.vmwarevm bundle missing from all Virtual Machines folders

[HelenG]

The .vmwarevm bundle is missing from every Virtual Machine folder I have on my computer, iCloud, external drive. I have no idea how this happened, I may have inadvertently deleted the Virtual Machine folder from Documents, but I cannot figure out why it is missing from several old iCloud backups.

Is there a way to restore the .vmwarevm bundle?

And enable daily backups of the it?

I don't use Time Machine. I am on Mac O/S 10.15.7 and Fusion 11.5.7. I want to back up my virtual machine so I can update both Fusion and my Mac O/S.

If I cannot restore the .vmwarevm bundle, can I copy the entire virtual machine to my external hard drive and how do I do that?

Please, I'm lost and have read many instructions but it is still unclear. In layman's terms if at all possible.

[ColoradoMarmot]

icloud excludes virtual machines due to their regular changes and large file size (all the cloud backups do).

The vmwarevm bundle is the virtual machine - if you deleted it, without a local backup, unfortunately you're out of luck.

Time machine is also unreliable for VM backups.  The only options that really work are some form of manual backup, or the product that @wila built.

[Technogeezer]

Ouch. 

I assume that from what you are saying that the bundles are indeed missing and not simply that they are there without an extension. 

You mention “iCloud backups”? Storing virtual machines in a location managed by iCloud Drive is a 100% no no. 

Using Time Machine to back up virtual machines is also a no-no. You stand a real chance of a corrupt backup, especially if the virtual machine is powered on SHU pike the Time Machine backup is being taken. 

You also ask about copying the virtual machine to an external drive. You would do that by shutting down the virtual machine and copying the bundle (which in reality is a special kind of folder that contains your virtual machine) to the external drive. Recovery is the reverse operation.  But if the bundle is missing, then the entire virtual machibe is missing. 

One utility that can be used to take daily backups of an e tire virtual machines is Vimalin (www.vimalin.com)

of course you always have an option to back up the virtual machine using a utility installed within the virtual machine to an external drive mounted to the virtual machine. 

[HelenG]

I wonder if I am using the wrong term. There is a small icon in the Virtual Machines folder, and that icon filename is the same as my virtual machine name. That small icon is missing from every virtual machine folder on my HD and external drive. But I can open my virtual machine without problem, so when you say "But if the bundle is missing, then the entire virtual machine is missing," that is not what's happening. The virtual machine is intact, it is that small icon that is missing.

I wish I had better words to express what I am saying.

There was always a small icon in the folder but now that folder is completely empty. Now that I know that iCloud does not backup the VPC, at least one mystery is solved.

So if I shutdown the VPC, but there is no small icon in the virtual machine folder,  how do I copy the entire VPC (sysems, files, everything) to an external drive? Every Fusion document refers to copying the virtual machine by "dragging the virtual machine bundle to a new location".... but there is no bundle icon to drag.

Any ideas? I have downloaded Vimalin and can use to copy my VPC today if necessary.

[Technogeezer]

If you can open the VM, then the bundle is still somewhere.

In the virtual machine library, right click on your virtual machine and select “Show in Finder”. That will open the folder that the vitrtual machine resides in, and you should see the icon for the bundle. 

[HelenG]

Success. The VM bundle was hiding in a folder named iCloud (Archive). I don't know how it wound up there, but I copied it to my external drive and can proceed with updating Fusion and O/S. I wish versions of Fusion were more compatible with O/S versions, the window of compatibility has shrunk. Thank you for your help.

[ColoradoMarmot]

Ok, I just did that myself by mistake.  I accidentally turned on 'documents and folders' in icloud drive and the darn thing immediately moved my entire set of local documents to that archive location and started uploading to icloud drive.

Definitely make multiple copies of the VM while it's shut down (not suspended) before upgrading Fusion or your OS.

Oh, and also this does mean that all your documents are now in icloud (if you didn't mean to do that), and not necessarily  on your computer any longer.

[HelenG]

That was my mistake, checking "documents and folders." The iCloud (archive) folders are empty except for the one that contained the VM bundle, which I'll move back to the Documents folder.  I assume the missing documents are on iCloud, the only thing I needed was the VM bundle. And make a second copy for upgrading Fusion and O/S.

[Technogeezer]

All of the files for the virtual machine are in that bundle (.vmwarevm) directory.

You might want to open System Preferences and open the Apple ID preferences. If you have iCloud Drive enabled, check the Options...

If the "Documents and Documents Folders" option checked, do not store your VM in the Documents directory. Mixing virtual machines and iCloud Drive is a very bad thing for the integrity of your virtual machine.

Instead, create another folder outside of your Documents directory. For the less experienced user, I suggest a Virtual Machines folder that's just under your user's home folder. Here's an example ( I have redacted my real username, but typically a user's home folder is located at Macintosh HD > Users > username )

Store your virtual machines there, and exclude this folder from Time Machine backups.