VMware Communities : Thread List - Virtual Disk Development Kit

How do I find the VixVolumeInfo.inGuestMountPoints for volumes that are mounted on a clean NTSF folder

red0mark — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:46:31 GMT

I have a vm guest with 2 disks… the boot disk is mounted at C: but the second disk it mounted on a founder in the C: file system.

E.g.
C:\drivef is a mount point for my second disk.

The VixVolumeInfo for the inGuestMountPoints is null so is there another way I can determine that the mound point is C:\drivef

Thanks,
-Ron

VixDiskLib_Open on RDM (Raw Device Mapping) always returns VIX_E_FILE_ALREADY_LOCKED

red0mark — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:09:57 GMT

All,

Does VDDK 1.1 support RDM(s)? We have a Window XP vm guest with a RDM but the call to VixDiskLib_Open always returns VIX_E_FILE_ALREADY_LOCKED. We are opening the disk in VIXDISKLIB_FLAG_OPEN_READ_ONLY mode.

Thanks,
-Ron

How to use VixDiskLib_Attach?

Jeegn — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 03:46:59 GMT

I try to use VixDiskLib_Attach as below, but always get the error message "The parent virtual disk has been modified since the child was created". Can anyone give me a sample code? Thanks in advance!

//
//dchInfo.parent = "Z:\\Jeegn
parent.vmdk";
//dchInfo.lchild = "Z:\\Jeegn
lchild.vmdk";
//dchInfo.rchild = "Z:\\Jeegn
rchild.vmdk";
//

void DoCreateAttach3(DiskChainInfo& dchInfo)
{
VixDiskLibConnectParams cnxParams = {0};
VixDiskLibConnection connection = NULL;
VixDiskLibCreateParams createParams;
bool lchildCreated = false, rchildCreated = false;
VixError vixError = 0;
try {
createParams.adapterType = (VixDiskLibAdapterType)3;
createParams.capacity = 16384;
createParams.diskType = VIXDISKLIB_DISK_MONOLITHIC_FLAT;
createParams.hwVersion = VIXDISKLIB_HWVERSION_WORKSTATION_5;
cout<<":::::::::::::::::::::Connect to localhost"<<endl;
{color:#000000}vixError = VixDiskLib_Connect(&cnxParams, &connection);
CHECK_AND_THROW(vixError);
{color:#ff00ff}cout<<":::::::::::::::::::::Create parent Disk"<<endl;
vixError = VixDiskLib_Create(connection, dchInfo.parent, &createParams, NULL, NULL);
CHECK_AND_THROW(vixError);
cout<<":::::::::::::::::::::Open Parent Disk"<<endl;
VixDisk parentDisk(connection, dchInfo.parent, VIXDISKLIB_FLAG_OPEN_READ_ONLY);
cout<<":::::::::::::::::::::Create right child Disk"<<endl;
VixDiskLibCreateParams createParams;
createParams.adapterType = (VixDiskLibAdapterType)3;
createParams.capacity = 16384;
createParams.diskType = VIXDISKLIB_DISK_MONOLITHIC_SPARSE;
createParams.hwVersion = VIXDISKLIB_HWVERSION_WORKSTATION_5;
vixError = VixDiskLib_Create(connection, dchInfo.rchild, &createParams, NULL, NULL);
CHECK_AND_THROW(vixError);
cout<<":::::::::::::::::::::Open right child Disk"<<endl;
VixDisk rchildDisk(connection, dchInfo.rchild, VIXDISKLIB_FLAG_OPEN_READ_ONLY);
cout<<":::::::::::::::::::::Attach right child Disk to parent Disk"<<endl;
{color:#000000}vixError = VixDiskLib_Attach(parentDisk.Handle(), rchildDisk.Handle());
CHECK_AND_THROW(vixError);
cout<<":::::::::::::::::::::Attach success"<<endl;
parentDisk.Close();
rchildDisk.Close();
VixDiskLib_Disconnect(connection);
} catch (const VixDiskLibErrWrapper& e) {
if (connection)
VixDiskLib_Disconnect(connection);
cout << "Error: ~~" << e.File() << ":" << e.Line() << "~~ " <<
std::hex << e.ErrorCode() << " " << e.Description() << "\n";
}

}

vmdk specification with vsphere

dayra01 — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 04:53:01 GMT

Hi,

Is VMDK format specification 1.1 is compatible with vSphere VMDK disks as well?? The sparse disk specification in VMDK format specification 1.1 holds for thin provisioned disks also..??? Please clarify on this.

Do we have any separate VMDK specification for vSphere release??

Thanks,

-Raghu.

Limit on the number of mounted disks

giladb — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:42:37 GMT

Is there a limit on the number of simultaneous virtual disk that can be mounted with vmware-mount ?
What about mounting VDDK ?

Assuming I am mounting the disks on a Linux machine, is there a limit from the Linux side ?

VixDiskLib Opening delta disks (snapshots

tos2k — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:26:08 GMT

Hi!

Is it possible to open delta disks with VixDiskLib? Currently connect fails for me:

Trying to connect to: [TP_SANVOL01] test-Delta/test-Delta.vmx?dcPath=ha-datacenter&dsName=TP_SANVOL01 disk: [TP_SANVOL01]test-Delta/test-Delta-000001.vmdk
conn 0 : connPtr 9522368
** INFO: TicketResolveHostName: Resolving IP address for hostname 192.168.73.204.

** INFO: TicketResolveHostName: Resolved to 192.168.73.204.

** INFO: VixDiskLibVim: TicketLogin

** INFO: VixDiskLibVim: TicketFindDatacenter: dcPath = -ha-datacenter- 

** INFO: VixDiskLibVim: TicketFindVMByDatastorePath: vmxPath = -[TP_SANVOL01] test-Delta/test-Delta.vmx- 

** INFO: VixDiskLibVim: TicketLoadVM

** INFO: VixDiskLibVim: Root Snapshot list has 1 elements.

** INFO: VixDiskLibVim: Unable to find key for disk [TP_SANVOL01]test-Delta/test-Delta-000001.vmdk, trying snapshot tree.

** INFO: VixDiskLibVim: TicketCollectSnapshots

** INFO: VixDiskLibVim: TicketLoadSnapshot

** INFO: VixDiskLibVim: TicketLoadVMCb

** INFO: VixDiskLibVim: TicketLoadInternalSic 

** INFO: VixDiskLibVim: TicketLoadNfcTicket: Request FileManagement diskKey = 2000, readOnly = 0, openSnapshot = 1 

** INFO: VixDiskLibVim: TicketLogout 

---EX caught: 0  :  System.OverflowException: Arithmetic operation resulted in an overflow.
   at vddkNativeTest.Module1.Init(String hostIp, String user, String pass, String vmxSource, String vmxTarget, String sourceDatastore, String targetDatastore, String currentDisk, String targetDisk, String datacenter)

The VM has that snapshot, is powered-off and the connect works fine for base disks... Any ideas?

Tos2k

Opening a child disk fails

rtalwar — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 17:43:55 GMT

Hi,

I'm using vixDiskLibSample program provided with Windows VDDK to open a child disk and getting following error. Any suggestions what is wrong here?

Thanks,

Rajesh

C:\>"C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware Virtual Disk Development Kit\bin\vixDiskLibSample.exe" -host abc -user user -password password -single -info /vmfs/volumes/voltron-storage2/rtlnxvm/rtlnxvm-000001.vmdk

INFO: VixDiskLibVim: TicketLogin

INFO: VixDiskLibVim: TicketLogout

SSLVerifyCertAgainstSystemStore: The remote host certificate has these problems:

A certificate in the host's chain is based on an untrusted root.

SSLVerifyIsEnabled: failed to open the product registry key. Assuming verification is disabled. LastError = 0
SSLVerifyCertAgainstSystemStore: Certificate verification is disabled, so connection will proceed despite the error
NFC ERROR NfcFssrvr_DiskOpen: received diskLib error 5 from server: NfcFssrvrO
pen: Failed to get geometry for disk '/vmfs/volumes/voltron-storage2/rtlnxvm/rtlnxvm-000001.vmdk': An error was detected.

Error: ~~c:\program files\vmware\vmware virtual disk development kit\doc\sample\vixdisklibsample.cpp:388~~ 500003e83 The called function cannot be performed on partial chains. Please open the parent virtual disk

Which version of 'fuse/libfuse' will work with VMware vMA 4.0 & VDDK 1.1 ?

lamw — Thu, 28 May 2009 21:32:09 GMT

I was hoping this would have solved the initial problem installing VDDK 1.1: Got problems installing VDDK 1.1 onto VMware vMA 4.0? Solution here but apparently VMware vMA 4.0 does have not fuse installed by default. I've been scouring the net, to find an appropriate rpm package from free rpm distribution sites and they all lead to multiple dependencies that gets pretty convoluted. Even though the VDDK 1.1 documentation specifies downloading fuse from http://fuse.sourceforge.net, there is not a gcc compiler installed on vMA either. Without having to install additional packages/etc. is there a specific version of fuse and libfuse we should be using and that is available for download? or are we out of luck for using a VMware vApp ?

[vi-admin@scofield ~][http://himalaya.primp-industries.com|http://himalaya.primp-industries.com]$ sudo vmware-mount -v ha-datacenter/vm/horrid -h himalaya.primp-industries.com -u root -F pass "[http://himalaya-local-SATA.Storage|http://himalaya-local-SATA.Storage] horrid/horrid.vmdk" vddk_vmfs/horrid/
fuse: device not found, try 'modprobe fuse' first
Fuse daemon exited with error.
Failed to mount disk '[http://himalaya-local-SATA.Storage|http://himalaya-local-SATA.Storage] horrid/horrid.vmdk': The VMware fuse daemon failed to start

Here is the version of libfuse I installed to get VDDK 1.1 installed

[vi-admin@scofield ~][http://himalaya.primp-industries.com|http://himalaya.primp-industries.com]$ rpm -qa | grep fuse
fuse-libs-2.7.4-8_10.el5

=========================================================================
William Lam
VMware vExpert 2009
VMware ESX/ESXi scripts and resources at: http://engineering.ucsb.edu/~duonglt/vmware/
vGhetto Script Repository
VMware Code Central - Scripts/Sample code for Developers and Administrators
http://twitter.com/lamw

If you find this information useful, please award points for "correct" or "helpful".

vmware-install.pl empty

Tashi — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:58:10 GMT

Hallo,

I am trying to install the VDDK. I am on linux Suse 10.

I have downloaded the last version of the package. Like writen in the Install guide I have try to run the vmware-install.pl but nothing happens. The file vmware-install.pl is empty!
sles10SP164bit:~/vmware-vix-disklib-distrib # l
total 20
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 330 Nov 4 16:49 $
drwx------ 12 12272 root 400 Nov 4 17:50 ./
drwx------ 29 root root 1640 Nov 4 18:16 ../
-r-x------ 1 12272 root 10811 Apr 28 2009 FILES*
drwx------ 2 12272 root 168 Nov 2 13:31 bin32/
drwx------ 3 12272 root 192 Nov 4 17:45 bin64/
drwx------ 6 12272 root 440 Nov 4 17:49 doc/
drwx------ 2 12272 root 80 Nov 2 13:31 etc/
drwx------ 2 12272 root 144 Nov 2 13:31 include/
drwx------ 2 12272 root 80 Nov 2 13:31 installer/
drwx------ 2 12272 root 984 Nov 2 13:31 lib32/
drwx------ 2 12272 root 984 Nov 2 13:31 lib64/
drwx------ 2 12272 root 88 Nov 2 13:31 plugins32/
drwx------ 2 12272 root 88 Nov 2 13:31 plugins64/
*-rwx------ 1 12272 root 0 Apr 28 2009 vmware-install.pl**

Thank you for your help!

