cannot power on vm host, file was not found

[nd172]

Hi Guys, 

i have problem to power on vm host on my workstation, after finish change type hardisk from thick to thin provisioned with command vmkfstools -i 

i check on directory with ssh, it seems no file lost 

[root@CYBR-MTID:/vmfs/volumes/63886817-b87f7400-1a0c-1402ec4345ac/CYBR-DEMOLAB-PC00] ls -lh
total 138206400
-rw------- 1 root root 2.0G Jan 4 07:32 CYBR-DEMOLAB-PC00-000001-sesparse.vmdk
-rw------- 1 root root 331 Jan 4 03:24 CYBR-DEMOLAB-PC00-000001.vmdk
-rw------- 1 root root 1.4G Jan 4 08:26 CYBR-DEMOLAB-PC00-000002-sesparse.vmdk
-rw------- 1 root root 338 Jan 4 07:34 CYBR-DEMOLAB-PC00-000002.vmdk
-rw------- 1 root root 816.4M Jan 4 09:25 CYBR-DEMOLAB-PC00-000003-sesparse.vmdk
-rw------- 1 root root 338 Jan 4 08:33 CYBR-DEMOLAB-PC00-000003.vmdk
-rw------- 1 root root 1016.3M Jan 5 04:45 CYBR-DEMOLAB-PC00-000004-sesparse.vmdk
-rw------- 1 root root 338 Jan 4 09:27 CYBR-DEMOLAB-PC00-000004.vmdk
-rw------- 1 root root 1.3G Jan 9 05:15 CYBR-DEMOLAB-PC00-000005-sesparse.vmdk
-rw------- 1 root root 338 Jan 9 01:45 CYBR-DEMOLAB-PC00-000005.vmdk
-rw------- 1 root root 4.0G Jan 4 03:33 CYBR-DEMOLAB-PC00-Snapshot1.vmem
-rw------- 1 root root 1.3M Jan 4 03:33 CYBR-DEMOLAB-PC00-Snapshot1.vmsn
-rw------- 1 root root 4.0G Jan 4 07:43 CYBR-DEMOLAB-PC00-Snapshot2.vmem
-rw------- 1 root root 1.3M Jan 4 07:43 CYBR-DEMOLAB-PC00-Snapshot2.vmsn
-rw------- 1 root root 4.0G Jan 4 08:37 CYBR-DEMOLAB-PC00-Snapshot3.vmem
-rw------- 1 root root 1.3M Jan 4 08:38 CYBR-DEMOLAB-PC00-Snapshot3.vmsn
-rw------- 1 root root 4.0G Jan 4 09:37 CYBR-DEMOLAB-PC00-Snapshot4.vmem
-rw------- 1 root root 1.3M Jan 4 09:37 CYBR-DEMOLAB-PC00-Snapshot4.vmsn
-rw------- 1 root root 4.0G Jan 5 04:56 CYBR-DEMOLAB-PC00-Snapshot5.vmem
-rw------- 1 root root 1.3M Jan 5 04:56 CYBR-DEMOLAB-PC00-Snapshot5.vmsn
-rw------- 1 root root 90.0G Jan 4 03:20 CYBR-DEMOLAB-PC00-flat.vmdk
-rw------- 1 root root 90.0G Jan 9 06:26 CYBR-DEMOLAB-PC00-thin-flat.vmdk
-rw------- 1 root root 567 Jan 9 06:38 CYBR-DEMOLAB-PC00-thin.vmdk
-rw------- 1 root root 8.5K Jan 9 05:15 CYBR-DEMOLAB-PC00.nvram
-rw------- 1 root root 513 Jan 3 02:33 CYBR-DEMOLAB-PC00.vmdk
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1.9K Jan 5 04:45 CYBR-DEMOLAB-PC00.vmsd
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 3.6K Jan 9 05:15 CYBR-DEMOLAB-PC00.vmx
-rw------- 1 root root 3.8K Dec 7 04:48 CYBR-DEMOLAB-PC00.vmxf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1.6M Dec 17 08:29 vmware-1.log
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 266.6K Jan 2 02:22 vmware-2.log
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 214.8K Jan 2 08:55 vmware-3.log
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1.8M Jan 7 04:49 vmware-4.log
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 518.5K Jan 9 05:15 vmware.log
-rw------- 1 root root 81.0M Dec 19 04:41 vmx-CYBR-DEMOLAB-PC00-bba26671691e961ea32051180aabc894f0fd4d09-2.vswp

any advice for fix the problem ? 

[DCasota]

Hi,

First make a backup of all files in any case.

You could try VMFS Recovery .

fyi There are .sesparse.vmdk indicating disks >=2TB.

As alternative, see https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/1002511 .

Check the disk chain consistency for any eligible .vmdk, e.g.
vmkfstools -e CYBR-DEMOLAB-PC00-thin.vmdk, vmkfstools -e CYBR-DEMOLAB-PC00.vmdk, ...
Compare the results for the snapshot chain if snapshot content is needed.

The CYBR-DEMOLAB-PC00.vmx is present but doesn't seem to load the desired snapshot chain. In case of  CYBR-DEMOLAB-PC00-thin.vmdk, this descriptor file must refer to the -thin-flat.vmdk file. Save the descriptor file before editing. Add ddb.thinprovisioned = "1" if not already present. 

[aakibdawood]

i have seen instances when virtual machine files are scattered into multiple folders.

Right click on the VM and go to edit settings. Can you confirm that the hard disk location you see is the same where the files are.