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ToddEverest
Contributor
Contributor

.VMDK file won't restore, no permission

Some time ago, when I upgraded to Mavericks, I decided to do a clean slate re-install and then restore select files from a Time Machine backup. When it came time to restoring my VM with Windows 7 on it, the bundle wouldn't fully restore and left out the .vmdk file, saying that some files in the bundle could not be read or written. I also tried transferring the file (both bundle and just the .vmdk) straight from the time machine backup bundle, but I get the same thing. Rsync and the mv function in Terminal say that I don't have permission. I've tried changing the permission on the files and folders of the backup using Finder and through Terminal, but no luck. If I try to boot the VM from the incomplete bundle that I have on from the restore, I get a black screen and it asks me to browse for the .vmdk, when I do, it says that it can't update snapshot data, and that I don't have permission. If I try to boot it up from the complete bundle in the Time Machine Backups.backupdb folder, it pops up with a screenshot of what my desktop last looked like, and then tells me I don't have permission to access the files. Since this happened I have read that I have done to no-no's: 1) backing up my VM while it paused rather than fully shut off, and 2) using Time Machine. However, I have read on this forum and others fixes to these problems, but I haven't seen anything concerning this no permissions business. I have an inkling that the permissions thing has to do with the fact that the backup was done in Snow Leopard and I am now running Mavericks.

Any help would be great. I've attached the .tgz files for the incomplete bundle and the bundle that I've tried to boot from my Time Machine. Note that the VM that I'm having trouble with is called "appleWindows" and the complete bundle is found in the Volumes folder of one of the .tgz files.

Thanks

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4 Replies
ToddEverest
Contributor
Contributor

I see that there has been a good amount of views of this post but there hasn't been any replies as of yet. Does anyone have any idea if this is fixable or am I totally out of luck?

Thanks,

Todd

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gszoniec
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

I have read recently (on this forum... probably) that is the fact (yes, someone used that word) that Time Machine is not a reliable backup/restore solution - that's why you have some problems. I cannot help you more because I haven't used Time Machine for my system yet (and I would rather not use it for any backup purposes...)

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ToddEverest
Contributor
Contributor

It just seems crazy that I can see the file and it seems to be all there (large file the size of the HD that I had set it to) but that I just can't copy it or move it because of the permissions thing which I just cannot figure out how to fix. Even if VMware charged to fix it (or anyone) I'd do it because there's so much valuable stuff in there.

Todd

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gszoniec
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

A silly question (apologies for a low level of this question), you tried mv in terminal but with or without the root's rights i.e. sudo mv ... or just mv ... ? It may explain why you have no permission.

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