Mario

What is tmpdir used for ?

giladb — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 21:58:55 GMT

One of the configuration items used by VDDK is tmpdir.

As far as I could tell, this is where logs are written, assuming log function pointers are NOT provided to initialization functions.

If these pointers are provided, what is this directory used for ?

Failed to open vmdk

MissionaryLiao — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 08:19:23 GMT

Hi all,

Here is some of my environment info:
- VMWare ESXi 4.0.0, 164009
- VMWare vCenter Server 4.0.0, 162856
- GuestOS: Win2k3 Server SP2

I use VixDiskLib_Open to open a vmdk, however, I got the error code: 0x36b9(14009): VIX_E_HOST_NETWORK_CONN_REFUSED.
I was confused by this error code because there is no error returned when I called VixDiskLib_Init and VixDiskLib_Connect.

Also there is no relative document on this error code, only short description: The server refused connection.

Can anyone here give me some hint for further investigation ?? Thanks.

VixDiskLib_Cleanup

giladb — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:32:28 GMT

The header file says about VixDiskLib_Cleanup
* When using VixDiskLib_ConnectEx, some state might have not been cleaned
* up if the resulting connection was not shut down cleanly. Use
* VixDiskLib_Cleanup to remove this extra state.

It is not really clear when the function should be used.
What types of unclean situations does it clean up ?

I have a one-shot (Linux) app that grabs information from a disk and then exits. Would it be a good idea to always call the function before connecting ? Before exiting ?

Writing via SAN

scammeresi — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:32:00 GMT

I'm able to read via LAN and SAN using the VDDK. I'm also able to write via LAN. I cannot write via SAN.

The docs are pretty vague on this (by which I mean non-existent), and there is no example code. It's not clear at all what parameters I would use to open the disk for writing since using the SAN requires a snapshot, but shouldn't a snapshot be readonly? What kind of sense would it make to have a snapshot which can be written?

Is writing via SAN even supported?

Mapping disk to drive letter

giladb — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 20:16:12 GMT

I am running on Linux, and inspecting a Windows disk.
How can my application find out what drive letter the disk is mounted on ?
Is VixMntapi_GetVolumeInfo the right API ?

VixDiskLib Reading/Writing

tos2k — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:19:47 GMT

I am a little confused on the vddk api dokcumentation

Read Sectors From a Disk
VixDiskLib_Read() reads a range of sectors from an open virtual disk. You specify the beginning sector and the number of sectors. Sector size could vary, but in <vixDiskLib.h> it is defined as 512 bytes.
vixError = VixDiskLib_Read(srcHandle, i, j, buf);

Write Sectors To a Disk
VixDiskLib_Write() writes one or more sectors to an open virtual disk. This function expects the fourth parameter buf to be VIXDISKLIB_SECTOR_SIZE bytes long.
vixError = VixDiskLib_Write(newDisk.Handle(), i, j, buf);

Is it correct that the size in fact can vary for both, reading and writing?

Tos2k

vmware-mount of vmdk in ovf

kinc — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 06:55:20 GMT

Hi,

Are there any restrictions with using vmware-mount for a vmdk in an ovf?

I'm seeing it fails to mount some vmdk's but works for others.

However, even when mount works, I'm seeing this error:

EXT3-fs error (device loop0): ext3_journal_start_sb: Detected aborted journal
Remounting filesystem read-only

but I do need to modify the filesystem.

-kin

VDDK Logging

giladb — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:04:03 GMT

When calling both VixDiskLib_InitEx and VixMntapi_Init my code provides all three logging functions.
Yet, there are still messages written to standard output, such as

[2009-10-29 11:51:47.209 B763BB30 info 'App'] Current working directory: /mnt/disk2/home/devel/trunk
[2009-10-29 11:26:10.017 B75A3B30 trivia 'SOAP'] Sending soap request to [TCP:10.10.42.200:443]: retrieveContent
[2009-10-29 11:26:10.021 B75A3B30 trivia 'SOAP'] Received soap response from [TCP:10.10.42.200:443]: retrieveContent
[2009-10-29 11:26:10.022 B75A3B30 trivia 'SOAP'] Sending soap request to [TCP:10.10.42.200:443]: GetConfig
[2009-10-29 11:26:10.032 B75A3B30 trivia 'SOAP'] Received soap response from [TCP:10.10.42.200:443]: GetConfig

How can these messages be prevented, or redirected to my own logging functions ?

Virtual Appliance deployment degradation on vSphere4

Lexus16 — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 08:04:31 GMT

Hello,

We have high performance degradation when our Appliance is deployed to
ESX server via Virtual Center. When the appliance is deployed to ESX
directly we don’t have such problem.
We are using the following script:

curl -u username:NfelMC2Ub -k -T upload https://10.250.148.27/folder/LR1_11133_ESXAppliance/upload.dat?dcPath=Center&dsName=Storage1

where 10.250.148.27 is the address of Virtual Center. If we specify the
address of ESX instead of Virtual Center, everything works fast.
BTW such problem appeared on vSphere 4, on previous versions everything was fine.
Could you please answer:

What could be the reason of this degradation?
How can we tune up the speed of deployment via Virtual Center?
If we have correct credentials on Virtual Center, is it possible to deploy directly to the ESX registered on it?

Thank you

VixDiskLib_Read/Write performance

VladimirT — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 18:58:24 GMT

Hi,

Comparing VixDiskLib_Read and VixDiskLib_Write performance with vcbMounter to backup vm and vcbMounter is more then twice faster. I tried different buffer sizes for VixDiskLib_Read/Write without real improvement. Looking at disk I/O I found that when I run VixDiskLib_Read even with large buffers(512Kb), it always issues 4Kb reads to disk and vcbMounter uses 256Kb reads. Am I missing something or it is by design? I am using san advanced transport.

Thanks,

Vladimir

Connecting via Virtual Center

giladb — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 20:33:57 GMT

I have working C code that accesses a virtual disk via the ESX host.
I am now trying to connect through Virtual Center, and facing a few oddities.

I replaced VixDiskLib_Connect with VixDiskLib_ConnectEx and was able to connect to the ESX.
Connections to the VC don't succeed.

There are quite a few problems, but these are the highlights:

VixDiskLib_ConnectEx always returns a success value, regardless of the parameters
When using the right parameters, with port 0, the next function, VixMntapi_OpenDisks, is the one that actually fails, with error message "server refused connection"
When using port 443, the code hangs indefinitely

Any ideas or code samples would be appreciated.
Gilad

Creating disks with type VIXDISKLIB_DISK_VMFS_THIN

RColbert — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 21:25:20 GMT

I am trying to create a disk file using the new vSphere Thin type using the VDDK 1.1 libraries.

When I issue the create call against my local machine, I am getting a "One of the parameters was invalid" response back.

If I use any other disk type, the create request completes ok.

Is VMFS_THIN fully supported in the VDDK?

VDDK Redistribution questions

Lexus16 — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 06:40:44 GMT

Hello,

I have several questions regarding VDDK redistribution:

1) What files from VDDK package must be redistributed with our product:
everything which is installed by VDDK installer / just the files used
by our product / other? How does our installer have to place these
files to the client machine: create a VDDK folder inside our product
installation folder / other?

2) We use the version of libcurl which is slightly changed. Can we
replace the libcurl.dll file from standard VDDK package with our
version of this file for redistribution? If libcurl.dll from the
original VDDK package must be redistributed, how can we workaround this?

Thank you

Next VDDK Version ?

giladb — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 19:42:56 GMT

Is there any information available about content and schedule of next VDDK version ?

How to monitor vmware-mount.

ayrus — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 11:12:10 GMT

Hi,

when I mount a vmdk , How do I know that this event is happening. Say wen we power on a VM , It ll appear in the Tasks and in turn will appear in Events in the VI client window. Similarly is there a way I can get this mount event from the VI client. or rather from the VCenter web service ?

Thanks,

Ayrus.

VixMntapi_GetOsInfo Fails

giladb — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:39:01 GMT

Whenever I try to call VixMntapi_GetOsInfo, it fails with error 6, interpreted as "The operation is not supported for the specified parameters"
Any idea would be appreciated.

Multiple threads created by VDDK

giladb — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 17:27:36 GMT

I have a single threaded Linux application that uses VDDK.
While trying to connect to a virtual disk, ps shows that I have two additional threads (or processes), probably created by VDDK.
What are these additional threads ?
Is this behavior documented ?

can't mount remote vmdk

kinc — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:37:37 GMT

Hi,

I'd like to use vmware-mount to remotely mount a vmdk on our ESX 4 server,
but can't seem to be able to:

bash-3.2# vmware-mount -h esx -u root -F /root/infoblox 'Storage1Ubuntu/Ubuntu.vmdk' /tmp/vmdk
Failed to open disk: Unknown error (1)
Failed to mount disk 'Storage1Ubuntu/Ubuntu.vmdk': Cannot open the virtual disk
bash-3.2# vmware-mount -h esx -u root -F /root/infoblox 'Storage1VMware Studio/VMware Studio.vmdk' /tmp/vmdk
Failed to open disk: Unknown error (1)
Failed to mount disk 'Storage1VMware Studio/VMware Studio.vmdk': Cannot open the virtual disk
bash-3.2# vmware-mount -h esx -u root -F /root/infoblox 'Storage1rsp-esx.vmdk' /tmp/vmdk
Failed to open disk: Unknown error (1)
Failed to mount disk 'Storage1rsp-esx.vmdk': Cannot open the virtual disk
bash-3.2#

On our ESX server, the name of the datastore is Storage1, and I can see the
vmdk's there:

~~root@localhost /~~# find /vmfs/volumes/ | grep vmdk
/vmfs/volumes/4ad3c6c2-bdf33934-0aaf-00304834fd8a/esxconsole-4ad3c62b-d3d4-4d04-a6f9-00304834fd8a/esxconsole-flat.vmdk
/vmfs/volumes/4ad3c6c2-bdf33934-0aaf-00304834fd8a/esxconsole-4ad3c62b-d3d4-4d04-a6f9-00304834fd8a/esxconsole.vmdk
/vmfs/volumes/4ad3c6c2-bdf33934-0aaf-00304834fd8a/Ubuntu/Ubuntu-flat.vmdk
/vmfs/volumes/4ad3c6c2-bdf33934-0aaf-00304834fd8a/Ubuntu/Ubuntu.vmdk
/vmfs/volumes/4ad3c6c2-bdf33934-0aaf-00304834fd8a/VMware Studio/VMware Studio-flat.vmdk
/vmfs/volumes/4ad3c6c2-bdf33934-0aaf-00304834fd8a/VMware Studio/VMware Studio.vmdk
/vmfs/volumes/4ad3c6c2-bdf33934-0aaf-00304834fd8a/rsp-esx-flat.vmdk
/vmfs/volumes/4ad3c6c2-bdf33934-0aaf-00304834fd8a/rsp-esx.vmdk
~~root@localhost /~~#

This is the vmware-mount I used:

bash-3.2# vmware-mount -v
vmware-mount: option requires an argument -- 'v'
VMware DiskMount Utility version 2.0.1, build-156745
...

