Cannot power on new vm's - issue with working directory in the vmx file

[mrbrown66]

Hi all,

I have freshly deployed 6 new VM's this afternoon from a template and when we attempt to power them on the following error occurs.

-

---

Error

-

---

"This virtual machine cannot be powered on because its working directory is not valid. Please use the configuration editor to set a valid working directory, and then try again.

"

-

---

OK

-

---

Any discussion on these forums with errors like this are usually related to VM Workstation or VM Player.

I have noticed that on my other VM's it doesnt stipulate a working directory in the VMX file.

Normal VMX file

#!/usr/bin/vmware

config.version = "8"

virtualHW.version = "4"

floppy0.present = "true"

nvram = "VMBNEMS003 - Open Wave.nvram"

powerType.powerOff = "default"

powerType.powerOn = "default"

powerType.suspend = "default"

powerType.reset = "default"

displayName = "VMBNEMS003 - Open Wave"

extendedConfigFile = "VMBNEMS003 - Open Wave.vmxf"

scsi0.present = "true"

scsi0.sharedBus = "none"

scsi0.virtualDev = "lsilogic"

memsize = "2048"

scsi0:0.present = "true"

scsi0:0.fileName = "VMBNEMS003 - Open Wave.vmdk"

scsi0:0.deviceType = "scsi-hardDisk"

ide0:0.present = "true"

ide0:0.clientDevice = "true"

ide0:0.fileName = "/usr/lib/vmware/isoimages/windows.iso"

ide0:0.deviceType = "cdrom-raw"

ide0:0.startConnected = "false"

floppy0.startConnected = "false"

floppy0.fileName = "/dev/fd0"

floppy0.clientDevice = "true"

ethernet0.present = "true"

ethernet0.allowGuestConnectionControl = "false"

ethernet0.networkName = "76 VM Network BNE"

ethernet0.addressType = "vpx"

ethernet0.generatedAddress = "00:50:56:a6:5c:2f"

guestOS = "winnetstandard"

uuid.bios = "50 26 a0 eb 6c 16 04 be-24 dc f8 a6 db 9c 94 c8"

log.fileName = "vmware.log"

sched.cpu.min = "0"

sched.cpu.units = "mhz"

sched.cpu.shares = "1380"

sched.mem.minsize = "0"

sched.mem.shares = "2048"

toolScripts.afterPowerOn = "true"

toolScripts.afterResume = "true"

toolScripts.beforeSuspend = "true"

toolScripts.beforePowerOff = "true"

scsi0:0.redo = ""

tools.syncTime = "FALSE"

vmware.tools.requiredversion = "7202"

scsi0:1.present = "true"

scsi0:1.fileName = "VMBNEMS003 - Open Wave_1.vmdk"

scsi0:1.deviceType = "scsi-hardDisk"

sched.mem.max = "2048"

scsi0:1.redo = ""

uuid.location = "56 4d ae 83 ff 18 80 59-85 08 2d 22 4f 93 f0 4a"

migrate.hostlog = "./VMBNEMS003 - Open Wave-696d6a9b.hlog"

sched.swap.derivedName = "/vmfs/volumes/46a6deb0-07819adb-f633-00188b353559/VMBNEMS003 - Open Wave/VMBNEMS003 - Open Wave-696d6a9b.vswp"

Broken VMX file

config.version = "8"

virtualHW.version = "4"

floppy0.present = "true"

nvram = "VMBNEMS023 - Workflow - WebDAV1 .nvram"

powerType.powerOff = "default"

powerType.powerOn = "default"

powerType.suspend = "default"

powerType.reset = "default"

displayName = "VMBNEMS023 - Workflow - WebDAV1 - DEV"

extendedConfigFile = "VMBNEMS023 - Workflow - WebDAV1 .vmxf"

scsi0.present = "true"

scsi0.sharedBus = "none"

scsi0.virtualDev = "lsilogic"

memsize = "2048"

scsi0:0.present = "true"

scsi0:0.fileName = "/vmfs/volumes/46a6deb0-07819adb-f633-00188b353559/VMBNEMS023 - WebDAV1/VMBNEMS023 - Workflow - WebDAV1 .vmdk"

scsi0:0.deviceType = "scsi-hardDisk"

ide0:0.present = "true"

ide0:0.clientDevice = "true"

ide0:0.deviceType = "cdrom-raw"

ide0:0.startConnected = "false"

floppy0.startConnected = "false"

floppy0.clientDevice = "true"

ethernet0.present = "true"

ethernet0.allowGuestConnectionControl = "false"

ethernet0.networkName = "76 VM Network BNE"

ethernet0.addressType = "vpx"

ethernet0.generatedAddress = "00:50:56:a6:1e:6b"

guestOS = "winnetstandard"

uuid.bios = "50 26 c8 91 c7 f2 83 72-02 be 67 0e 16 c1 70 5a"

toolScripts.afterPowerOn = "true"

toolScripts.afterResume = "true"

toolScripts.beforeSuspend = "true"

toolScripts.beforePowerOff = "true"

floppy0.fileName = "/dev/fd0"

log.fileName = "/vmfs/volumes/46a6deb0-07819adb-f633-00188b353559/VMBNEMS023 - Workflow - WebDAV1/vmware.log"

workingDir = "/vmfs/volumes/46a6deb0-07819adb-f633-00188b353559/VMBNEMS023 - Workflow - WebDAV1"

sched.cpu.min = "0"

sched.cpu.units = "mhz"

sched.cpu.shares = "normal"

sched.mem.minsize = "0"

sched.mem.shares = "normal"

vmware.tools.requiredversion = "7202"

sched.mem.max = "unlimited"

I have tried the following

* Removed reference to working directory - same error

* Shortened the working directory and created it with no spaces

* Deleted all files except the VMDK files and recreated a new virtual machine with the existing disks

No joy. Any ideas? Could it be an issue with the template I am using?

[ezed]

sorry u r not getting much help, haveing never seen this error, and not knowing your environment; one quick thing to try

convert the template to a vm and see if it behaves the same way, it would seem like your template has an unsatisfied requirement.

[xAyiDe · Accepted solution]

Try by removing spaces in path. Workingdir is not needed for ESX. Be sure that the path to you SWAP-file is correct. I had this problem after reasigning VMFS a while back.

[mrbrown66]

Thanks.

Deleting the VM entirely, and then reprovisioning from the template without any spaces in the VM name has resolved the issue.

Now I wonder why it has issue with spaces!! Surely in the year 2008 IT systems have overcome spaces in their file/directory names, hell we have even put someone on the moon but we cant get this one right can we