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mrfbos
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The system cannot find the file specified. VMware `12.5

Hello team,

I'm having issues opening a vm in my vmware workstation  12.5.  When try to open a vritual machine that I backed up, I get the following error message:

Unable to open file "C:\Users\mrf\Google Drive\oscp\vm\OffsecVM-2017.2-20171023\OffsecVM-2017.2-hdd-000011.vmdk":

The system cannot find the file specified.

Then when I try to open a different Virtual Disk from the following:

pastedImage_2.png

I get the error message:

pastedImage_3.png

I can't open any disks in this virtual machine nor can I revert snapshots.

When I try to revert it, I get the following message:

pastedImage_4.png

The issue started happening after I moved the folder to a different location. I know that I copied everything from the old folder to the new destination. Now, I'm trying to open it from the new location, I get the above messages.

It looks like I'm missing vmdk files, but should I be able to use those snapshots to revert the machines ?

I have been having this issue for over a month and its been really fursttrating trying to fix it. I did a lot of research online but can't seem to figure it out.

P.S.  for some magic reason this worked today for 15 minutes. I powered on the machine and it worked. Then, while I was shocked and trying to backup the machine, the machine crashed and got the following:

pastedImage_5.png

I can see the disks are very large and I feel like the data is there. total size 85GB. 'm hoping that I didnt lose the vm.

I have attached the log file.

Any help would be appreciated

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a_p_
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Not sure what was causing the file loss, but one thing to consider (may be related) is to exclude *.vm* files from being scanned by virus protection software.

To revert the VM to 2/28 follow these steps:

  1. close VMware Workstation
  2. make sure you have a current backup of all the VM's current files !!!
  3. replace the .vmx, .vmsd files with the ones from the attached archive
  4. create a sub-directory, and move the below mentioned obsolete files to it (they may be delete later)
  5. open VMware Workstataion and take another snapshot of the VM to ensure that the current files won't get modified
  6. power on, and test the VM

If everything works as expected, you can then delete the sub-directory with the obsolete files. Also consider to delete snapshots that you don't need anymore from the Snapshot Manager (make sure "Show Autoprotect snapshots" is enabled).

Btw. I've disabled "Autoprotect" in the VM's configuration file.

André

Obsolete files:

OffsecVM-2017.2-1-5cc29d9d.vmem

OffsecVM-2017.2-1-Snapshot42.vmsn

OffsecVM-2017.2-1-Snapshot45.vmsn

OffsecVM-2017.2-1.vmdk

OffsecVM-2017.2-1-s???.vmdk

OffsecVM-2017.2-1-0.vmdk

OffsecVM-2017.2-1-0-s???.vmdk

OffsecVM-2017.2-1-1.vmdk

OffsecVM-2017.2-1-1-s???.vmdk

OffsecVM-2017.2-1-2.vmdk

OffsecVM-2017.2-1-2-s???.vmdk

OffsecVM-2017.2-hdd-000005-s???.vmdk

OffsecVM-2017.2-hdd-000010.vmdk

OffsecVM-2017.2-hdd-000010-s???.vmdk

OffsecVM-2017.2-hdd-000011.vmdk

OffsecVM-2017.2-hdd-000011-s???.vmdk

OffsecVM-2017.2-hdd-000014.vmdk

OffsecVM-2017.2-hdd-000014-s???.vmdk

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a_p_
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Welcome to the Community,

to me it looks like the issue is related to the "Autoprotect" feature being enabled for the VM (some here in the communities call this feature "Autodestruct"). Autoprotect creates and deletes snapshots depending on the settings in the VM's configuration, but doesn't actually replace a real backup. My recommendation is to disable Autoprotect, and backup the VM's folder frequently instead.

Anyway, to find out whether, and how the issue can be fixed, please compress/zip all of the small descriptor .vmdk files (the ones without "...-s###.vmdk" in their names) along with the VM's configuration (.vmx) file, and the snapshot descriptor (.vmsd) file. Then run dir *.* /one > filelist.txt in the VM's folder, and attach the .zip archive as well as the filelist.txt to a reply post.

André

PS: The VM's annotations contain the guest OS user, and password. Please consider to remove them prior to posting the files. The annotations are included in the .vmx file as well as in the previously attached vmware.log file, so you may also consider to remove the attached file from your previous post.

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mrfbos
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HI Andre,

I have attached the files you requested. Please let me know if you I'm missing anything else.

Thanks for advising regarding the annotations contains a password. That was a default password for a VM which I ready changed. I shouldn't have added it any way Smiley Happy  Thanks for the heads up.

I hope this can be fixed. This is a VM I use for a class I registered online and its got many files that I need for the class Smiley Sad

Unfortunately, windows restore points keeps failing and the same for windows backup. When I tried to restore everything from the backup, I still get the same messages.