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks,

Kin

VDDK .NET wrapper?

tos2k — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 13:18:05 GMT

Hi,

Is there a com library available for the VDDK SDK? VMware did that for the VixSDK afaik.
I am currently coding .NET. If there is no .NET wrapper for VDDK, does anybody have any recommendations on how to implement communication between C and .NET programs!?

Tos2k

VDDK redistributable size and installation

geherbert — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 07:07:28 GMT

We are planning to implement scanning of VMware images (disks) into our antivir products. As far as I know we need to participate in the TAP program at select level or higher in order to redistribute the VDDK. Concerning the redistribution of the VDDK I have some questions:

1. What is the size (MB) of the VDDK redistributable package?
2. How is the redistributable installed? Simply by copying files? Does it install any drivers on the customers machine? What about uninstall?
3. How can we make sure the the VDDK is updated when bug fixes are available? Our product needs to be updated on-th-fly without user interaction.

Thanks, Gerhard.

Open multiple disks with SAN transport

VladimirT — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 19:07:27 GMT

Hi,

I am trying to open multiple disk belonging to same VM with advanced transport at the same time and the first disk opens just fine but all disks after would fail to open with san transport.

The error I am getting:

~~2009-09-18 14:57:33.807 04468 error 'App'~~ Cannot use advanced transport modes for 192.168.2.50/moref=1568//vmfs/volumes/4a58d473-f30ebdb8-cda9-000e0cc65ae8/WI
N2K0001/WIN2K0001.vmx-snapshot-161: Cannot create directory c:\temp\564dc525-fdc7-c9d2-52b9-a6fc4dd9c311-1568.

It looks like when I open first disk vixDiskLib creates temp directory and then all other disks would fail to open with san trasport producing this error. If I open one disk at a time and close it then all of them are fine.

But I need to open multiple disks so I can provide disk handles to VixMntapi_OpenDiskSet function.

Thanks,

Vladimir

Bytes/sector for vmdk

tos2k — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 11:12:50 GMT

Hi!
Does anybody know if it is fixed that there are 512 bytes per sector for vmdk files? Where can I find how many bytes a sector consists of?

Tos2k

SISTEMISTI SENIOR WINDOWS / WMWARE

GeRiKoOnE — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:05:05 GMT

Salve a tutti!

Si ricercano urgentemente due Sistemisti Senior Windows / Wmware per l'area di Verona.

Durata del contratto: un anno.

Gli interessati sono pregati di mandare il Curriculum Vitae a job@adfor.it specificando in oggetto "Candidatura Sistemista Vmware".

Grazie e a presto.

VDDK Implementation Difficulty Question

RColbert — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 18:46:31 GMT

One of the new features of Windows 7 and Windows 2008 R2 is the ability to create/mount/manage VHDs from the host's LDM.

My question is how difficult would something like this be to implement using VDDK 1.1?

Any ideas on difficulty would be appreciated.

vss-manifest.zip file on ESX 4.0?

Ashwin89 — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 23:44:17 GMT

Hello.

I have a windows 2k3 virtual machine and I have installed Vmware tools on it.
According to documentation when I will create the snapshot of this virtual machine
then it will generate vss-manifest.zip file in SnapshotDir.
which location is this? In virtual machine folder on data stores or any thing else?
I am not able to find this zip file.
Can someone help on this?

Thanks,
-AsHwIN

VxDiskLib_Create problem on non-standard filesystem

cappellof — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 22:44:55 GMT

I've been trying to use VxDiskLib_Create to create a 4GB flat .vmdk file on a non-standard Windows filesystem (not NTFS, FAT, or FAT32). It fails with error 21 - VIX_E_FILE_TOO_BIG, even though my filesystem has plenty of space for a > 4GB file. Of course, creating a smaller file works fine.

One piece of evidence I have from tedious debugging is that the library seems to break up the input filename in some cases and not in others. For instance, if my input filename is

\\MyServer\MyShare\Dir\Files\bigdisk.vmdk (i.e. a regular Windows NTFS share), I see at one point the library calls GetFileAttributes() to see if the file exists. Things succeed from there on, and I get a big file named \\MyServer\MyShare\Dir\Files\bigdisk-flat.vmdk.

But if I give it the name of a "share" from my alternate filesystem: "\\MyFS\MyShare\Dir\Files\bigdisk.vmdk", it seems to split up the name string, and calls GetFileAttibutes on "\\MyFS\MyShare\Dir\Files" (i.e. the parent directory of the file). It gets back attributes indicating this is a directory, and things fail after that.

Can anyone suggest why the name string gets split up differently in each case? (By the way, I tried the common trick of lying about my FS type and tried returning "NTFS" instead of "MyFS", but it made no difference.

Thanks,

Carl

vixDiskLib > Managed

fixitchris — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 22:31:31 GMT

Also, what is the proper way to use .Connect with Vm Server2.0?

I'm not having any success with this:

 Dim err As Integer = VixDiskLib_Init(1, 0, Nothing, Nothing, Nothing, Nothing)

 ' MsgBox("init " & err.ToString)

 Dim cnxParams As New VixDiskLibConnectParams
 cnxParams.serverName = "pc279"
 cnxParams.credType = VixDiskLibCredType.VIXDISKLIB_CRED_UID
 cnxParams.creds.uid.userName = "user"
 cnxParams.creds.uid.password = ""
 cnxParams.port = 0

 Dim connPtr As IntPtr = IntPtr.Zero
 err = VixDiskLib_Connect(cnxParams, connPtr)
 'MsgBox(VixDiskLib_GetErrorText(err, Nothing))
 MsgBox("conn " & err.ToString & " : connPtr " & connPtr.ToString)

 VixDiskLib_Exit()

Changed Block Tracking

VladimirT — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 14:38:53 GMT

I have two problems with change block tracking:

1. Activating with VirtualMachineConfigSpec does not work. I use the snipet

VirtualMachineConfigSpec configSpec = new VirtualMachineConfigSpec;
configSpec.ChangeTrackingEnabled = true;
ManagedObjectReference taskMoRef =
serviceConnection.getService().ReconfigureVm_Task(targetVM_MoRef, configSpec);

Task completes successfully. But verifying changeTrackingEnabled field in MOB shows false.

To enable it I had to add ctkEnabled field and set it to true.

2. After manually enabling change tracking and rebooting vm, I am creating a snapshot in Virtual Client and in MOB navigating to snapshots -> snapshot -> config -> hardware - virtualdisk - backing and changeId is set to Unset.

changeTrackingSupported capability is set to true as well. What am I missing?

Thanks

Can`t find best way of remote management

DinoPozzo — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 17:28:35 GMT

Hello!

I know that posting here my question is not really correct, but I need immediate answer very much, so please help me!

We`re upgrading
our few years old system to new configuration. Here is it:

-Dual Xeon-2.8 GHz CPU, 4Gb RAM, 1TB HDD

-Xeon 7000 Sequence, 8GB RAM, 4 TB HDD

-Intel Xeon DP 3.8F, 4 GB RAM, 2TB HDD

I`m running
MS Windows Server 2003 R2 on old stuff. I want to install Windows Server Core
R2, and manage it remotely, either iSCSI,
while on other 2 – Widows Server 2008 R2.
I`d like to install Server Core R2 to Xeon-2.8, to run Active Directory Domain
Service and Hyper-V on it.

Also I`m
thinking to purchase Discs Array HP StorageWorks MSA60. My old shared storage was managed by such iSCSI solution
as SvSAN, but it`s no good for me now.

What would
you adjust me, please?

Thank you!

Using VixMntApi to create files

RickMeier — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 00:05:39 GMT

I'm interested in how/if I can create file(s) in remote virtual disks using the VixMntApi? I am able to do so with the VM powered OFF, but when the VM is powered ON I get a file in use error when opening the VMDK files.

On page 50 of "Virtual DiskAPI Programming Guild ...1.1", it states "If you cannot open a base disk read/write, create a child
disk in front, and open it read/write."

The first question I have, is this refering to local/hosted disks, remote/managed disk or both?

Second, assuming that it can apply to remote/managed disks, what's the best way to create the child disk? I can't use last VixDiskLib_CreateChild, because the documentation says it only applies to hosted disks. I don't see any Tasks in the VIM that seem relevant.

I'm assuming here a VCB environment with shared storage.

TIA,

Rick

Create vmdk on ESX using VDDK

VladimirT — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 13:23:19 GMT

Trying to create vmdk on ESX server using sample application and getting error

Error: [d:\program files\vmware\vmware virtual disk development kit\doc\sample\vixdisklibsample.cpp:
915] 3 One of the parameters was invalid

My command line:

-create -cap 1000 -host 192.168.3.45 -user user -password password "Storage1 Server1/Server1.vmdk"

Thanks,

Vladimir

What contents are returned by VixDiskLib_Read?

RickMeier — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 21:28:50 GMT

I could of course figure this out by trial and error, but I'm looking for an authoritative definition.

Will VixDiskLib_Read() ever return any VMware related data or will it only return data related to the guest OS? Will it include any vmdk data structures? Or is it equivalent to reading from what the guest OS thinks is a physical disk?

Thanks,

Rick

how to access individual file in vmdk

ashiag — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 06:13:36 GMT

Hi,
I like to know if there a way by which we can read through all the files within the vmware image through any sdk? I have gone through VDDK, as far as I can understand the sdk helps me to read raw data sector by sector. Is there a way by which I can browse through all files-their content, attributes etc. programatically?
Any help will be greatly appreciated.

~Ashish

Mount Support for Windows 7 and Windows 8 Server R2 Guests

kevinols — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 17:06:32 GMT

When is support for mounting Windows 7 and Windows 8 Server R2 guests planned?

Currently, vmware-mount.exe completes successfully but there are no files/directories visble in the mapped drive. This occurs with both versions 1.0 and 1.1 of the VDDk.

When I mount using VixMntAPI in VDDK 1.1 I see a few files and directories from my local c: drive under the symbolic link.

I am using a .vmdk files from VMware Workstation.

Kevin

Running Virtualdisk mount

nasadmin — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 03:52:14 GMT

1. I am doing file-level backup by mounting virtual disk of a running Windows VM ,which is on NFS datastore by creating a CIFS share on the same file system ,where my NFS export resides .I am doing this by giving /m:n option in vmware-mount command.Where as I am doing the same for running Linux machine also.Are they valid backup methods ? Because the document says that I cannot use the virtual disk that are currently in use.

2.Is there any other way to mount a runnning virtual disk using vmware-mount syntax

Thanks

Bootable vmdk file from

kulkarnihemant2000 — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:00:28 GMT

Hi,

Here are some of my questions

1] How to create a bootable vmdk file

2] If I have a machine Node1 with c:\ as system drive. I want to create a bootable vmdk frile of this volume. How can I do it?

