VMware Cloud Community
CBRider
Contributor
Contributor

Cancel vmdk file move

Hello everyone,

I started moving a folder from one datastore to another (with browse datastore within the VI client), since it was taking too long I closed the window thinking that that would cancel que moving files command... but I see in the messages pane that the move file is still going on and there I can't power on the VM since the source file is locked. ¿Is there a a way to cancel to peration without restarting the host?.

Kind regards.

10 Replies
a2alpha
Expert
Expert

If you use virtualcenter you could try restarting the virtualcenter server service but failing that, connect up to the host with ssh or at the console and try a:

service mgmt-vmware restart

service vmware-vpxa restart

This will save you rebooting the host. Make sure you turn off Virtual Machine Monitoring if it is on. Sometimes when the agents are restarted and this is enabled it reboots the vms.

Hope this helps,

Dan

krowczynski
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

How big is the file?

I would wait until the process is finished!!

MCP, VCP3 , VCP4
CBRider
Contributor
Contributor

The file es 40 GB. And I am not using VC yet... in a month or so I will be.

Over to 40% after 2 hours... I am starting to think about the possibility of letting it finish.

Thanks a lot for your answers!!

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krowczynski
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

If answer was helpful or correct award points!

Thanks!

MCP, VCP3 , VCP4
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CBRider
Contributor
Contributor

Count on it, as soon as I get out of this one I will award the points... Smiley Wink

Regards.

Santi

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vcpguy
Expert
Expert

Why/Where should one turn off Virtula Machine monitoring ? I know there was a bug in 3.02.

Thanks

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Please don't forget to reward Points for helpful hints; answers; suggestions. My blog: http://vmwaredevotee.com
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chewatt
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Last night I ran into this problem and found this post.  Most of the answers didn't help my situation because I can't restart the host since some of the guests are in production and can't be down.  I got into this mess when I tried to move a 250GB .vmdk from one datastore to another and realized it was going to take 8 hours.  Since "cancel" is grayed out I tried to stop the move by deleting the folder the .vmdk was moving to on the new datastore.   Yes I know...stupid move but I already know that so let's move on..:-).  After a bunch of continued stupid moves I ended up with not one but three "move files" in process and to make it worse since I deleted the folders they were being moved to the "move files" were still active but they didn't show on the destination datastore anywhere.  The problem I knew I was facing was at the end of every "move" is always a purge of the source file and I couldn't lose it.  I feared it was being fragmented on the destination datastore and that I'd lose it at the end of the move.  After sitting on this for a few hours in thought I came up with a solution that not only worked but kept my source .vmdk intact and was much better than a reboot of the host since I have no idea what that would do to my source .vmdk.  Simply create a new guest (I called it "Space Filler VM") on the destination datastore that's about 2GB less than the total remaining space left on the datastore and wait a few minutes.  The move will fail due to a lack of space on the destination leaving your source .vmdk intact. In the end I got all three moves to fail and my source .vmdk was intact.  I hope the next person who has this issue at 2:00am like me doesn't have to be up until 5 pondering a solution.  Good luck.

0mra0
Contributor
Contributor

In my case, I was copying to Windows NFS datastore. For this, it was enough just to set 'read only' attribute on the destination file. Move was stopped with 'Error caused by file.....' cause. Source file left intact. So, I hope in general there is a simply and convenient way to stop move - just by denying access to destination file.

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DavidPrestidge
Contributor
Contributor

This process works a treat. Had a similar situation, moving a 200Gb vmdk going to take 13hrs (into the next business day).  Resorting to sneaker net with esata drive, should have it done in a couple of hours.

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davestahr
Contributor
Contributor

I know this is a super old thread - but this just worked perfectly for me.  Really saved my bacon.

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