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zavatone
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Snapshot deleted for Mac OS. Options?

I'm on Fusion 5.0.3.

I deleted my snapshots and Fusion 5 states that it needs a snapshot.vmsn to boot.

Is the best option to restore the lost data, or is it possible to boot without recovering all the data?

Thanks in advance.

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WoodyZ
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After we talked on the phone last night I started to write up the steps although we just ended up doing it by phone this morning, so for the sake of others this is what was done...

With VMware Fusion closed, copy the "/Volumes/ML SSD/Users/Shared/Mac OS X 10.8.3 64-bit.vmwarevm" Virtual Machine Package to a Volume that has adequate free space to allow for consolidating snapshots.

The virtual hard disk is an 80 GB monolithicSparse type disk and current the Base Disk is ~52 GB and the Snapshot Disk is ~28 GB for a total of 80 GB.  Theoretically 160+ GB of free space is needed for both the copy of the Package and space to consolidate, although the actual number will be less.  Without knowing the amount of used space by the Guest OS as seen from within the running Guest OS the actual amount of necessary free Host disk space cannot be calculated to less then the theoretical needs.  As an example if the actual used space in the virtual hard disk is  ~60 GB then you need ~140 GB free.

Once the target Virtual Machine Package is copied then open the copied Package and delete all but the following files.

Mac OS X 10.8 64-bit.nvram

Mac OS X 10.8 64-bit.vmx

Virtual Disk 2-000001.vmdk

Virtual Disk 2.vmdk

Now start the Virtual Machine by double-clicking the "Mac OS X 10.8 64-bit.vmx" file and answer "I moved it" when prompted.  Note: Starting the Virtual Machine in this manner will populate a new entry on the Virtual Machine Library window, which going forward you will use.

Once at the OS X Desktop and the system has settled down then shutdown, not suspend, the Virtual Machine.

Take a Snapshot.

Delete the Snapshot.

This causes the Current Snapshot and the Orphaned Snapshot to be consolidated to the Base Disk.  (Or the Child Disk(s) to the Parent Disk.)

Start the Virtual Machine and once at the OS X Desktop and the system has settled down then shutdown, not suspend, the Virtual Machine and close VMware Fusion.

Make a temporary Backup Copy of the target Virtual Machine Package.

Now open VMware Fusion and go into the Hard Disk Settings and click Advanced options and check the Split into 2 GB files check box and click the Apply button.

Once finished, start the Virtual Machine to make sure all is still working.

Delete the temporary Backup Copy of the target Virtual Machine Package.

Delete to original copy so as to have room to copy back the newly consolidated and split disk package and then copy it back to its original location.

When starting the Virtual Machine for the first time at its copied location, answer "I moved it" when prompted.

Now back to normal and better then before since consolidating snapshots will only need a little more then 2 GB of free Host disk space, although one should never allow a disk to get that full! Smiley Wink

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a_p_
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Please use the "Collect Support Information" command from the VMware Fusion (menu bar) > Help > Collect Support Information and then attach the .tgz file it created on your Desktop to a reply post (to attach files switch to the Advanced Editor).

André

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zavatone
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vm-07-19-13.30411.tgz enclosed as requested.

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a_p_
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According to the log bundle the VM still has a 30GB active snapshot (assuming it's the MAC OSX VM we are talking about)!?

At what point does Fusion complain about the missing .vmsn file? And what's the exact error message?

André

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WoodyZ
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André, I took a very quick look and it looks like there was not enough space to consolidate the monolithicSparce disk as the volume it's stored on only has 42.62 GB available while the base disk is ~ 52 GB and the delta disk is ~ 29 GB.

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zavatone
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When I try to start the VM by clicking on the play button.

Messages in the dialog sheet:

     File not found: Mac OS X 10.8 64-bit-Snapshot2.vmsn

     This file is required to power on this virtual machine.  If this file was moves, specify the new location. (Cancel) (Browse…)

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zavatone
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Thanks for the analysis Woody and Andre.  Should I copy the remaining VM over to a larger disk and expand the volumes, or free up some space on the SSD, or expand the VM's virtual disk size?

I've restored the deleted files to another HD, if they are needed, but I need to make sure that I know what to move back if that's what's required.

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WoodyZ
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Without knowing what other files you're referring to and the filename, file size and date/time stamp I cannot comment although let me ask you a question...  Is the ultimate goal here to have consolidated all snapshots in the Mac OS X 10.8.3 64-bit Virtual Machine?

zavatone
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The ultimate goal is to be able to boot my 10.8.3 vm again and continue working.

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WoodyZ
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Okay, that is the obvious end goal however right now you have a VM that's not functioning, has as snapshot that cannot be removed due to it base disk size and snapshot disk size and the amount of free space on the volume it resides!  So I can tell you how to quickly get it up an running but that doesn't fix the cause of the issue and will leave the VM with an Orphaned Snapshot State and that isn't necessarily a good thing under the circumstances.

So do you what to just get it running or do you want to consolidate the Snapshot and get it running?