3] I took the backup of a volume. How can I create the bootable vmdk from this backup data?

VMX file for virtual disk

Ashwin89 — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 20:30:13 GMT

Hello,

We can read the vmdk using APIs and bring the VMDK on proxy machine but what should we do for other configuration files like .vmx,.vmsn etc?

Do we need to Http apis to get those files or is there any vSphere API's available for the same?

There are APIs like copydatastorefile task and copy virtual disk file task but I guess there are within the ESX server.

Plz Correct me If I am wrong.

Other Http Api call is there any other option for the same?

-AsHwIN

Virtual disk virus signature scanning

kanivarus — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 16:51:50 GMT

I would like to utilize the VDDK to detect malware
stored on a virtual disk. What would be the fastest and efficient way possible
to accomplish this? Following the documentation, there is a sample that
demonstrates reading in sectors from the virtual disk and running a buffer scan
on each sector. Using this method proves to be a very time-consuming method
(takes hours to more than a day) as it is basically doing a low level
full-system scan. Also it runs the risk of not detecting the virus as it scans a sector at a time and a virus could potentially span several sectors. I have performed several tests by deploying a
test virus onto the guest OS and scanning the entire system but came across
zero virus detections (I verified this virus to get detected on my physical
machine).

Am I missing anything in terms of implementing this? If I am, is it expected to see limitations in terms of antimalware engines not being able to detect virus signatures using the VDDK (reading in
sector-by-sector)? Is there a faster & more consistent approach to accurately
detect infected machines?

Thank you in advance for any help.

mounting a vmdk

ayrus — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 06:13:52 GMT

By any chance can I mount a .vmdk of a VM when the VM is running. ? atleast can I mount it in a read only mode or something like that ?

Thanks

Ayrus.

VDDK on Chinese system fails

jedwards_mcafee — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 20:54:09 GMT

I have a Simplified Chinese XP SP2 system.

From it, I call VixDiskLib_Open to open a VMDK file. It fails with error 0x3d00003ebd ( 0x3d0000000 | VIX_E_DISK_ENCODING )

The same VMDK file can be opened when the operating system is Japanese or any western language.

The filename of the VMDK file contains only latin characters ( \\VMDKs\data\Win7x86\Win7x86.vmdk )

Trying vmware-mount fails in the same way.

Does anyone know what about the disk the VDDK thinks is encoded incorrectly in this environment? Is there a workaround we can try?

Thank you,

---

Jonathan

VDDK bin/AMD64/vstor2-mntapi10.sys?

red0mark — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 19:48:58 GMT

What's the difference in the bin/vstor2-mntapi10.sys and the bin/AMD64/vstor2-mntapi10.sys service?

Thanks,
-Ron

VixDiskLib_Clone() Error

Alberto Gonzalez — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 10:05:28 GMT

Hi,

I am working in a project using VDDK API. I have been able to Connect, Open, Read and Write to VM virtual disks using VixDiskLib. But I have a problem using VixDiskLib_Clone() function to copy a vdisk. I have defined this function:

public static bool Clone(vixDiskSourceVixDisk, string SourceDiskPath, vixDisk TargetVixDisk, string TargetDiskPath, VixDiskLibProgressFunc ProgressFunc)
{

VixDiskLibCreateParams CreateParams = new VixDiskLibCreateParams();

CreateParams.adapterType = VixDiskLibAdapterType.VIXDISKLIB_ADAPTER_SCSI_LSILOGIC;
CreateParams.capacity = 20 * 2048;
CreateParams.diskType = VixDiskLibDiskType.VIXDISKLIB_DISK_MONOLITHIC_SPARSE;
CreateParams.hwVersion = vixDiskLib.VIXDISKLIB_HWVERSION_WORKSTATION_6;

IntPtr clientData = (IntPtr) null;
ulong ulStatus;

ulStatus = vixDiskLib.Clone(TargetVixDisk.VixConnHandle, TargetDiskPath, SourceVixDisk.VixConnHandle, SourceDiskPath, out CreateParams, ProgressFunc, clientData, true);

if (ulStatus != 0)
{
string msg = vixDisk.GetError(ulStatus);
return false;
}
return true;
}

If I define Target Server as blank "" to copy to local and call Clone() I get error: "invalid parameter was supplied"

TargetVmdkPath = @"C:\Users\Alberto\Desktop\vddk\test.vmdk";
TargetServer = "";
TargetVmxPath = "";
TargetDatacenter = "";
TargetDatastore = "";
TargetUser = "";
TargetPass= "";
TargetPort = 0;

If I define Target as ESX I can Connect,Open, Read.. disks in that ESX with Connect(), Open(), Read(). But when I call Clone() I get error: "Cannot connect to host" (17179887184) and I get this log in ESX hostd.log:

~~2009-09-07 11:47:20.560 'ha-eventmgr' 44473264 info~~ Event 155 : User root@127.0.0.1 logged in
~~2009-09-07 11:47:20.710 'ha-license-manager' 20286384 error~~ Key esxFull, not found
~~2009-09-07 11:47:20.710 'ha-license-manager' 20286384 error~~ Key backup, not found
~~2009-09-07 11:47:20.711 'Locale' 20286384 warning~~ FormatField: Invalid (vim.LicenseManager.DiagnosticInfo.key)
~~2009-09-07 11:47:20.777 'TaskManager' 20814768 info~~ Task Created : haTask--vim.SearchIndex.findByInventoryPath-158510209
~~2009-09-07 11:47:20.777 'TaskManager' 20814768 info~~ Task Completed : haTask--vim.SearchIndex.findByInventoryPath-158510209
~~2009-09-07 11:47:20.865 'TaskManager' 44473264 info~~ Task Created : haTask--vim.SearchIndex.findByDatastorePath-158510210
~~2009-09-07 11:47:20.868 'TaskManager' 44473264 info~~ Task Completed : haTask--vim.SearchIndex.findByDatastorePath-158510210
~~2009-09-07 11:47:21.127 'TaskManager' 20020144 info~~ Task Created : haTask--vim.NfcService.randomAccessOpen-158510212
~~2009-09-07 11:47:21.136 'TaskManager' 20020144 info~~ Task Completed : haTask--vim.NfcService.randomAccessOpen-158510212
~~2009-09-07 11:47:21.219 'ha-eventmgr' 18381744 info~~ Event 156 : User root logged out
~~2009-09-07 11:47:21.528 'Vmomi' 20286384 info~~ Activation N5Vmomi10ActivationE:0x9cc3af0 : Invoke done cancelWaitForUpdates on ~~vmodl.query.PropertyCollector:ha-property-collector~~
~~2009-09-07 11:47:21.529 'Vmomi' 20286384 info~~ Throw vim.fault.NotAuthenticated
~~2009-09-07 11:47:21.529 'Nfc' 18115504 info~~ PROXY connection to NFC(useSSL=0): found session ticket:N9VimShared15NfcTicketByPathE:0xa1240b4
~~2009-09-07 11:47:21.530 'BaseLibs' 18115504 info~~ NFC DEBUG NfcNetTcpGetSockFd: sockFd = 0, sSockFd = 53
~~2009-09-07 11:47:21.532 'BaseLibs' 18115504 info~~ NFC DEBUG NfcServerLoop: sockFd ready for READ
~~2009-09-07 11:47:21.533 'BaseLibs' 18115504 info~~ NFC DEBUG NfcServerLoop: Received session complete
~~2009-09-07 11:47:21.558 'Vmomi' 20286384 info~~ Result:
(vim.fault.NotAuthenticated) {
dynamicType = <unset>,
object = 'vmodl.query.PropertyCollector:ha-property-collector',
privilegeId = "System.View",
msg = ""
}
~~2009-09-07 11:47:21.559 'App' 20286384 error~~ Failed to send response to the client: Broken pipe

I have imported the function in C# as:

public static extern System.UInt64 Clone(IntPtr dstConnection, string dstPath, IntPtr srcConnection, string srcPath, out VixDiskLibCreateParams vixCreateParams, VixDiskLibProgressFunc progressFunc, IntPtr progressCallbackData, bool overWrite);

Regards,
Alberto

Advanced Transport Modes

VladimirT — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 20:00:31 GMT

Hi,

I am trying to use VDDK in c# on 64bit Windows 2003 and having problems using san transport.

My process:

VixDiskLib_InitEx - Works fine

VixDiskLib_ConnectEx - Returns VIX_OK

in console I see:

~~2009-08-26 15:23:28.890 04068 trivia 'transport'~~ Checking transport mode nbdssl.
~~2009-08-26 15:23:28.890 04068 trivia 'transport'~~ Transport mode nbdssl passed pre-flight checks. Adding to list of available transports.
~~2009-08-26 15:23:28.890 04068 trivia 'transport'~~ Checking transport mode nbd.
~~2009-08-26 15:23:28.890 04068 trivia 'transport'~~ Transport mode nbd passed pre-flight checks. Adding to list of available transports.
~~2009-08-26 15:23:28.890 04068 trivia 'transport'~~ Narrowing down applicable transport modes.
~~2009-08-26 15:23:28.890 04068 trivia 'transport'~~ Confirmed that mode san is applicable.

VixDiskLib_Open - Returns VIX_E_FILE_ACCESS_ERROR

VixDiskLib_Close

VixDiskLib_Disconnect

Any idea why it returns VixDiskLib_Open returns VIX_E_FILE_ACCESS_ERROR. I do not see any log entries created in hostd.log on ESX server.

Thanks

linux vmdk mount

nasadmin — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 15:38:16 GMT

Is there anyway to mount a storage side snapshot of a linux virtual disk ? I can do the same for windows by using /m:n option

VDDK utilities on esxi

richard999 — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 09:38:33 GMT

Hi,

I am trying to mount an esxi host using the vmware-mount command found in the virtual disk manager utility. However when I issue the mount command it tells me I am not licesned to use VDDK. Is this correct for esxi?

Assuming it is, is there an alternative product I could use? I am trying to change my pre-allocated to disks to growable - the ultimate aim being to shrink them.

cheers

Richard

VMDK newbie question

KirkAtKace — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 22:38:06 GMT

I've used the VDDK sample program vixdisklibsample -create c:\tmp\blah.vmdk to generate an empty virtual disk and it does create that file with an initial size of 64KB as expected.

When I then try to mount it with vmware-mount k: \tmp\blah.vmdk I get a mount failure message
Unable to mount the virtual disk. The disk may be in use by a virtual
machine, may not have enough volumes or mounted under another drive
letter. If not, verify that the file is a valid virtual disk file.

I don't think the file is in use by a VM and vixdisklibsample -info c:\tmp\blah.vmdk displays
capacity = 204800 sectors
number of links = 1
adapter type = BusLogic SCSI
BIOS geometry = 0/0/0
physical geometry = 100/64/32
Transport modes supported by vixDiskLib: file:nbdssl:nbd

There's a note in vddk11_diskmount.pdf that "On Windows hosts, you can mount volumes formatted with FAT (12/16/32) or NTFS only."
The sample program creates the disk with parameters
createParams.adapterType = appGlobals.adapterType;
createParams.capacity = appGlobals.mbSize * 2048;
createParams.diskType = VIXDISKLIB_DISK_MONOLITHIC_SPARSE;
createParams.hwVersion = VIXDISKLIB_HWVERSION_WORKSTATION_5;

Do I need to specify some other parameter to force NTFS volume formatting for the virtual disk so that it can be mounted as a Windows drive?

