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clviana13
Contributor
Contributor
‎04-26-2020 05:21 AM

Error starting vm error: Failed - Unable to access file [datastore2_vms] srv_cv2 / srv_CV_0-000001.vmdk. Help please

I'm having trouble starting this virtual machine, in an attempt to resolve it I copied the files from the virtual machine to another vmware server without success. I cannot start and change the settings for the virtual machine. Below is a printout of the virtual machine folder where it is stored with the current permissions.

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a_p_
Leadership
Leadership
‎04-26-2020 06:16 AM

According to the files, the VM has an active snapshot, but the delta/sesparse file (the modified data) is missing.

What's interesting is that the flat.vmdk file has a newer time stamp than the 000001.vmdk file, which looks like something went wrong with deleting a snapshot at ~4 AM!?

Do you have an idea of what may have happened?

If the delta/sesparse file cannot be found anymore, and since you do have a copy, it may be worth to manually revert the copied VM to the base virtual disk, to find out whether the data within the VM is up to date.

To do this:

  1. remove the VM from the host's inventory
  2. edit the VM's .vmx file, and replace "srv_CV_0-000001.vmdk" with "srv-CV_0.vmdk"
  3. add the VM back to the host's inventory
  4. create a new, temporary snapshot to avoid modifications to the current flat.vmdk file.
  5. power on the VM, and check the data

Note: You may want to power on the VM with a disconnected virtual network adapter, to avoid possible issues.

If everything looks as expected, you may follow the same steps with the original VM, and - in addition to the mentioned steps - delete the now orphaned "srv_CV_0-000001.vmdk".

As an alternative to steps 1, and 3 you can also reload the VM after editing the .vmx file from the command line (see steps 2+3 in https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/1026043​). This wy the VM will keep it's VM-ID, in case that's important for you.

André

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clviana13
Contributor
Contributor
‎04-26-2020 10:07 AM

Mr. A.P I appreciate your response. The delta / sesparse file has no other copy, because it was deleted by mistake, I even started reading some articles to try to solve it. I will be carrying out the procedure for which you have been instructed to attempt to raise the machine. I appreciate your help.

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clviana13
Contributor
Contributor
‎04-26-2020 04:43 PM

Mr. Andre I thank you for the informed guidance and I congratulate you. I performed the procedure and managed to start the virtual machine. Thanks.

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IRIX201110141
Champion
Champion
‎04-26-2020 11:06 PM

Please check if and how much data you have loosed.

Normaly....

- The size of the -delta file indicated how much changed/new data was created in the given period

- The timestamp of the orginal -flat file show how old the snapshot was

In your case the -delta is missing and the -flat together with ALL other files have the same and a very recent timestamp. Also there is only a single vmware.log file which is not common for VMs which exists for longer time.

So if you have luck than there was a snapshot commit at 04:00 which was merge all -delta back into the -flat and than the error occur and failed to rename the files.

Regards,
Joerg

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