Get-VmdkMetadata.sh is a script designed to collect virtual disk metadata from a VMware Fusion virtual machine, It is useful when asked to provide information about a corrupt vmdk files that Fusion can not repair on its own.
This script is a port to macOS and Linux (with a couple of enhancements) of a script originally written by @a_p to collect data for VMware Workstation on Windows.
To use:
- Download the attached zip file.
- Open a Terminal session and create an empty folder.
- Copy the zip file into the empty folder and extract it.
- Make the Get-VmdkMetadata.sh script executable:
chmod +x ./Get-VmdkMetadata.sh
- Execute the script and collect data for the virtual machine:
./Get-VmdkMetadata.sh path-to-vmwarevm-file
A zip file will be generated with the collected information. Attach that to a request for assistance or when someone from the community asks for it.
Note: this version has been more extensively tested on Linux as well as macOS. The previously posted version had issues when running on Linux that have been fixed in the version found here.
Example:
% mkdir metadata; cd metadata
% unzip ../Get-VmdkHeader.zip
Archive: ../Get-VmdkHeader.zip
inflating: Get-VmdkHeader.sh
% chmod +x ./Get-VmdkHeader.sh
% ./Get-VmdkHeader.sh "/Volumes/Virtual Machines/Windows\ 11\ ARM.vmwarevm"
INFO: +++ Processing folder /Volumes/Virtual Machines/Windows 11 ARM.vmwarevm
INFO: +++ Processing file /Volumes/Virtual Machines/Windows 11 ARM.vmwarevm/Virtual Disk-s001.vmdk (Size: 4158324736 bytes) ...
INFO: Number of sectors occupied by the metadata = 1024 (Size: 524288 bytes)
INFO: +++ Processing file /Volumes/Virtual Machines/Windows 11 ARM.vmwarevm/Virtual Disk-s002.vmdk (Size: 4159569920 bytes) ...
INFO: Number of sectors occupied by the metadata = 1024 (Size: 524288 bytes)
INFO: +++ Processing file /Volumes/Virtual Machines/Windows 11 ARM.vmwarevm/Virtual Disk-s003.vmdk (Size: 4035903488 bytes) ...
INFO: Number of sectors occupied by the metadata = 1024 (Size: 524288 bytes)
INFO: +++ Processing file /Volumes/Virtual Machines/Windows 11 ARM.vmwarevm/Virtual Disk-s004.vmdk (Size: 3965321216 bytes) ...
INFO: Number of sectors occupied by the metadata = 1024 (Size: 524288 bytes)
INFO: +++ Processing file /Volumes/Virtual Machines/Windows 11 ARM.vmwarevm/Virtual Disk-s005.vmdk (Size: 3676372992 bytes) ...
INFO: Number of sectors occupied by the metadata = 1024 (Size: 524288 bytes)
INFO: +++ Processing file /Volumes/Virtual Machines/Windows 11 ARM.vmwarevm/Virtual Disk-s006.vmdk (Size: 2787704832 bytes) ...
INFO: Number of sectors occupied by the metadata = 1024 (Size: 524288 bytes)
INFO: +++ Processing file /Volumes/Virtual Machines/Windows 11 ARM.vmwarevm/Virtual Disk-s007.vmdk (Size: 2348679168 bytes) ...
INFO: Number of sectors occupied by the metadata = 1024 (Size: 524288 bytes)
INFO: +++ Processing file /Volumes/Virtual Machines/Windows 11 ARM.vmwarevm/Virtual Disk-s008.vmdk (Size: 2171863040 bytes) ...
INFO: Number of sectors occupied by the metadata = 1024 (Size: 524288 bytes)
INFO: +++ Processing file /Volumes/Virtual Machines/Windows 11 ARM.vmwarevm/Virtual Disk-s009.vmdk (Size: 2191065088 bytes) ...
INFO: Number of sectors occupied by the metadata = 1024 (Size: 524288 bytes)
INFO: +++ Processing file /Volumes/Virtual Machines/Windows 11 ARM.vmwarevm/Virtual Disk-s010.vmdk (Size: 938016768 bytes) ...