Failed to load shared object file vixDiskLib.so

vohra — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 02:35:06 GMT

I am trying to access VMDK from a unix application using VDDK 1.1, I am using dynamic loading i.e. using dlopen, dlsym and dlclose.

The library is installed at /usr/local/lib/vmware-vix-disklib/

The dlopen, dlsym, dlclose operations do not report any problem neither do VixDiskLib_Init and VixDiskLib_Connect

but VixDiskLib_Open fails with error: VixDiskLib: Failed to open shared object file vixDiskLib.so: no such file or directory.

Please note that while doing VixDiskLib_Init, I am supplying parameter libdir as /usr/local/lib/vmware-vix-disklib/lib64

Please suggest.

Thanks in advance.

gaurav

Technology Exchange Developer Day - Demo on VDDK, a part of vStorage APIs

navadavuluri — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 01:58:03 GMT

Hello,

We are happy to announce about our hands-on demo at Technology Exchange Developer Day 2009, Demo on VDDK(Virtual Disk Development Kit), a part of vStorage APIs
Presenter: Sudarsan Piduri

Demo ID: DS-07

Time: 5:45 - 6:45 PM

Abstract:

VixDiskLib and VixMntapi libraries can be used to manipulate virtual disks in both hosted and virtual infrastructure environments.
These libraries can be used to enable on-line backups of running VMs from outside the VM. This demo will illustrate some
additional use cases, like the use of these libraries to perform disk and file level tasks such as checking for presence of a file
on a powered off vm. The demo is implemented using standard C.

VDDK logs

tejas_sumant — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 09:13:37 GMT

I am getting VixDiskLib_open() faliure on windows server 2008 x64.

The error is 18000 (cannot connect to host) . I tried reproducing this issue with vixdisklibsample.exe but could not.

Is there any way I can generate logs for VDDK SDK used in my product?

VixDiskLib_Cleanup always return vixError (6) - The operation is not supported for the specified parameters

red0mark — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 14:02:01 GMT

Any ideas how one can determine which parameters it does not like? I'm calling it after VixDiskLib_Disconnect as the docs recomment and using the same connection params struct I used with VixDiskLib_ConnectEx.

Thanks,
-Ron

uint32 numCleanedUp = 0, numRemaining = 0;

/*=== VDDK 1.1 header says connection spec must be null ===*/
connectParamsP->vmxSpec = (char*)NULL;
vixError = VixDiskLib_Cleanup(connectParamsP, &numCleanedUp, &numRemaining);

vixError (6) - The operation is not supported for the specified parameters

VixMntapi_GetVolumeInfo is not returning inGuestMountPoints for additional disks

red0mark — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 13:50:38 GMT

All,

Using VI SDK 4.0 I’ve taken a snapshot of a virtual machine with 3 HD. I pass this information on to the VDDK 1.1 to mount the snapshoted volumes. From the output below you can see that I’m getting the symbolic links for each volume but I’m only getting the inGuestMountPoints for the C: volume… the other(s) are always numGuestMountPoints: 0. Any ideas why?

Thanks,
-Ron

Virtual machine moRef: moRef=176

Working on snapshot: /vmfs/volumes/49763b75-2a1b7d4e-e977-000f1f64bba6/WinXP Pro (2)/WinXP Pro (2).vmx-snapshot-1
Sanpshot disk path: datastore1 WinXP Pro (2)/WinXP Pro (2)_2.vmdk
Number of volumes: 1

Post-mount of volume info---------------------------
volume number: 0
type: VIXMNTAPI_DYNAMIC_VOLUME=3
symbolicLink: \\.\vstor2-mntapi10-444D494F3A49443AE18E00F06E57F342ADAF9266474D00EA01000000\
isMounted: True
numGuestMountPoints: 0
inGuestMountPoints:

Sanpshot disk path: datastore1 WinXP Pro (2)/WinXP Pro (2)_1.vmdk
Number of volumes: 1

Post-mount of volume info---------------------------
volume number: 0
type: VIXMNTAPI_DYNAMIC_VOLUME=3
symbolicLink: \\.\vstor2-mntapi10-444D494F3A49443A8768BF3D29809E4A9EC734FC0EBA0F2F02000000\
isMounted: True
numGuestMountPoints: 0
inGuestMountPoints:

Sanpshot disk path: datastore1 WinXP Pro (2)/WinXP Pro (2).vmdk
Number of volumes: 1

Post-mount of volume info---------------------------
volume number: 0
type: VIXMNTAPI_BASIC_PARTITION=1
symbolicLink: \\.\vstor2-mntapi10-AAC5AAC5007E00000000000003000000\
isMounted: True
numGuestMountPoints: 1
inGuestMountPoints: C: <<<<<***** Here I get the C:

Further testing on other virtual guests I see the following output coming from the Log callback "Log: Unable to GetVolumeMountPoints - Error code b0"... I assume this is the problem but what is a "b0" error mean? Anyone from the VDDK team have an answer? Does the VDDK 1.1 support Windows 2008?

Log: DiskLibProvider_GetDisk: Open successful - index 0.
Number of volumes: 3

Working Disk: ess800_svt2 win2008x32 - gara/win2008x32 - gara_1.vmdk
Volume number in disk: 0
Log: Unable to GetVolumeMountPoints - Error code b0.

type: VIXMNTAPI_BASIC_PARTITION=1
symbolicLink: \\.\vstor2-mntapi10-A3841323000010000000000002000000\
isMounted: True

Working Disk: ess800_svt2 win2008x32 - gara/win2008x32 - gara_1.vmdk
Volume number in disk: 1
Log: Unable to GetVolumeMountPoints - Error code b0.

type: VIXMNTAPI_BASIC_PARTITION=1
symbolicLink: \\.\vstor2-mntapi10-A38413230000501F0000000003000000\
isMounted: True

Working Disk: ess800_svt2 win2008x32 - gara/win2008x32 - gara_1.vmdk
Volume number in disk: 2
Log: Unable to GetVolumeMountPoints - Error code b0.

type: VIXMNTAPI_BASIC_PARTITION=1
symbolicLink: \\.\vstor2-mntapi10-A38413230000903E0000000004000000\
isMounted: True

Log: VixDiskLibReaderWriter::Close: Ignoring close

V Disk install on esxi - clarification needed

richard999 — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 16:56:58 GMT

Hi,

can someone please confirm whether VDisk Manager can be installed on an esxi 3.5 Update 4 host ?

I have unpacked the tar.gz but the sudo command to install is not recognised. Is there an alternative command?

I assume I am correct in installing the app on the host itself ? I am guessing it would be easier than installing it on the VI client machine (XP) as I wont have to worry about mounting / mapping source and destination folders . or am I way off here ?

regards

Richard

vmware-vdiskmanager.exe -p hangs

killermachine188 — Wed, 27 May 2009 09:23:03 GMT

Hi@all,

we have problems using the vmware-vdiskmanager to prepare the shrinking of the vmdk files.

The vmware-vdiskmanager hangs if we are usind a vmdk file, with a lot of unused blocks. To reproduce the error we create a bunch of small files (abot 500 files, filesize 5mb) and then delete them within the running guest. Trying to prepare shrink the vmdk with the unused blocks results in a hanging system. Nothing responds any more, so we have to turn of the host machine.

Here is the abstracted script of the hole process:

start the guest

generate the files on each drive

delete all generated files

shut down the guest

defragment each vmdk file

prepare each vmdk file for shrinking

shrink each vmdk file

The shrinking of the first vmdk files (1-2) completes without any error. The CPU of vmware-vdiskmanager/vmware-mount usage is about 80% on a E8400 machiche with 2GB Ram.

On the later vmdk files, the processes start to zero out the blocks and hangs. Killing the processes is not possible any more.

The guest have 3-4 hdds with ntfs and fat32 partions using the whole drive. Tested guest OS are WinXP SP1/SP2/SP3 and Win Vista SP1. Tested on hosts with Win XP SP2/SP3 with Workstation 6.0.x/6.5.x and only Player 2.0.x and 2.5.x. Installed VDDKs 1.0.1 and 1.1. The problems could be reproduces in any combination of the installed sofware, but not every time. Some times the whole optimization process runs through without any errors.

The questions:

is there any solution for these problem?

is there any kind of logs for the vmware processes used in the optimization process?

can somebody confirm these behavior?

Best regards

cannot mount vmdk (in linux) with write-permissions

draygen — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 19:57:12 GMT

Hi everyone,

I'm having a bit of trouble using vmware-mount to mount a 50GB dynamic-sized vmdk that was created using VMWare Studio. The vmdk is an Ubuntu 8.04 Linux appliance , and its the ext3 filesystem. I'm also using Ubuntu 8.04 to mount the vmdk. I can mount the vmdk , however no matter what I do - it is a read-only filesystem.

The main reason why I need write access to a brand new appliance created from VMWare studio is so that I can update license files without having to build a huge amount of different appliances all because of a slight change to an XML file for licensing..

Libfuse is installed and working (obviously, since I can mount as read-only). I've made sure that I ran '# chmod 755 system.vmdk' so that it has write permissions.

If I mount the vmdk, then say I do this: 'cd /mnt/root; touch test;' on the first time it will actually create the file (at least it appears to) , if I try to do it again , I get "touch: cannot touch `test': Read-only file system" .. however if I create a file, then unmount/remount , the file wasn't actually created.

I'll be following up with an attached fuseMount.log , but in the meantime - does anyone have any idea's?

Thanks,

draygen

Serious Memory Leaks with VDDK 1.1 on Linux

Mitch Haile — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:07:17 GMT

It appears in our testing that there exist serious memory leaks in VDDK on Linux 32 bit. Any pointers would be appreciated.

A sample program is at the end of this message. With calls to VixDiskLib_Open() and Close(), no reading of data, each call to Open leaks a good chunk of memory. The below valgrind output is from a single Open/Close pair.

Over 1000 errors are reported, mostly out of libxml2 and libcurl.

==715==
==715== ERROR SUMMARY: 39170 errors from 1000 contexts (suppressed: 42 from 1)
==715== malloc/free: in use at exit: 383,967 bytes in 8,033 blocks.
==715== malloc/free: 19,217 allocs, 11,184 frees, 2,394,652 bytes allocated.
==715== For counts of detected errors, rerun with: -v
==715== searching for pointers to 8,033 not-freed blocks.
==715== checked 2,474,068 bytes.
==715==
==715== LEAK SUMMARY:
==715== definitely lost: 366,477 bytes in 7,944 blocks.
==715== possibly lost: 0 bytes in 0 blocks.
==715== still reachable: 17,490 bytes in 89 blocks.
==715== suppressed: 0 bytes in 0 blocks.
==715== Rerun with --leak-check=full to see details of leaked memory.

