Cloning, and NVRAM

[liquidcross]

I recently installed Fusion 3.0.1, and migrated over an XP VM from my Linux version of Workstation 6.5.3. That worked fine, but what I wanted to do next was clone the VM afterwards, so I'd have two copies of XP to work with. Fusion has no clone function as does Workstation, so I just made a duplicate of the VM's folder in Finder and renamed everything accordingly. It loads fine, but the .nvram file in the XP clone still has the filename of the original VM. Is there any way to change this? I can't seem to access the BIOS upon boot, either; I press F2, but it refused to load the BIOS setup.

Any help would be appreciated! Thanks in advance!

[rcardona2k]

I recently installed Fusion 3.0.1, and migrated over an XP VM from my Linux version of Workstation 6.5.3. That worked fine, but what I wanted to do next was clone the VM afterwards, so I'd have two copies of XP to work with. Fusion has no clone function as does Workstation, so I just made a duplicate of the VM's folder in Finder and renamed everything accordingly. It loads fine, but the .nvram file in the XP clone still has the filename of the original VM. Is there any way to change this? I can't seem to access the BIOS upon boot, either; I press F2, but it refused to load the BIOS setup.

You can change the name of the nvram file in the VM's .vmx file under the setting nvram = "filename.nvram". Try adding a BIOS boot delay or force entering BIOS with the settings documented in

[liquidcross]

Cool, thanks!

On the same topic, I tried doing this with Windows 7, but I've run into a different problem: when I tried to boot the cloned Windows 7 VM, it claims it can't find the .vmdk file. It's right there, at the correct path! If I go into Settings, and try to select the .vmdk file manually, it's grayed out. Any ideas?

[rcardona2k]

The check the file system permissions on the VM files you probably either don't own them or have read/write permission to modify them, or both.

[liquidcross]

Just checked; I've got read/write access to all files.

[liquidcross]

Just checked; I've got read/write access to all files.

[WoodyZ]

Need to see a file listing of the target Virtual Machine Package...

The following are directions for a normal Fusion created Virtual Machine Package and it the target Virtual Machine is not packaged (having the .vmwarevm extension) then just drag and drop the folder the files that comprise the Virtual Machine are in.

1. In a Terminal (/Applications/Utilities/Terminal), type the following without the quotes, including the trailing space, however do not press Enter yet and note that the following contains lowercase L's, not ones: "ls -lAF "

2. In Fusion's Virtual Machine Library (VMware Fusion (menu bar) > Window > Virtual Machine Library), ctrl-click the target Virtual Machine and then select "Show in Finder".

3. Drag and drop the target Virtual Machine onto the Terminal and this will populate the fully qualified pathname of the Virtual Machine.

4. Next type the following without quotes, including leading space, then press Enter: " > ~/Desktop/filelist.txt"

Example of the full command line in Terminal:

ls -lAF /Users/${USER}/Documents/Virtual Machines.localized/Windows XP.vmwarevm  > ~/Desktop/filelist.txt

5. Next attach the filelist.txt file that was created on the Desktop to a reply post.

[liquidcross]

Here's the output:

-rw-rr@ 1 myusername staff 2144 Feb 3 21:10 /Users/myusername/Documents/Virtual Machines.localized/Windows7/Windows7.vmx

[WoodyZ]

I need to see a complete file listing of all files that comprise the target Virtual Machine and it would be preferred if you'd follow the directions previously provided and not just post the output. Reread my previous post.

[liquidcross]

That output was all that was in the file. I ran the command again, and attached the file in case you don't believe me.

[WoodyZ]

It's not that I didn't believe you, its not a complete file listing of all the files that comprise the Virtual Machine as it is only the configuration file. So if that is all there is then you don't have a complete Virtual Machine stored in the same folder that the .vmx file is. So without seeing the permission as requested for the remaining files that comprise the Virtual Machine there is not much to say other then attach the .vmx file itself so I can see where it's pointing to the .vmdk file(s).

[liquidcross]

Yeah, when I hit "Show in Finder," it only pointed to the vmx file. There's plenty of other files in the same folder, like the nvram file, the vmdk files, etc.

[rcardona2k]

Something's not right, ls would not hide files even if you didn't have permission. Try this: with the .vmx shown in the Finder (in the folder with all your other files), open a Terminal window and start your ls command, e.g. ls -l, leave a space at the end, then drag the .vmx into the Terminal window, when it appends it to the line, backspace out the .vmx filename until you reach the last slash (/). Then run the command and post the output and post your .vmx file too. Thanks

[liquidcross]

I followed your modified instructions, and the new filelist.txt is attached; it looks like it listed everything this time!

[WoodyZ]

Archive and attach the following files:

Windows7.vmdk

Windows7.vmx

vmware-0.log

vmware-1.log

vmware-2.log

vmware.log

[liquidcross]

There isn't any personally identifiable information contained in those files, is there?

[WoodyZ]

As to what's in the files you can look at then in TextEdit to see what's in them but you'll probably not understand most of it.

If you want help through this forum then you need to supply what was requested or you can open an official support request and work behind close doors.

[liquidcross]

Files are attached in a zip file.

And for the record, I was just asking a valid question, as I have security concerns. I appreciate the help, but I do not appreciate the condescending attitude.

[WoodyZ]

The Windows7.vmdk file contains the following segment:

# Extent description
RW 4192256 SPARSE "Windows7Master-s001.vmdk"
RW 4192256 SPARSE "Windows7Master-s002.vmdk"
RW 4192256 SPARSE "Windows7Master-s003.vmdk"
RW 4192256 SPARSE "Windows7Master-s004.vmdk"
RW 4192256 SPARSE "Windows7Master-s005.vmdk"
RW 4192256 SPARSE "Windows7Master-s006.vmdk"
RW 4192256 SPARSE "Windows7Master-s007.vmdk"
RW 4192256 SPARSE "Windows7Master-s008.vmdk"
RW 16384 SPARSE "Windows7Master-s009.vmdk"

Based on the filelist.txt it should actually be:

# Extent description
RW 4192256 SPARSE "Windows7-s001.vmdk"
RW 4192256 SPARSE "Windows7-s002.vmdk"
RW 4192256 SPARSE "Windows7-s003.vmdk"
RW 4192256 SPARSE "Windows7-s004.vmdk"
RW 4192256 SPARSE "Windows7-s005.vmdk"
RW 4192256 SPARSE "Windows7-s006.vmdk"
RW 4192256 SPARSE "Windows7-s007.vmdk"
RW 4192256 SPARSE "Windows7-s008.vmdk"
RW 16384 SPARSE "Windows7-s009.vmdk"

Anyway I'm not trying to be condescending and at times while I may come off a bit blunt and terse nonetheless in some cases we just need to see the information requested in order to properly troubleshoot the issue and if people have concerns then they shouldn't be posting to public forums and instead get paid professional help or go through closed support channels.

[liquidcross]

Can I just rename those lines within the vmdk file, or would that corrupt the file?