I appreciate your help.

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a_p_
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Before I start checking the files, please let me ask a few questions:

  • does the "Clone of OffsecVM-2017.2-20171023" still exist?
  • do you need all these snapshots?
  • the folder contains 5 virtual disks, but from what I see, only one "OffsecVM-2017.2-hdd" is needed. Did you create the other ones while trying to fix the issue, i.e. are they needed at all?
  • the configuration (.vmx) file points to "OffsecVM-2017.2-1-2.vmdk" which doesn't make much sense to me. Maybe also a left over from trying to fix this issue!?

André

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mrfbos
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Sure.

  • does the "Clone of OffsecVM-2017.2-20171023" still exist?

> no. I must have deleted it. I can try look in the backup if you think it's needed to fix the issue.

  • do you need all these snapshots?

>  I don't need them all. The last working one should be fine. I used to do snapshots more often just to make sure I could go back to recent one whenever I wanted. This is a lab/pentesting environment and any simple mistake could ruin it.

  • the folder contains 5 virtual disks, but from what I see, only one "OffsecVM-2017.2-hdd" is needed. Did you create the other ones while trying to fix the issue, i.e. are they needed at all?

> yes I created them while trying to fix the issue. I have no idea how I ended up having that many of virtual disks but I must be doing something wrong 😕

  • the configuration (.vmx) file points to "OffsecVM-2017.2-1-2.vmdk" which doesn't make much sense to me. Maybe also a left over from trying to fix this issue!?

> Yeah I noticed that I didn't know how to fix it. I tried creating a new virtual disks and/or use the existing ones but none of it worked. How can I change it to point to "OffsecVM-2017.2-hdd" ?

Thanks a bunch!

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a_p_
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Don't worry about the clone files, if you don't need the clone anymore. I just wanted to to clarify whether it's still required.

Now to the other issues. It looks like you had issues with this VM before, at least there are some stale files in the folder.

Anyway, unless you have a backup copy  of "OffsecVM-2017.2-hdd-000011-s001.vmdk" from yesterday, 11:32 PM, we may need to revert to the VM's state on 02/28.

Please let me know whether you have that file.

André

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mrfbos
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I don't seem to have "OffsecVM-2017.2-hdd-000011-s001.vmdk". (I have OffsecVM-2017.2-hdd-000011-s002.vmdk through -s009) Yesterday 11:32PM was when when the vm worked for 15 minutes then it crashed with the message:

pastedImage_0.png

However, the last time I was able to use the VM properly was 3/16. That's when I moved the files and the issue happened. So, I don't mind going back to 2/28. That would be still helpful.

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a_p_
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Not sure what was causing the file loss, but one thing to consider (may be related) is to exclude *.vm* files from being scanned by virus protection software.

To revert the VM to 2/28 follow these steps:

  1. close VMware Workstation
  2. make sure you have a current backup of all the VM's current files !!!
  3. replace the .vmx, .vmsd files with the ones from the attached archive
  4. create a sub-directory, and move the below mentioned obsolete files to it (they may be delete later)
  5. open VMware Workstataion and take another snapshot of the VM to ensure that the current files won't get modified
  6. power on, and test the VM

If everything works as expected, you can then delete the sub-directory with the obsolete files. Also consider to delete snapshots that you don't need anymore from the Snapshot Manager (make sure "Show Autoprotect snapshots" is enabled).

Btw. I've disabled "Autoprotect" in the VM's configuration file.

André

Obsolete files:

OffsecVM-2017.2-1-5cc29d9d.vmem

OffsecVM-2017.2-1-Snapshot42.vmsn

OffsecVM-2017.2-1-Snapshot45.vmsn

OffsecVM-2017.2-1.vmdk

OffsecVM-2017.2-1-s???.vmdk

OffsecVM-2017.2-1-0.vmdk

OffsecVM-2017.2-1-0-s???.vmdk

OffsecVM-2017.2-1-1.vmdk

OffsecVM-2017.2-1-1-s???.vmdk

OffsecVM-2017.2-1-2.vmdk

OffsecVM-2017.2-1-2-s???.vmdk

OffsecVM-2017.2-hdd-000005-s???.vmdk

OffsecVM-2017.2-hdd-000010.vmdk

OffsecVM-2017.2-hdd-000010-s???.vmdk

OffsecVM-2017.2-hdd-000011.vmdk

OffsecVM-2017.2-hdd-000011-s???.vmdk

OffsecVM-2017.2-hdd-000014.vmdk

OffsecVM-2017.2-hdd-000014-s???.vmdk

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mrfbos
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AWESOME! You're the best.This worked! I appreciate your help.

It took a while to figure it out. My google-fu skills betrayed me so I was glad I ended up here.

Cheers!

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