Without the call to VixDiskLib_Open() and Close():

==687==
==687== ERROR SUMMARY: 0 errors from 0 contexts (suppressed: 25 from 1)
==687== malloc/free: in use at exit: 39,651 bytes in 1,757 blocks.
==687== malloc/free: 1,970 allocs, 213 frees, 137,174 bytes allocated.
==687== For counts of detected errors, rerun with: -v
==687== searching for pointers to 1,757 not-freed blocks.
==687== checked 2,493,324 bytes.
==687==
==687== LEAK SUMMARY:
==687== definitely lost: 0 bytes in 0 blocks.
==687== possibly lost: 0 bytes in 0 blocks.
==687== still reachable: 39,651 bytes in 1,757 blocks.
==687== suppressed: 0 bytes in 0 blocks.
==687== Rerun with --leak-check=full to see details of leaked memory.

Here is a simple test case:

#include <string.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <vixDiskLib.h>

#define VIXDISKLIB_VERSION_MAJOR 1
#define VIXDISKLIB_VERSION_MINOR 0

#define VDDK_DISK_OPEN 1

static void
panic_if_vixerror(VixError vixError, const char *func_name)
{
if (VIX_FAILED(vixError)) {
fprintf(stderr, "%s failed: %s\n", func_name, VixDiskLib_GetErrorText(vixError, NULL));
exit(1);
}

fprintf(stderr, "%s: OK\n", func_name);
}

static void
init_connect_params(VixDiskLibConnectParams *cp)
{
(void) memset(cp, 0, sizeof(*cp));

cp->vmxSpec = NULL;
cp->serverName = "192.168.201.106";
cp->credType = VIXDISKLIB_CRED_UID;
cp->creds.uid.userName = "root";
cp->creds.uid.password = "abc123";
cp->port = 902;
}

int
main(int argc, char **argv)
{
(void) argv;

VixError vixError;
VixDiskLibConnection conn = NULL;
VixDiskLibConnectParams cp;

if (argc <= 1) {
fprintf(stderr, "Usage: $0 <vmdk path>\n");
return 1;
}

init_connect_params(&cp);

vixError = VixDiskLib_Init(VIXDISKLIB_VERSION_MAJOR,
VIXDISKLIB_VERSION_MINOR,
NULL, NULL, NULL, // Log, warn, panic
NULL); // libDir
panic_if_vixerror(vixError, "VixDiskLib_Init");

vixError = VixDiskLib_Connect(&cp, &conn);
panic_if_vixerror(vixError, "VixDiskLib_Connect");

#if VDDK_DISK_OPEN
{
const char *disk_name = argv[1];
VixDiskLibHandle disk_handle = NULL;

VixError vixError = VixDiskLib_Open(conn, disk_name, VIXDISKLIB_FLAG_OPEN_READ_ONLY, &disk_handle);
panic_if_vixerror(vixError, "VixDiskLib_Open");

vixError = VixDiskLib_Close(disk_handle);
panic_if_vixerror(vixError, "VixDiskLib_Close");
}
#endif

if (conn != NULL) {
vixError = VixDiskLib_Disconnect(conn);
panic_if_vixerror(vixError, "VixDiskLib_Disconnect");
conn = NULL;
}

VixDiskLib_Exit();

printf("--done--\n");
return 0;
}

It doesn't seem to matter if VIXDISKLIB_VERSION_MINOR is 0 or 1.

The code is built with:

$ gcc -I/usr/lib/vmware-vix-disklib/include -L/usr/lib/vmware-vix-disklib/lib32 -g -lvixDiskLib -o testvddk test_vddk.c

Windows volume mount warning for BCD & boot.ini?

red0mark — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 15:49:04 GMT

All,

What is this error and how does one correct it? I've run chkdsk & fixmbr on the virtual machine and my local machine but on luck so far. I see
this only on one on my vm systems. The VDDK 1.1 host system is XP Pro SP3 and the vm guest is also XP Pro SP3 on an ESXi server.

Thanks,
-Ron

Warning: Unable to copyfile \\.\vstor2-mntapi10-AAC5AAC5007E00000000000002000000\\Boot\BCD to C:\DOCUME~1\edmark\LOCALS~1\Temp\vmware-edmark-1007\vixmntapi2, error = 3.
Warning: Error reading boot.ini file \\.\vstor2-mntapi10-AAC5AAC5007E00000000000002000000
boot.ini
type: VIXMNTAPI_BASIC_PARTITION=1
symbolicLink: \\.\vstor2-mntapi10-AAC5AAC5007E00000000000002000000\
isMounted: True
inGuestMountPoints: C:

Problem installing VDDK on Vista 64-bit

BlackGator — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:51:11 GMT

Hi,

I am running VMWare Server 2 successfully on Vista 32-bit and on Vista 64-bit partitions on my laptop, and am needing to mount my VMs outside of VMWare to automate my virus scanning

After successfully installing and ruuning the latest VDDK on Vista 32-bit, I have hit a problem on trying to instal it on Vista 64-bit. the installation ends with the following message, "The wizard was interrupted before vmware virtual disk development kit could be completely installed".

Can anyone please tell me if there is a workaround? Thanks very much.

Creation of VMFS file system taking longer time on ESX server 3.5 Update 3

satyakada — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 06:11:01 GMT

Hi All,

I need help on to identify the issue while creating the datastore on ESX server 3.5 with Update 3. The issue is it is taking very long time to create VMFS file system. I am using third party vendor SAN, created VDisk and mapped the VDisk using FC to the esx server. I am using this LUN and creating datastore.It is taking longer time to create datastore and sometimes it is failing also. What might be the issue? Is the LUN and VPort are not good state, if so how to identify the state of the path?

Thanks,

--Satya.

vmware-mount behaviour

ayrus — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:07:06 GMT

I have tried vmware-mount in three different systems. and I trace its behaviour.

1. tried mounting a vmdk of size 20 Gb in my system ..(my system having a free space of 30 GB) => "unable to get vim ticket" {failed to get the key for virtual disk}

2. tried mounting the same vmdk with same command as given in my system in another system (which is a VM having a free space of 23 Gb) => mounted successfully. then I unmounted it.

3. tried mounting the same vmdk with same command as given in my system in
another system (which is a VM having a free space of 6 Gb) => ."unable to get vim ticket" {failed to get the key for virtual disk}

Is mounting a vmdk requires enough space on the Host system's hard disk??

if so y dint it get mounted in the first case ?

is that space should be continuous ?

if not what is the reason for that undefined behaviour. ? please clarify me.

Thanks

~ayrus

How to do mapping between disks(OS level) and vmdks?

Skyislimit — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 13:34:46 GMT

I want to know if it possible from with the VM to find which disk matches with which vmdk. I m hosting three vms in an ESX server,but I am not able to coorealeate ordering.

Please tell me,Is it possible .If yes ,then how we can do so?

File name and sector number

ayrus — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 06:01:25 GMT

Hii.. Is there a way to find the sector number of a file in .vmdk. given the filename ?? like in linux : .

filefrag -v filename will return the following details of a file.

*file system type

*cylinders group

*block size

file size

*start block

end block

Plz help me ..!!

Thanks

~ayrus.

Prepare to shrink. it's not working in offline mode

Kim76 — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 11:20:29 GMT

Hi all

I'm using these commands to shrink my 4 GB dynamic vmdk disk:

vmware-vdiskmanager -d "C:\Virtual Machines\w2kpro\w2kpro.vmdk"
vmware-mount J: "C:\Virtual Machines\w2kpro\w2kpro.vmdk" /v:1
vmware-vdiskmanager -p J:
vmware-mount J: /d
vmware-vdiskmanager -k "C:\Virtual Machines\w2kpro\w2kpro.vmdk"

and the size for reduces with about 200 MB every time I run the batch

If I start the gust OS and Prepare to shrink through VMware tool manually in the control panel and just power off guest OS with out the shrink option and run
vmware-vdiskmanager -k "C:\Virtual Machines\w2kpro\w2kpro.vmdk" then the vmdk file resize from 4 GB to 1,6 GB, in offline mode.
it must be something with the mapping of vmdk file.

Is there anyone ho know what the problem is?

Virtual Disk Development Kit - Session Abstract for Technology Exchange - Developer Day

heyitspablo — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 16:02:47 GMT

Folks,

This is one of most popular sessions. In case you did not catch Sudarsan in our last Coffee Talk Webinarthis is a great opportunity to meet him and ask questions, or find out what he has planned for future versions of the VDDK.

{youtube}http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wghgHpbuhc{youtube}

Register for the VMware Technology Exchange - Developer Day http://communities.vmware.com/community/developer/techexchange

Session ID: VS-06
Title: Introduction to Virtual Disk Development Kit (Key part of vStorage APIs solution)
VMware Virtual Disk Development Kit (VDDK) is a C API targeted at software developers. Part of vStorage APIs, the VDDK provides location transparent access to virtual disks – well suited for use cases such as backup, offline compliance checking and management / manipulation of virtual disks. This session will focus on Virtual Disk basics, VDDK APIs and the new features of VDDK 1.1 release.
Level: Beginner

Speaker:
Sudarsan Piduri Staff Engineer R&D Virtual Infrastructure has been working at VMware for the last three years - in addition to VDDK, I work on VMware Converter. Before VMware, I was developing backup/restore software. I enjoy hiking and running.

Added Sudarsan's video

Unable to get a VIM ticket for this virtual disk.

cesarmc3 — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 21:27:03 GMT

Hi,

Looking for help regarding the above error. I attached a screenshot of my VI Client screen that show what is needed to configure this, and the mount log shows:

Errorcode = -2.
VMware-mount (Release) - build-99018
Using system libcrypto, version 9070CF
VixDiskLibVim: TicketLogin
VixDiskLibVim: TicketFindVMByInvPath: vmxPath = -APSLabs/vm/SA3-
Warning: VixDiskLibVim: TicketFindVMCb failure - VixError = 4000.
VixDiskLibVim: TicketLogout
Client: Unable to get a VIM ticket for this virtual disk.

I know it was working before, and I don't remember changing anything... below is the command I ran:

vmware-mount v: "ESXi-B7 SA3/SA3.vmdk" /i:APSLabs/vm/SA3 /h:192.168.0.151 /u:administrator /s:password

Any help on how to make this command run again would be appreciated. Also, just a quick question..... Is there a way to get the path to the VM?... I know this is a common error when the "Unable to get a VIM ticket for this virtual disk." shows up (being case sensitive and all).

VixDiskLib_Clone() just for conversion?

nicok — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:45:10 GMT

Hi,

I need some clarification about the VixDisklib_Clone() function.

Is the function only intended to move a vmdk from a local host to a ESX?

Could I use that function also to simply create a copy of my vmdk on the ESX?

Thanks in advance.

Nico

Multithreading Clone

Blueace — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 10:05:12 GMT

Hi,

does anybody knows if the disklib_clone funtion is thread safe. So that i can open multiple threads each cloning a different vmdk.
The documentation only mentioned the open and close functions.

Thanks
Torsten

Prevent vmware-mount.exe run as daemon

killermachine188 — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:20:31 GMT

Hi,

I am wondering if it is possible to run vmware-mount.exe without keeping it running as daemon.

Here is what I am doing:

open cdm

execute : "C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware Virtual Disk Development Kit\bin\vmware-mount.exe" Z: D:\VMs\Bla\blub.vmdk

execute: "C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware Virtual Disk Development Kit\bin\vmware-mount.exe" /d Z:

Now if I look into the ProcessExplorer the vmware-mount.exe is still running as : "C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware Virtual Disk Development Kit\bin\vmware-mount.exe /s"

Is there any way to prevent this behavior?

