Error while opening virtual machine: internal error. Something got corrupted how do I recover the machine?

[jetberrocal]

A suspended VM got corrupted.  What should I do to recover the machine? 

I dont care if I have to loose the suspended state.

[wila]

Internal error can mean a lot of things, so it is hard to give advice based on just that info.

You can try by starting to remove the suspend files (.vmss ) and the memory backed file (.vmem) see if it boots then.

Note that if you have more as one .vmem file that you should remove the one that matches the .vmss file in date/time.

Other .vmem files can belong to snapshots you have made instead of the suspend files.

Of course when trying to recover a broken VM the VERY FIRST step is a backup of all your virtual machine files to external media.

--

Wil

[jetberrocal]

I tried you suggestion of deleting the suspended related files, but still refused to open.

In my case it was a simple VM so I decided to recreate the VM using the corrupted vmx Hard Disk.

I had to make all settings but as I said they were small. (NET, MEM Size).

On linux it is easier because the vmx is a text file that one can edit, but in windows the vmx is binary encoded.

[wila]

Hi,

On Windows the vmx is also just a text file....

The only time when it is encoded is when you turn on encryption within VMware.

Once you do that fixing a corrupted virtual machine becomes very difficult.

--
Wil