ESXi 5.5 VM will not start after trying to take a snapshot (which failed)

[BjornML]

Hi!

Since i was planning to upgrade some of my VM's i figured it was a good idea to try and take a snapshot of the VM before i started upgrading software in the VM.

However, the snapshot failed, and the VM "died", and was powered off. Attempts to start the VM again fails with the following message:

"Failed to start the virtual machine.

Module DiskEarly power on failed.

Canno optn the disk '/vmfs/volumes/ID-String/VMname/VMname-000001.vmdk' or one of the shapshot disks it depends on.

The system cannot find the file specified

VMware ESX cannot find the virtual disk "/vmfs/volumes/ID-String/VMname/VMname-000001.vmdk". Verify the path is valid and try again."

Now, i can browse the datastore, and i can see the following .vmdk files: (There are also other files there, .log, .nvram, .vmx, .vmxf, .vmsd files)

VMname.vmdk (29989890,00KB, modified 14.06.2020)

VMname-000001.vmdk (52224,00KB, modified 20.03.2021)

VMname-s001.vmdk (29989890,00KB, modified 20.03.2021)

Also, i believe there are multiple hidden files, because when i copied everything off the datastore to my local computer, it also copied 

VMname-000001-s001.vmdk to VMname-000001-s051.vmdk files aswell, even if those are not listed when browsing the datastore.

UPDATE:

Running "vmkfstools -e <filename>" on those 3 files above, the VMname.vmdk and VMname-s001.vmdk files are "consistent", however the "VMname-000001.vmdk" file returns the following: "The system cannot find the file specified (25) Disk chain is not consistent : The system cannot find the file specified (25)

Now, the question is, how to i get this VM up and running again ?

Environment: 

This is a standalone ESXi 5.5 (5.5.0, build 2068190) machine running some server-grade HW that i have had here at home for many years to run some assorted VM's for "lab-environment".

[continuum]

Looks like you are running your esxi-VM with a vmdk created by Workstation.
With that vmdk-types you can not create snapshots.

To be able to create snapshots with that VM you must first convert the basedisk to an ESXi-compatible format.

[BjornML]

Hi!

Hmm, it might be that this VM was originally created with virtualbox 5-6 years ago or something and then converted/moved to the esxi server.

I guess my main question, how can i get this running again, and i guess converted to a "better/more compatible" format ?

[BjornML]

Also, running vmkfstools -e on the first 10 or so of the "hidden files", all return :The file specified is not a virtual disk (15)Disk chain is not consistent : The file specified is not a virtual disk (15)

[continuum]

About hidden files ... The datastore browser displays a dumbed down version of the original content.
This is supposed to make live easier - but in your case it actually prevents proper trouble shooting.
Connect via WinSCP if you want to see the true content.

Try to import your basedisk with
vmkfstools -i base.vmdk esxi-compatible.vmdk

Ulli

[BjornML]

Hi!

Thank you for trying to assist me, i really appreciate it. Unfortunately i'm not a VMware person as such, though i do work in IT, so i might need things a bit more "spoon-fed" than what you are used to 🙂

So to summarize a little bit to avoid any confusion about the timeline and what has been done

1) Sometime in the past, VM was installed, and has been running fine for many years.

2) Today i was going to upgrade the Ubuntu-linux OS on that VM, and before i started i figured it was a good idea to take a snapshot of it, so i right-clicked, take snapshot, and that failed, and the VM went "down".

3) Tried to power on VM, failed.

4) Rebooted the esxi-host to see if that helped, and powered on VM, failed.

5) Copied all files (through the browse datastore) of that VM to my local PC, just incase. (This actually copied all those hidden files aswell)

6) Tried vmkfstools -e on the various .vmdk files to see if i could locate a problem, which i seem to have done. I'm just not sure on how to actually fix it 🙂

7) Try to figure out what steps to take next 🙂

[BjornML]

I would like to give a huge thanks to @continuum for his fantastic assistance and patience with me 🙂

Problem is now solved, and the VM is up and running again!

PS! He does not bite on Skype 🙂