Ciao ciao

VixDiskLib_Open fails while connecting through vCenter

kgupta — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 07:24:11 GMT

Hi,

I am trying to get info of a vmdk using the following the vddk sample application. here is what i am running :-

vixDiskLibSample.exe -info -host "vCenter1" -user administrator -password secret -vm "vmPath=ha-datacenter/vm/Win 2k3 -x86" "Storage1 Win 2k3 -x86/Win 2k3-x86.vmdk"

OUTPUT:-

INFO: TicketResolveHostName: Resolving IP address for hostname vCenter1

INFO: TicketResolveHostName: Resolved to 10.209.4.133.

INFO: VixDiskLibVim: TicketLogin

INFO: VixDiskLibVim: TicketFindVMByInvPath: vmxPath = -ha-datacenter/vm/Win 2

k3 -x86-

(vixDiskLibSample.exe:4336): WARNING **: VixDiskLibVim: TicketFindVMCb failur

e - VixError = 4000.

INFO: VixDiskLibVim: TicketLogout

Error: ~~c:\program files\vmware\vmware virtual disk development kit\doc\sample\vixdisklibsample.cpp:471~~ fa0 The virtual machine cannot be found

Here i've added the esx server ( on which VM is residing) to the virtual center "vCenter1" and i am connecting using the vCenter credentials.

The same command if i run giving host as the esx server and credentials of esx server, it runs succesfully. While debugging through this sample application i found that VDDK connect api runs succesfully, but VDDK open fails with error 4000.

Can anyone help me, what i am doing wrong here ?

Here are my ESX and vCenter Versions:

ESX version 4.0

virtualCenter version 4.0

Thanks in advance.

VixDiskLibGenericLogFunc

arent_t — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 14:35:44 GMT

For multithreaded applications you suppose to implement your own logging, how do you do this ? Can somebody provide an example ?

Many thanks,

Tom

VDDK and Visual Studio

mordechai — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 10:31:03 GMT

Hello

I'm using Visual Studio. My project is MFC based.

I've added the VixDiskLib.lib to dependency

However when i'm trying to run the program, i receives a error message about missing VixDiskLib.dll file.

Is there any solution.

P.S is it possible to use the VDDK in visual c++ at all?

Thank you

Virtual Disk Development Kit - Coffee Talk Webinar July 1st 2009 - 9:00AM - 10:00AM PST

heyitspablo — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 19:45:36 GMT

Folks,

VDDK - PDF Attached

We are happy to have Sudarsan Piduri present on the Virtual Disk Development Kit 1.1. Please join use July 1, 2009

Presentation PDF and Recording will be posted on our Coffee Talk Webinar Blog

Where: Web Ex Con-Call - Details Below

Session Title: Virtual Disk Development Kit 1.1

Abstract: VMware Virtual Disk Development Kit (VDDK) is primarily a C API targeted to software developers. It provides location transparent access to virtual disks – well suited for use cases like backup, offline compliance checking and management / manipulation of virtual disks. This talk will focus on Virtual Disk basics, VDDK API’s and the new features of 1.1 release.

Audience level: Beginner

Pre-reqs : Some programming experience and VMware experience desirable. Some knowledge of hard disk terms like MBR, partition, volume will be helpful.

Date: Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Time: 9:00 am, Pacific Daylight Time (GMT -07:00, San Francisco)

Meeting Number: 929 140 533 Meeting Password: (This meeting does not require a password.)

Web Ex Link: https://vmware.webex.com/vmware/j.php?ED=118609487&UID=0

More details about the webex session below.

To join the online meeting (Now from iPhones too!)

1. Go to https://vmware.webex.com/vmware/j.php?ED=118609487&UID=0 2. Enter your name and email address. 3. Enter the meeting password: (This meeting does not require a password.) 4. Click "Join Now".

To join the teleconference only

Call-in toll-free number (US/Canada): 866-469-3239 Call-in toll number (US/Canada): 1-650-429-3300 Global call-in numbers: https://vmware.webex.com/vmware/globalcallin.php?serviceType=MC&ED=118609487&tollFree=1 Toll-free dialing restrictions: http://www.webex.com/pdf/tollfree_restrictions.pdf

To add this meeting to your calendar program (for example Microsoft Outlook), click this link: https://vmware.webex.com/vmware/j.php?ED=118609487&UID=0&ICS=MI&LD=1&RD=2&ST=1&SHA2=cQA01NYykVYjdN16oP7vx6dxs5--vr8Wj8oqVrVw8W8= The playback of UCF (Universal Communications Format) rich media files requires appropriate players. To view this type of rich media files in the meeting, please check whether you have the players installed on your computer by going to https://vmware.webex.com/vmware/systemdiagnosis.php IMPORTANT NOTICE: This WebEx service includes a feature that allows audio and any documents and other materials exchanged or viewed during the session to be recorded. By joining this session, you automatically consent to such recordings. If you do not consent to the recording, do not join the session.

Dynamic expansion of Virtual Disk

Vichu — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 10:35:47 GMT

Hi,

I have couple of VMs which are running on ESX 3.5 environment. The question here is, How do I dynamically expand/add virtual disk to the VM when it requires ?. Is there any utility or API which does this operation?.

Any suggestions would be very much appreciated

Shrink (-k) fails

fixitchris — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 12:27:23 GMT

I have a growable NTFS disk with a max size of 80GB. The VMDK was located on a host with 45GB free space. Initially the VMDK was 20GB but over time it grew to 45GB. The VM then stopped with an error of insufficient disk space and would not start up. I was able to prepare it for shrinking but when running -k I get this error:

Failed to open the disk 'm:' : Unknown error (0x7b000900000001).
Failed to shrink the disk 'm:' : Unknown error (0x7b000900000001).

Is this still recoverable?

Incremental backup with Defrag

madhadr — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 15:56:30 GMT

Quick question on defragging a VM.

Here is the scenario:

VM is backed up (full), change tracking enabled.

Incremental backup is taken.

Defrag is run for the VMDK in the VM.

Since CBT is tracking changed blocks, will the next incremetal include the the blocks that have changed due to defrag?

The assumption is yes but need confirmation.

cannot connect to host

ayrus — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 07:45:27 GMT

I ve been working with VDDK programming API for the past couple of weeks. I encounter the following error when i am trying to connect the the managed disk on the esx server from another VM running on the same esx.

I issued the following command in windows xp: vixDiskLibSample.exe -info -host <host ip> -user root -password "1234" "Storage1/test/test.vmdk"

It worked fine with some warnings. like "host certificate chain is not complete" failed to read registry value .
"certificate verification is disabled so connection will proceed despite the error". And it showed the disk info .

I tried the same command in my ubuntu linux. (which is actually a VM in the same esx)

./vix-dislib-sample -info -host <host ip> -user root -password "1234" "Storage1/test/test.vmdk"

Getting the following error.

INFO: VixDiskLibVim: TicketLogin

(process:6770): WARNING **: VixDiskLibVim: Login failure - VixError = 0.

Error: ~~vixDiskLibSample.cpp:388~~ 4650 Cannot connect to host

PLZ HELP ME TO GET OUT OF THIS.

Thanx in advance.

How to delete a child disk and submit the change to its parent in the parenet-disk chain with VixDiskLib?

wordworm — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 07:23:36 GMT

For example, there a base vmdk A0, and it's child disk A1, and A1's child A2.

A0.vmdk <- A1.vmdk <- A2.vmdk

What I want to do is

1) commit the changes in A1 to A0, and delete A1.

2) Still can open the parent-child disk chain from A2.

How to achieve this?

what are the requirements for san transport mode

tmoral — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 12:25:28 GMT

Hello,

I have a physical vcb 1.5 proxy (windows 2003 x64), and I always use the command vcbmounter with -m san option.

On this vcb proxy, I compile and run vixDiskSample on a disk of a vm that is on the san lun, and I am surprised that 'san' is not in the listed transport modes.

I only have :

vixDiskSample -host vccenter -user username -password pass -vm "vmPath=/datacenter/vm/vm1" -info "Storage1 vm1/vm1.vmdk"

Transport modes supported by vixDiskLib: file:nbdssl:nbd

I installed this version : VMware-vix-disklib-1.1.0-163495.i386.exe
The vm is power off.

Using an unmodified VHD file as a VMDK file

kung-foo — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 18:35:02 GMT

Using an unmodified VHD file as a VMDK file

I had a situation where I wanted to have a small disk image that I could use to store configuration information. I wanted to easily be able to mount the image on my local workstation, make changes, and reattach it to a VM. One obvious solution was to just mount a VMDK file using vmware-mount.exe, but I have been having a bear of a time getting that to work correctly under Windows 7 x64. Additionally, if I wanted someone else to work on the image, they would have to have the VDDK installed. A new feature in Windows 7 is the ability to mount VHD images without any additional tools. So I thought wouldn't it be cool to just mount the VHD, do my stuff, umount and then turn it over to ESX? Since both the VHD and VMDK formats support "raw" or "flat" images, there should be a way to get them to play nice with each other. After a little playing around I got it to work.

1) Create a new VHD with "Fixed Size" (my_disk.vhd)
2) Create a empty VMDK config file (my_disk.vmdk)
3) add to my_disk.vmdk

version=1
CID=738ec070
parentCID=ffffffff
createType="vmfs"
RW 33554432 VMFS "my_disk.vhd" # assuming 32M
ddb.geometry.cylinders = "65536" # 32M/512
ddb.geometry.heads = "1"
ddb.geometry.sectors = "1"
ddb.adapterType = "lsilogic"
ddb.virtualHWVersion = "4"

4) done!

This works because the VHD format uses a file footer as opposed to a header. So the last 512 bytes contain the stuff Microsoft needs to load the file (magic, size, etc...). VMware just ignores the footer becuase we specify the size of the VMFS file as the size of the raw disk image.

To go the other way (existing flat vmdk file to a VHD file) you would just need to append the correct 512 byte footer to the vmdk file. I haven't tested this part yet but I'll post back here with the results.

-jonathan

Mounting Linux VG /w LVM on remote system

red0mark — Fri, 29 May 2009 19:49:25 GMT

I've tried the VG/LVM method in the shell examples (lvmCreate.sh & lvmMount.sh) and I have a question as its
related to doing this using the VDDK API's flat file. e.g.
VixDiskLib_Open() & VIXDISKLIB_FLAG_OPEN_READ_ONLY flag.

Can the VG name be modified if the flat file was opened this way. I'm getting the following errors...

--root@shuttle vmdiscover--# vgrename YafuWk-3orv-WuXR-0Kf9-HuLk-1uRA-Ip6xNe vmwarelvm
/dev/loop0: write failed after 0 of 1536 at 4608: Input/output error

diskLib Multi threading

arent_t — Fri, 29 May 2009 08:20:23 GMT

I am trying to use the vddk 1.1 in a multithreaded application, all goes fine for one thread but as soon as I kick of mutliple threads I get an AccessViolationException error on the diskLib_Open function.

I did exactly as written on page 24 of the programming guide, one main thread that initializes the library, then I start one or more threads that will "disklib_connect" and opens a seperate thread to get my diskhandle (disklib_open) , once I get the diskhandle I can access the disk. Now this works for the first worker thread but as soon as the a second thread tries to open disk (disklib_open) I get an access violation error ?

