Restore Snapshot with Delta

[andrepc]

We had an energy problem that crashed one of our VM's. We tried to restore a Snapshot but it is not working.

Thats our log information

VMware ESX cannot find the virtual disk "/vmfs/volumes/5aa2ca88-83abb714-3141-ecf4bbf7f1ce/SRVDC01/SRVDC01_1-000003.vmdk". Verify the path is valid and try again.
File system specific implementation of Lookup[file] failed
File system specific implementation of LookupAndOpen[file] failed
File system specific implementation of LookupAndOpen[file] failed
File system specific implementation of LookupAndOpen[file] failed
File system specific implementation of LookupAndOpen[file] failed
The system cannot find the file specified
Cannot open the disk '/vmfs/volumes/5aa2ca88-83abb714-3141-ecf4bbf7f1ce/SRVDC01/SRVDC01_1-000003.vmdk' or one of the snapshot disks it depends on.
Module 'Disk' power on failed.

seems that SRVDC01_0-000003.vmdk is corrupt, so we have to restore based on the following files:

drwxr-xr-x 1 root root 4.1K Mar 14 12:54 .
drwxr-xr-t 1 root root 2.3K Mar 14 12:54 ..
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 51 Mar 14 2018 SRVDC01-0faa42a6.hlog
-rw------- 1 root root 4.0G Oct 19 2019 SRVDC01-Snapshot4.vmem
-rw------- 1 root root 1.4M Oct 19 2019 SRVDC01-Snapshot4.vmsn
-rw------- 1 root root 4.0G Mar 10 10:50 SRVDC01-Snapshot5.vmem
-rw------- 1 root root 1.4M Mar 10 10:50 SRVDC01-Snapshot5.vmsn
-rw------- 1 root root 8.5K Mar 10 10:50 SRVDC01.nvram
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1.3K Mar 10 10:50 SRVDC01.vmsd
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 4.2K Mar 10 10:50 SRVDC01.vmx
-rw------- 1 root root 3.1K Mar 12 2018 SRVDC01.vmxf
-rw------- 1 root root 15.5G Oct 19 2019 SRVDC01_0-000001-delta.vmdk
-rw------- 1 root root 322 Sep 9 2019 SRVDC01_0-000001.vmdk
-rw------- 1 root root 46.9G Mar 10 10:50 SRVDC01_0-000002-delta.vmdk
-rw------- 1 root root 60.0G Sep 4 2019 SRVDC01_0-flat.vmdk
-rw------- 1 root root 552 Aug 13 2019 SRVDC01_0.vmdk
-rw------- 1 root root 17.3G Oct 19 2019 SRVDC01_1-000001-delta.vmdk
-rw------- 1 root root 323 Sep 9 2019 SRVDC01_1-000001.vmdk
-rw------- 1 root root 303.0G Mar 10 10:50 SRVDC01_1-000002-delta.vmdk
-rw------- 1 root root 330 Mar 14 11:29 SRVDC01_1-000003.vmdk (Corrupt FILE)
-rw------- 1 root root 500.0G Sep 4 2019 SRVDC01_1-flat.vmdk
-rw------- 1 root root 554 Aug 13 2019 SRVDC01_1.vmdk
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 70.8K Mar 14 11:33 vmware-16.log
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 62.7K Mar 14 11:37 vmware-17.log
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 64.0K Mar 14 11:48 vmware-18.log
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 62.7K Mar 14 12:14 vmware-19.log
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 62.7K Mar 14 12:21 vmware-20.log
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 62.7K Mar 14 12:45 vmware-21.log
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 61.7K Mar 14 12:49 vmware.log
-rw------- 1 root root 110.0M Aug 21 2018 vmx-SRVDC01-262816422-2.vswp

How should we proceed to restore to the SRVDC01_1-000002-delta.vmdk ?

[a_p_]

It's more than just the mentioned file that's missing, other files are missing too.

-rw------- 1 root root 15.5G Oct 19 2019 SRVDC01_0-000001-delta.vmdk
-rw------- 1 root root 322 Sep 9 2019 SRVDC01_0-000001.vmdk
-rw------- 1 root root 46.9G Mar 10 10:50 SRVDC01_0-000002-delta.vmdk --> missing: SRVDC01_0-000002.vmdk
-rw------- 1 root root 60.0G Sep 4 2019 SRVDC01_0-flat.vmdk
-rw------- 1 root root 552 Aug 13 2019 SRVDC01_0.vmdk
-rw------- 1 root root 17.3G Oct 19 2019 SRVDC01_1-000001-delta.vmdk
-rw------- 1 root root 323 Sep 9 2019 SRVDC01_1-000001.vmdk
-rw------- 1 root root 303.0G Mar 10 10:50 SRVDC01_1-000002-delta.vmdk --> missing: SRVDC01_1-000002.vmdk
-rw------- 1 root root 330 Mar 14 11:29 SRVDC01_1-000003.vmdk (Corrupt FILE)
-rw------- 1 root root 500.0G Sep 4 2019 SRVDC01_1-flat.vmdk
-rw------- 1 root root 554 Aug 13 2019 SRVDC01_1.vmdk

To find out what may be possible, please download all of the small the descriptor .vmdk files (the ones without delta, or flat in their names) as well as the VM's .vmx, and .vmsd file, compress/zip these files, and attach the .zip archive to your next reply.
You may want to use e.g. WinSCP for the downloads, since the datastore browser hides these small files.

Also describe what you've tried so far!

Another question: The VM's name suggests that it is a domain controller. Is this the only DC, or do you have other DC's in your environment? I'm asking because bringing a DC back online with old data, can cause serious issues in the Active Directory.

André

[andrepc]

So far we tried to restore the snapshot 000002 and to open the vm of actual state. Both procedures didn't work so we are trying to get out lateste backup. 

[a_p_]

This is quite confusing. The .zip archive contains files which were not on your previously posted listing.

If you have a recent backup, it may be the best way to restore the VM from the backup, because there are several issues which will cause file system corruption within the VM, even if the modified files that I've attached to this post, will fix the broken snapshot chain.

The issues:

• missing delta/snapsot files
• misconfigured configuration (.vmx) file
• VM was powered on from the parent virtual disks (at least it was attempted)

Anyway, if you want to try to bring the VM up again in order to e.g. get access to important data, follow these steps:

1. extract the files from the attached .zip archive, and upload them to the VM's directory on the datatore
2. delete the .vmsd file
3. reload the VM by following steps 2 and 3 from https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/1026043
4. disconnect the VM from the network in its settings! This will prevent possible issues with other systems in the domain.
5. create a new snapshot! This will ensure that the current files won't get modified.
6. power on the VM

André

[continuum]

Did you try to find / extract the missing
SRVDC01_1-000003-delta.vmdk (... missing file ....)

Ulli