKLIB-LINK : "/vmfs/volumes/4c36ff94-df594ef4-f92f-001517606d69/vcc/vcc_1.vmdk" : failed to open (The system cannot find the file specified).

Aug 09 05:17:46.984: vmx| DISKLIB-CHAIN :"/vmfs/volumes/4c36ff94-df594ef4-f92f-001517606d69/vcc/vcc_1-000002.vmdk": Failed to open parent "/vmfs/volumes/4c36ff94-df594ef4-f92f-001517606d69/vcc/vcc_1.vmdk": The system cannot find the file specified.

Aug 09 05:17:46.984: vmx| DISKLIB-CHAIN : "/vmfs/volumes/4c36ff94-df594ef4-f92f-001517606d69/vcc/vcc_1.vmdk" : failed to open (The parent of this virtual disk could not be opened).

Aug 09 05:17:46.984: vmx| DISKLIB-VMFS : "/vmfs/volumes/4c36ff94-df594ef4-f92f-001517606d69/vcc/vcc_1-000002-delta.vmdk" : closed.

Aug 09 05:17:46.985: vmx| DISKLIB-VMFS : "/vmfs/volumes/4c36ff94-df594ef4-f92f-001517606d69/vcc/vcc_1-000001-delta.vmdk" : closed.

Aug 09 05:17:46.985: vmx| DISKLIB-LIB : Failed to open '/vmfs/volumes/4c36ff94-df594ef4-f92f-001517606d69/vcc/vcc_1-000002.vmdk' with flags 0xa (The parent of this virtual disk could not be opened).

Aug 09 05:17:47.009: vmx| DISKLIB-VMFS : "/vmfs/volumes/4c36ff94-df594ef4-f92f-001517606d69/vcc/vcc_1-000002-delta.vmdk" : open successful (8) size = 83968, hd = 2657331. Type 8

Aug 09 05:17:47.009: vmx| DISKLIB-DSCPTR: Opened : "vcc_1-000002-delta.vmdk" (0x8)

Aug 09 05:17:47.009: vmx| DISKLIB-LINK : Opened '/vmfs/volumes/4c36ff94-df594ef4-f92f-001517606d69/vcc/vcc_1-000002.vmdk' (0x8): vmfsSparse, 83886080 sectors / 40 GB.

Aug 09 05:17:47.009: vmx| DISKLIB-CHAINESX : ChainESXOpenSubChain: numLinks = 1, numSubChains = 1

Aug 09 05:17:47.011: vmx| DISKLIB-LIB : Opened "/vmfs/volumes/4c36ff94-df594ef4-f92f-001517606d69/vcc/vcc_1-000002.vmdk" (flags 0x8).

Aug 09 05:17:47.043: vmx| DISKLIB-VMFS : "./vcc_1-000001-delta.vmdk" : open successful (10) size = 17163175936, hd = 7343157. Type 8

Aug 09 05:17:47.043: vmx| DISKLIB-DSCPTR: Opened : "vcc_1-000001-delta.vmdk" (0xa)

Aug 09 05:17:47.043: vmx| DISKLIB-LINK : Opened 'vcc_1-000001.vmdk' (0xa): vmfsSparse, 83886080 sectors / 40 GB.

Aug 09 05:17:47.044: vmx| DISKLIB-DSCPTR: DescriptorDetermineType: failed to open '/vmfs/volumes/4c36ff94-df594ef4-f92f-001517606d69/vcc/vcc_1.vmdk': Could not find the file (63)

Aug 09 05:17:47.044: vmx| DISKLIB-LINK : "/vmfs/volumes/4c36ff94-df594ef4-f92f-001517606d69/vcc/vcc_1.vmdk" : failed to open (The system cannot find the file specified).

Aug 09 05:17:47.044: vmx| DISKLIB-CHAIN :"vcc_1-000001.vmdk": Failed to open parent "/vmfs/volumes/4c36ff94-df594ef4-f92f-001517606d69/vcc/vcc_1.vmdk": The system cannot find the file specified.

Aug 09 05:17:47.044: vmx| DISKLIB-CHAIN : "/vmfs/volumes/4c36ff94-df594ef4-f92f-001517606d69/vcc/vcc_1.vmdk" : failed to open (The parent of this virtual disk could not be opened).

Aug 09 05:17:47.050: vmx| DISKLIB-VMFS : "./vcc_1-000001-delta.vmdk" : closed.

Aug 09 05:17:47.050: vmx| DISKLIB-LIB : Failed to open 'vcc_1-000001.vmdk' with flags 0xa (The parent of this virtual disk could not be opened).

Aug 09 05:17:47.054: vmx| DISKLIB-VMFS : "./vcc_1-000001-delta.vmdk" : open successful (8) size = 17163175936, hd = 7392309. Type 8

Aug 09 05:17:47.054: vmx| DISKLIB-DSCPTR: Opened : "vcc_1-000001-delta.vmdk" (0x8)

Aug 09 05:17:47.054: vmx| DISKLIB-LINK : Opened 'vcc_1-000001.vmdk' (0x8): vmfsSparse, 83886080 sectors / 40 GB.

Aug 09 05:17:47.055: vmx| DISKLIB-CHAINESX : ChainESXOpenSubChain: numLinks = 1, numSubChains = 1

Aug 09 05:17:47.056: vmx| DISKLIB-LIB : Opened "vcc_1-000001.vmdk" (flags 0x8).