If all you want to do is get it running then just delete the "Mac OS X 10.8 64-bit.vmsd" file which will get you past the "File not found: Mac OS X 10.8 64-bit-Snapshot2.vmsn"error message and completely orphan the "Virtual Disk 2-000001.vmdk" snapshot, which is effectively orphaned anyway because the "Mac OS X 10.8 64-bit-Snapshot2.vmsn" file is missing and not within the Virtual Machine Package.

If you want to fix it so going forward you are starting with everything in on .vmdk or split into 2 GB max Extents where you will have a lessor Host free space overhead requirement when working with Snapshots then this requires much more then the "just get it running" approach! Smiley Wink

zavatone
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Well, I'm at a disadvantage here since I don't know what "consolidating the Snapshot" means.

Of course, I'd like to get the VM back up and running in a stable state and remove any unneeded snapshots, which I think is what got me into this state in the first place.

Right now, I have these vmdk files within the package:

Virtual Disk 2-000001.vmdk     - 30.84 GB

Virtual Disk 2.vmdk                - 56.38 GB

And I also have the remaining recovered .vmem, .vmss, and .vmsn files on an external.

I'd like this to be a working system again that I can move forwards with and continue using on a regular basis.

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WoodyZ
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Check your Private Messages.

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WoodyZ
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After we talked on the phone last night I started to write up the steps although we just ended up doing it by phone this morning, so for the sake of others this is what was done...

With VMware Fusion closed, copy the "/Volumes/ML SSD/Users/Shared/Mac OS X 10.8.3 64-bit.vmwarevm" Virtual Machine Package to a Volume that has adequate free space to allow for consolidating snapshots.

The virtual hard disk is an 80 GB monolithicSparse type disk and current the Base Disk is ~52 GB and the Snapshot Disk is ~28 GB for a total of 80 GB.  Theoretically 160+ GB of free space is needed for both the copy of the Package and space to consolidate, although the actual number will be less.  Without knowing the amount of used space by the Guest OS as seen from within the running Guest OS the actual amount of necessary free Host disk space cannot be calculated to less then the theoretical needs.  As an example if the actual used space in the virtual hard disk is  ~60 GB then you need ~140 GB free.

Once the target Virtual Machine Package is copied then open the copied Package and delete all but the following files.

Mac OS X 10.8 64-bit.nvram

Mac OS X 10.8 64-bit.vmx

Virtual Disk 2-000001.vmdk

Virtual Disk 2.vmdk

Now start the Virtual Machine by double-clicking the "Mac OS X 10.8 64-bit.vmx" file and answer "I moved it" when prompted.  Note: Starting the Virtual Machine in this manner will populate a new entry on the Virtual Machine Library window, which going forward you will use.

Once at the OS X Desktop and the system has settled down then shutdown, not suspend, the Virtual Machine.

Take a Snapshot.

Delete the Snapshot.

This causes the Current Snapshot and the Orphaned Snapshot to be consolidated to the Base Disk.  (Or the Child Disk(s) to the Parent Disk.)

Start the Virtual Machine and once at the OS X Desktop and the system has settled down then shutdown, not suspend, the Virtual Machine and close VMware Fusion.

Make a temporary Backup Copy of the target Virtual Machine Package.

Now open VMware Fusion and go into the Hard Disk Settings and click Advanced options and check the Split into 2 GB files check box and click the Apply button.

Once finished, start the Virtual Machine to make sure all is still working.

Delete the temporary Backup Copy of the target Virtual Machine Package.

Delete to original copy so as to have room to copy back the newly consolidated and split disk package and then copy it back to its original location.

When starting the Virtual Machine for the first time at its copied location, answer "I moved it" when prompted.

Now back to normal and better then before since consolidating snapshots will only need a little more then 2 GB of free Host disk space, although one should never allow a disk to get that full! Smiley Wink

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zavatone
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Thank you very much André for looking in to this. WoodyZ was kind enough to spend two hours of his time walking me through the process this morning.

In short, in my particular situation, I duplicated the VM to another drive, then had recovered the missing file that VMWare was looking for but it was invalid.  One approach was to get the VM bootable without it and see if any data was missing or if I could work with what I had.  In trying that, I edited the .vmx file that is inside the .vmwarevm package file that is my 80 GM VM of 10.8.3.

In doing that, I changed this variable:

scsi0:1.fileName =

to the name of the disk that was not missing, booted it and as it turned out, the most recent files that I worked on were there, and it was good enough.

From there, we proceeded converting the disk into 2 GB files to reclaim space and  followed the rest of WoodyZ's instructions, before copying the fixed VM back to my SSD.

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zavatone
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Can't thank you enough Woody.  Your knowledge about the subject matter and willingness to spend two hours of your morning to help a complete stranger at the stop of a hat is more than appreciated.

Expect (yet another) Nobel Peace Prize nomination for your act of kindness

Cheers and don't forget to comment your code and only use single letter variables at all times (I jest).

- Alex

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a_p_
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Alex,

great to here everything worked as expected with Woody's help. Actually, I'm glad Woody took over, because he's the Pro when it comes to Mac/Fusion issue.

André

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