Cannot open the disk 'xxxxx' or one of the snapshot disks it depends on.

[TallChris]

Hi All,

I've got a strange one with a VM that will run fine on an ESX3.5 U5 server but won't move over to a new ESXi 4.1 U1 Host.

I'm getting "Cannot open the disk '/vmfs/volumes/49f2202c-ce40acbe-71ca-00215e22f56a/EU_KNW_Template/EU_KNW_Template.vmdk' or one of the snapshot disks it depends on." when attempting to power on the server on the ESXi 4.1 Host.

It appears that the server has some mismatch in the C: vmdk and the other disks that it has..

I've attached the relevant vmx and vmware.log if anyone can help it would be appreciated.

Thanks

Chris.

[iw123]

Is this on shared storage? or how are you moving the VM across?

[kfkernel]

Hi,

Is it correct that this VM should have 3 VMDK files attached to it? The file "EU_KNW_Template/EU_KNW_Template.vmdk" sound suspicious. If the machine was deployed from a template it should have its own set of VMDK files with the names vmname.vmdk.

Is it possible that EU_KNW_Template.vmdk has any snapshots on it, which this VM is unaware of?

Can you run the following in ESXi shell,

ls -la /vmfs/volumes/49f2202c-ce40acbe-71ca-00215e22f56a/EU_KNW_Template/

cheers

[MauroBonder]

check out this kb, might help http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=100423...

Please, don't forget the awarding points for "helpful" and/or "correct" answers. 

Mauro Bonder - Moderator

[TallChris]

First of all thanks for the quick suggestions..

iw123 - This is shared storage a FC based IBM DS4700 and I've tried Hot and Cold Migrations

kfkernel - I've ran the ls command and I get the following;

-rw-------    1 root     root     42949672960 Aug 24 14:02 EU_KNW_Template-flat.vmdk
-rw-r--r--    1 root     root          348 Aug 24 12:20 EU_KNW_Template.vmdk

I agree that it looks like someone has made a mess of the 'template' disk.. unfortunately they're long gone and i'm left picking up the pieces. And yes it's correct that there should be 3 disks on this VM.

MauroBonder - It appears that both the flat.vmdk and .vmdk are in the folder.

[kfkernel]

Hi,

Okey, so at least there are no delta files in that directory. If you run the following command you will be able to tell if there is a problem with the CIDs

cat EU_KNW_Template.vmdk

more info on CID can be found here http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&externalId=1007849&sl...

My guess is that the CIDs will be OK. But the log states that there is the extent size is larger than the descriptor,

VmfsExtentCommonOpen: possible extent truncation (?) realSize is 83886080, size in descriptor 104857600.

So i would try one of the following

A) Click "Edit Settings" on the VM and note the SCSI id for EU_KNW_Template.vmdk, remove that VMDK from the VM but do not delete the file of course Then re-add it. A good procedure would be to copy the VMX file prior to doing this.

B) Create a new virtual machine and add all three VMDK files from the original machine. Make sure that the original machine is powered off when powering on the new one.

A and B are quite much the same thing, it is just a matter of taste which one you choose.

Other possible solutions are to clone the VM or the disk, http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1028042

cheers

[TallChris]

I ran the cat command and have the following;

# Disk DescriptorFile
version=1
CID=667291c5
parentCID=ffffffff
createType="vmfs"

# Extent description
RW 104857600 VMFS "EU_KNW_Template-flat.vmdk"

# The Disk Data Base
#DDB

ddb.toolsVersion = "7303"
ddb.adapterType = "lsilogic"
ddb.geometry.sectors = "63"
ddb.geometry.heads = "255"
ddb.geometry.cylinders = "5221"
ddb.virtualHWVersion = "4"

I then removed and re-added the VMDK to the machine and still have the same problem..

I'm thinking cloning the machine might be the next step?

[kullait]

Hi,

May be sounds stupid but did you check if the vmdk is attached to another vm which is powered on.

I got the same error before and after spending long time, found that disk was attached to a powered on vm by someone else.

Thanks & Regards

Kullai

[TallChris]

I've just manually checked each VM in that Data Centre and can't find an attached disk, nice suggestion though.

I tried to clone the troublesome disk and also received the message;

Destination disk format: VMFS thick
Cloning disk '/vmfs/volumes/DS4700_VMFS03/EU_KNW_Template/EU_KNW_Template.vmdk'...
Clone: 80% done.Failed to clone disk : Read beyond the end of file (2311).

Is this because of the difference in the descriptor and can it not just be changed to reflect the correct size of the disk?

[TallChris]

I resolved this by amending the descriptor file with the correct size of the disk using vi editor from the console.

I followed parts of this http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=100251...

Thanks for all your help