Anyone any suggestions on what I am doing wrong ?

Thanks,

Tom

Got problems installing VDDK 1.1 onto VMware vMA 4.0? Solution here

lamw — Thu, 28 May 2009 19:10:03 GMT

As the topic states, if you're trying to install VDDK 1.1 you'll notice there is a shared library package that is missing by default on VMware vMA 4.0, take a look here for the solution: How to install VDDK 1.1 on vMA 4.0 (libfuse.so.2 fix)

Limitations opening vmdk files of running guests

flatino — Wed, 27 May 2009 15:11:14 GMT

Hello,

I am not able to open a VMDK file if the guest machine is running.

Using the sample code "vixDiskLibSample.exe -info" or invoking VDDK API directly the with "VixDiskLib_Open" I got some errors under some conditions.

I made the following tests and got these results.

The tests were executed on both a vmware workstation and on a ESX server: I collected the same resultson both products

TEST

1) Open vmdk file of a running guest (without any snapshots: VMDK files has no snapshots): FAILS

2) Open vmdk file of a powered-off guest (without any snapshot: VMDK files has no snapshots): WORKS

3) Open vmdk file of a running guest (with snapshots):

-> If I open the CHILD VMDK: it FAILS

-> If I open the PARENT VMDK: it WORKS

4) Open vmdk file of a powered off guest (with snapshots): WORKS with both parent and child VMDKS

So I have deduced the following rules:

A) I can open VMDK files if machines are powered off.

B) If a guest machine is running -> I can open only the parent vmdk file of a machine with snapshots

C) I cannot open a vmdk file of a running machine if at least one of the following conditions is true:
- there are no snapshots for this VMDK file (this means the vmdk file i am trying to opening is the only one)
- the vmdk files is a child VMDK

Could you please confirm and doublecheck my findings ?

Thanks,
Francesco

Cannot mount vmdk file

writetonikhil — Wed, 13 May 2009 10:16:34 GMT

Hi all,

I am trying to mount a vmdk file on Windows XP. If I do it manually using the vmware-mount utility, I can mount it and access the VM without any issues. But if you fire the same command through a perl script(using Perl's 'system' command), I can mount the vmdk. The error I get in the vmware-mount logs is:

VMware-mount (Release) - build-99018
Using system libcrypto, version 9070CF
Scanning directory of file J:\VTM\Temp\ReshamaTest\vtm-windowsServiceTestddd.vmdk for vmx files.
baseDir = 'J:\VTM\Temp\ReshamaTest\', vmx file = 'vtm-windowsServiceTestddd.vmx'
Search start: 'J:\VTM\Temp\ReshamaTest\vtm-windowsServiceTestddd.vmx', baseDiskOnly [ ]
Search result: inTree [X], isCurrent [X], isLegacy [ ], states: 1
Search analysis: disk file found as part of current state.
Plugin Pkt details Size 292 PktType 2 DiskFile = J:\VTM\Temp\ReshamaTest\vtm-windowsServiceTestddd.vmdk, vol = 0, Desired Drive = 8192, openFlags = 0
Plugin failed with 30009
Client: Unable to mount the virtual disk. The disk may be in use by a virtual
machine, may not have enough volumes or mounted under another drive
letter. If not, verify that the file is a valid virtual disk file.

PluginVolume failed. Details: Unknown error 196617 (0x30009)
Errorcode = -2.
VMware-mount (Release) - build-99018
Using system libcrypto, version 9070CF
The volume was not mounted by VMware-mount. It may be a network drive or
it may have been mounted using another utility. It cannot be dismounted.

Errorcode = -2.

I couldnt find anything related to the error no. 30009. The strange thing about this issue is, the same vmdk file was getting mounted few hours back and I haven't changed anything on the VMDK file. Attached is the full vmware-mount log file.

Nikhil

How can I mount a snapshot of a vm online to work in parallel with the same vm at the same time?

Selaf — Mon, 18 May 2009 09:47:57 GMT

Hi there,

How can mount a snapshot of a vm online to work on independently in parallel while the vm is still running at the same time?

The idea is to have two working parallel instances of the same vm based on the same VMBASE image.

Eg:

Think, i have a vm named VMBase
and 3 snapshots; VMBASE_SNAP1, VMBASE_SNAP2, VMBASE_SNAP3

while the VMBASE is still online (powered on)
i want to mount VMBASE_SNAP2 as a new VM online (powered on) in parallel.

So while my primary VM goes on running on its VMBASE_SNAP3 state
i can work on the VMBASE_SNAP2 based copy instance of it.

And when i am done i will destroy VMBASE_SNAP2, and go on working with primary unaffected.

Is there a way to do so?

Thanks in advance.

Regards,

HotAdd transfer mode using VDDK APis fails

dhd9 — Sat, 23 May 2009 05:50:48 GMT

Hi,
I'm using VDDK's Flexible transfer mode APIs VDIskLib_InitEx and VixDIskLIb_ConnectEx etc. for HotAdd transfer mode inside VM. But If I see logs, it fails and fall backs to nbd transfer mode.
I'm not sure what is issue here.
Is there any special configuration required for HotAdd transfer mode inside VM ?

Thanks in advance
dhd9

troubles with vmware-mount "file not found" ??

soonblue — Fri, 22 May 2009 17:56:18 GMT

I work for the University of Delaware as a systems programmer and I'm looking to set up file-level backups using vmware-mount and our own networker software. I'm very close to being able to mount virtual disks remotely, but keep running into the following problem. A command-line run of vmware-mount and fuseMount.log are below:

env LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/lib/vmware-vix-disklib/lib32/ /usr/bin/vmware-mount -v "ha-datacenter/vm/cas2.ds.udel.edu" -h nd2cluster1.nss.udel.edu -u root -F /home/bleh/nfspw "davenfs cas2.ds.udel.edu/cas2.ds.udel.edu.vmdk" 1 /mnt/test/

And the fuseMount.log output:

May 22 13:51:05.884: VMware VixDiskLib (1.1) Release build-163495
May 22 13:51:05.885: Using system libcrypto, version 90807F
May 22 13:51:05.887: >>>>>>>>> Starting FuseMount Process PID: 21567 <<<<<<<<<
May 22 13:51:05.887: --- Mounting Virtual Disk: davenfs cas2.ds.udel.edu/cas2.ds.udel.edu.vmdk ---
May 22 13:51:05.887: Disk flat file mounted under /var/run/vmware/fuse/4827723133473044936
May 22 13:51:05.891: LIBFUSE :Opening disk - vmSpec -vmPath=ha-datacenter/vm/cas2.ds.udel.edu-, server -nd3cluster1.nss.udel.edu-, disk -davenfs cas2.ds.udel.edu/cas2.ds.udel.edu.vmdk-
May 22 13:51:05.893: TicketResolveHostName: Resolving IP address for hostname nd3cluster1.nss.udel.edu.
May 22 13:51:05.895: TicketResolveHostName: Resolved to 128.175.28.81.
May 22 13:51:05.898: VixDiskLibVim: TicketLogin
May 22 13:51:06.096: VixDiskLibVim: TicketFindVMByInvPath: vmxPath = -ha-datacenter/vm/cas2.ds.udel.edu-
VixDiskLibVim: TicketFindVMCb failure - VixError = 4000.
May 22 13:51:06.142: VixDiskLibVim: TicketLogout
May 22 13:51:06.189: LIBFUSE : Failed to open disk: The virtual machine cannot be found (4000)
May 22 13:51:06.189: Fuse initialization failed.
Failed to mount disk 'davenfs cas2.ds.udel.edu/cas2.ds.udel.edu.vmdk': Cannot open the virtual disk

Any suggestions/solutions would be very helpful.

Thanks!

Enable mutipath option for Raw Device Mapping in Virtual machine

karthimin — Mon, 11 May 2009 05:44:55 GMT

Hi All,

Here i have a requirment to do multipath enable for RDM in virtual machine. Here my qusetion is by default ESX 3.5 support for multipath option for rdm as like vmfs datastore multipath. if so can any please provide some help document to enable mutipath for raw device mapping in a virtual machine.

thanks in advance.

[NFC ERROR] Network error

tejparkash — Fri, 08 May 2009 10:30:00 GMT

My First Post, So Sorry If am posting at wrong palce (any direction here will be useful)

I have downloaded VDDK SDK, Compiled sample code comes with VDDK sdk.

Run these two command as suggested in PDF on my Linux Machine.

./vix-disklib-sample -create -cap 1000000 virtdisk.vmdk
./vix-disklib-sample -clone virtdisk.vmdk -host 10.100.207.184 -user root -password secret vmfsdisk.vmdk

IP add (10.100.207.184) is the ESX server.

Now when i run second command i got some Networking problems as

NFC ERROR NfcNetTcpWrite: bWritten: -1
NFC ERROR NfcNet_Send: requested 272, sent only 4294967295 bytes
NFC ERROR NfcFileSendMessage: hdr send failed:
NFC ERROR Network error -- Failed to send header message

I have seen some VMware Communities post e.f (http://communities.vmware.com/thread/167534) but solutions wans't really useful

Any Help will be appriciated.

thanks

-tej

Child vdmk files can be opened only with ESX credentials ?

flatino — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 16:14:07 GMT

Hello,

I have a Linux program which calls VDDK API to connect and read VMDK files.

I have a problem working with CHILD / snapshots files like <image-name>-000001.vmkd.

If my linux program (invoking VDDK) runs locally on the ESX server without authentication (no host/pwd/user provided) -> I got error 16006 VIX_E_DISK_NEEDSREPAIR

If my linux program (invoking VDDK) runs on another machine and I remotely connect to ESX server (provising credentials) -> it works.

With all parent VMDK files I have no problems: my linux program runs locally and can see all VMDK files without authentication.

I have this problem only with CHILD VMDK files

Does this mean that to open and read child VMDK files, we must use VDDK with ESX authentication parameters (user/pwd/host parameters) ?

Many thanks in advance,

Francesco

is there a fast way to detect emtpy sectors ?

flatino — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 16:24:59 GMT

Hello,

is there a fast and easy way to detect if a sector of a VMDK file is not used ?

I mean:

instead of calling VixDiskLib_Read and check if all the bytes of the sector are all zeros, is there a fast way to discover if a sector is not used ?

When reading big images, I would find a fast way to skip unsed sectors....

Thanks,

Francesco

New vmware-mount.exe version available?

killermachine188 — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 08:46:42 GMT

Due to fixes in Workstation 6.5.2:

Only the first attempt succeeds when mapping original and cloned virtual disk files to drive letters
+On Windows hosts, if you make a linked or full clone of a virtual
machine and then try to map the virtual disk files of the original
virtual machine as well as of the clone to drive letters on the host,
only the first mapping succeeds. Because both disks have the same
signature, you can map only one of the disks at a time. This issue is
resolved in this release.+

we are now able to mount cloned drives. JUHU

But is there a new version of the vmware-mount.exe available now? We are using the vmware-mount.exe to automate optimization processes on our vms. Or is there any other way to mount .vmdks with the new fix without using the workstation gui ?

Ciao ciao