Aug 09 05:17:47.058: vmx| DISKLIB-DSCPTR: DescriptorDetermineType: failed to open 'vcc_1.vmdk': Could not find the file (63)

Aug 09 05:17:47.058: vmx| DISKLIB-LINK : "vcc_1.vmdk" : failed to open (The system cannot find the file specified).

Aug 09 05:17:47.059: vmx| DISKLIB-CHAIN : "vcc_1.vmdk" : failed to open (The system cannot find the file specified).

Aug 09 05:17:47.059: vmx| DISKLIB-LIB : Failed to open 'vcc_1.vmdk' with flags 0xa (The system cannot find the file specified).

Aug 09 05:17:47.059: vmx| DISK: Cannot open disk 'vcc_1.vmdk' : The system cannot find the file specified.

Aug 09 05:17:47.065: vmx| DISKLIB-VMFS : "./vcc_1-000001-delta.vmdk" : closed.

Aug 09 05:17:47.065: vmx| DISK: Cannot open disk 'vcc_1-000001.vmdk' : The system cannot find the file specified.

Aug 09 05:17:47.067: vmx| DISKLIB-VMFS : "/vmfs/volumes/4c36ff94-df594ef4-f92f-001517606d69/vcc/vcc_1-000002-delta.vmdk" : closed.

Aug 09 05:17:47.067: vmx| Msg_Post: Error

Aug 09 05:17:47.067: vmx| http://msg.disk.fileNotFound VMware ESX cannot find the virtual disk "vcc_1.vmdk". Please verify the path is valid and try again.

Aug 09 05:17:47.067: vmx| http://msg.disk.noBackEnd Cannot open the disk '/vmfs/volumes/4c36ff94-df594ef4-f92f-001517606d69/vcc/vcc_1-000002.vmdk' or one of the snapshot disks it depends on.

Aug 09 05:17:47.067: vmx| http://msg.disk.configureDiskError Reason: The system cannot find the file specified.----

---

When a power on is attempted the error is:

Filename was not found.

When one attempts to mount the disk from another vm the error is:

Object reference not set to an instance of an object.

How can one recover from this problem?

Any muse is appreciated...

/suntzu

[klou]

How many disks has your VM?

Snapshots were created on "new" VM (wich was deleted after test)?

[suntzu-global]

The vm had two (2) 40GB disks. I am only interested in recovery of the second disk. Which was mounted to test. The base disk is not required.

There was only one snapshot on the offline vm as far as the system was concerned (and from what I know).

[a_p_]

When a power on is attempted the error is:

Filename <unspecified filename> was not found.

The vcc_1.vmdk is missing. Because it was connected to the other VM which you deleted, this virtual disk has been delete too.

How can one recover from this problem?

Do you have a backup? That's the only way to recover.

Also, the disk in question has two snapshots and it looks like you attached the base disk to the now deleted VM. In this case - even if the file was not deleted - you would not be able to open the disk, because of a destroyed snapshot chain. If you mount a disk with snapshots to a VM, you always have to select the latest snapshot to maintain the snapshot chain.

André

[suntzu-global]

When a power on is attempted the error is:

Filename <unspecified filename> was not found.

The vcc_1.vmdk is missing. Because it was connected to the other VM which you deleted, this virtual disk has been delete too.

How can one recover from this problem?

Do you have a backup? That's the only way to recover.

Also, the disk in question has two snapshots and it looks like you attached the base disk to the now deleted VM. In this case - even if the file was not deleted - you would not be able to open the disk, because of a destroyed snapshot chain. If you mount a disk with snapshots to a VM, you always have to select the latest snapshot to maintain the snapshot chain.

André

Although the disk looks to be there (the one I need = vcc_1-000001) you are indicating that it is gone? Is the 0000.vmdk file not able to be mounted or converted or accessed in some way?

[klou]

Make copy of .vmx[/b] file and edit original:

Try to find something like this

scsi0:0.fileName = "vcc_1.vmdk"[/b]

Change file name to the name of the last snapshot ... one of your deltas[/i]

[a_p_]

The way snapshots work in VMware is to consider the parent disk as read-only and write modified blocks to a new file. This way all snapshots depend on their parents. If one of them is deleted (in your case the base disk), the snapshots are actually worthless.

From your file listing it looks like vcc_1-000002.vmdk is the current snapshot, which should be referenced in the vmx file. This snapshot depends on vcc_1-000001.vmdk, which itself depends on vcc_1.vmdk (the base file, which is missing).

The "Snapshot Chain" looks like: vcc_1-000002.vmdk --> vcc_1-000001.vmdk --> vcc_1.vmdk

where the "-->" means "depends on"

Each virtual disk consists of two files, the descriptor/header file (the small one) and the data file (the large one).

-rw------- 1 root root 17163175936 Aug 4 12:59 vcc_1-000001-delta.vmdk data file for snapshot 1

-rw------- 1 root root 291 Aug 2 12:51 vcc_1-000001.vmdk descriptor/header file for snapshot 1

-rw------- 1 root root 83968 Aug 9 05:09 vcc_1-000002-delta.vmdk data file for snapshot 2

-rw------- 1 root root 298 Aug 9 05:09 vcc_1-000002.vmdk descriptor/header file for snapshot 2

What is missing is:

-rw------- 1 root root <size> <date> vcc_1-flat.vmdk data file of the base virtual disk

-rw------- 1 root root <size> <date> vcc_1.vmdk descriptor/header file of the base virtual disk

André