INFO: Number of sectors occupied by the metadata = 1024 (Size: 524288 bytes)
INFO: +++ Processing file /Volumes/Virtual Machines/Windows 11 ARM.vmwarevm/Virtual Disk-s011.vmdk (Size: 1238630400 bytes) ...
INFO: Number of sectors occupied by the metadata = 1024 (Size: 524288 bytes)
INFO: +++ Processing file /Volumes/Virtual Machines/Windows 11 ARM.vmwarevm/Virtual Disk-s012.vmdk (Size: 511115264 bytes) ...
INFO: Number of sectors occupied by the metadata = 1024 (Size: 524288 bytes)
INFO: +++ Processing file /Volumes/Virtual Machines/Windows 11 ARM.vmwarevm/Virtual Disk-s013.vmdk (Size: 395509760 bytes) ...
INFO: Number of sectors occupied by the metadata = 1024 (Size: 524288 bytes)
INFO: +++ Processing file /Volumes/Virtual Machines/Windows 11 ARM.vmwarevm/Virtual Disk-s014.vmdk (Size: 1881997312 bytes) ...
INFO: Number of sectors occupied by the metadata = 1024 (Size: 524288 bytes)
INFO: +++ Processing file /Volumes/Virtual Machines/Windows 11 ARM.vmwarevm/Virtual Disk-s015.vmdk (Size: 218824704 bytes) ...
INFO: Number of sectors occupied by the metadata = 1024 (Size: 524288 bytes)
INFO: +++ Processing file /Volumes/Virtual Machines/Windows 11 ARM.vmwarevm/Virtual Disk-s016.vmdk (Size: 524288 bytes) ...
INFO: Number of sectors occupied by the metadata = 1024 (Size: 524288 bytes)
INFO: +++ Processing file /Volumes/Virtual Machines/Windows 11 ARM.vmwarevm/Virtual Disk-s017.vmdk (Size: 524288 bytes) ...
INFO: Number of sectors occupied by the metadata = 1024 (Size: 524288 bytes)
INFO: +++ Processing file /Volumes/Virtual Machines/Windows 11 ARM.vmwarevm/Virtual Disk-s018.vmdk (Size: 524288 bytes) ...
INFO: Number of sectors occupied by the metadata = 1024 (Size: 524288 bytes)
INFO: +++ Processing file /Volumes/Virtual Machines/Windows 11 ARM.vmwarevm/Virtual Disk-s019.vmdk (Size: 524288 bytes) ...
INFO: Number of sectors occupied by the metadata = 1024 (Size: 524288 bytes)
INFO: +++ Processing file /Volumes/Virtual Machines/Windows 11 ARM.vmwarevm/Virtual Disk-s020.vmdk (Size: 589824 bytes) ...
INFO: Number of sectors occupied by the metadata = 1024 (Size: 524288 bytes)
INFO: +++ Processing file /Volumes/Virtual Machines/Windows 11 ARM.vmwarevm/Virtual Disk-s021.vmdk (Size: 524288 bytes) ...
INFO: Number of sectors occupied by the metadata = 1024 (Size: 524288 bytes)
INFO: +++ Processing file /Volumes/Virtual Machines/Windows 11 ARM.vmwarevm/Virtual Disk-s022.vmdk (Size: 524288 bytes) ...
INFO: Number of sectors occupied by the metadata = 1024 (Size: 524288 bytes)
INFO: +++ Processing file /Volumes/Virtual Machines/Windows 11 ARM.vmwarevm/Virtual Disk-s023.vmdk (Size: 524288 bytes) ...
INFO: Number of sectors occupied by the metadata = 1024 (Size: 524288 bytes)
INFO: +++ Processing file /Volumes/Virtual Machines/Windows 11 ARM.vmwarevm/Virtual Disk-s024.vmdk (Size: 96272384 bytes) ...
INFO: Number of sectors occupied by the metadata = 1024 (Size: 524288 bytes)
INFO: +++ Processing file /Volumes/Virtual Machines/Windows 11 ARM.vmwarevm/Virtual Disk-s025.vmdk (Size: 544997376 bytes) ...
INFO: Number of sectors occupied by the metadata = 256 (Size: 131072 bytes)
INFO: +++ Processing file /Volumes/Virtual Machines/Windows 11 ARM.vmwarevm/Virtual Disk.vmdk (Size: 1579 bytes) ...
INFO: File appears to be a Disk Descriptor file - copying the entire file.
Data collection complete
Creating a zip file of the collected data.
adding: Vmdk-Metadata-20241026-114403/ (stored 0%)
adding: Vmdk-Metadata-20241026-114403/Virtual Disk-s011-1238630400.bin (deflated 90%)
adding: Vmdk-Metadata-20241026-114403/Virtual Disk-s024-96272384.bin (deflated 99%)
adding: Vmdk-Metadata-20241026-114403/Virtual Disk-s009-2191065088.bin (deflated 83%)
adding: Vmdk-Metadata-20241026-114403/Virtual Disk-s025-544997376.bin (deflated 84%
adding: Vmdk-Metadata-20241026-114403/Virtual Disk-s018-524288.bin (deflated 100%)
< adding: Vmdk-Metadata-20241026-114403/Get-VmdkHeader.log (deflated 91%)
adding: Vmdk-Metadata-20241026-114403/Virtual Disk-s022-524288.bin (deflated 100%)
adding: Vmdk-Metadata-20241026-114403/Virtual Disk-s001-4158324736.bin (deflated 60%)
adding: Vmdk-Metadata-20241026-114403/Virtual Disk-s005-3676372992.bin (deflated 67%)
adding: Vmdk-Metadata-20241026-114403/Virtual Disk-s012-511115264.bin (deflated 96%)
adding: Vmdk-Metadata-20241026-114403/Virtual Disk-s003-4035903488.bin (deflated 60%)
adding: Vmdk-Metadata-20241026-114403/Virtual Disk-s004-3965321216.bin (deflated 62%)
adding: Vmdk-Metadata-20241026-114403/Virtual Disk-s015-218824704.bin (deflated 98%)
adding: Vmdk-Metadata-20241026-114403/Virtual Disk-s014-1881997312.bin (deflated 86%)
adding: Vmdk-Metadata-20241026-114403/Virtual Disk-s017-524288.bin (deflated 100%)
adding: Vmdk-Metadata-20241026-114403/Virtual Disk-s010-938016768.bin (deflated 92%)
adding: Vmdk-Metadata-20241026-114403/Virtual Disk-s007-2348679168.bin (deflated 80%)
adding: Vmdk-Metadata-20241026-114403/Virtual Disk-s019-524288.bin (deflated 100%)
adding: Vmdk-Metadata-20241026-114403/Virtual Disk-1579.bin (deflated 73%)
adding: Vmdk-Metadata-20241026-114403/Virtual Disk-s023-524288.bin (deflated 100%)
adding: Vmdk-Metadata-20241026-114403/Virtual Disk-s020-589824.bin (deflated 100%)
adding: Vmdk-Metadata-20241026-114403/Virtual Disk-s021-524288.bin (deflated 100%)
adding: Vmdk-Metadata-20241026-114403/Virtual Disk-s016-524288.bin (deflated 100%)
adding: Vmdk-Metadata-20241026-114403/Virtual Disk-s013-395509760.bin (deflated 97%)
adding: Vmdk-Metadata-20241026-114403/Virtual Disk-s002-4159569920.bin (deflated 55%)
adding: Vmdk-Metadata-20241026-114403/Virtual Disk-s006-2787704832.bin (deflated 76%)
adding: Vmdk-Metadata-20241026-114403/Virtual Disk-s008-2171863040.bin (deflated 82%)
adding: Vmdk-Metadata-20241026-114403/filelist.txt (deflated 78%)
Zip file containing collected data can be found at ./Vmdk-Metadata-20241026-114403.zip
Done!