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guynamedghost
Contributor
Contributor

Unique CID mismatch issue. Please help.

Hello gang,

I am new to this forum and here is a bit about myself. I have been working in IT for roughly 10 years. Recently I have embarked on gaining MCITP:Server Administrator certification and am using VMware Workstation to run through the labs and exercises.

However, I find myself in a bit of a scary situation. Basically I moved a team of VM's into a different directory. Three of the four power on, but one VM will not. This VM is the Win Server 2008 DC and contains all of the snapshots from my lab exercises from the past couple months.I believe my actions have resulted in a CID mismatch error, but I do not have enough experience with VMWare Workstation to confidently proceed with the troubleshooting steps outlined in the VMware's article (KB Article: 1007969).

If someone can get this VM to boot from it's current state, or even a snapshot or two previous, that would be wonderful. I just don't want to start from scratch.

If I should be posting this issue to another forum or website entirely, please let me know. Hopefully I have provided enough details to allow someone to share their expertise. Any help is greatly, greatly appreciated.

I am using linked clones to save space on my primary HDD (120 GIG Intel SSD). All of my VM's live within this path:


C:\Users\jeffrey\Documents\virtual machines\


The following VM's are in a team:


C:\Users\jeffrey\Documents\virtual machines\Clone of Windows Server 2008 R2 x64
C:\Users\jeffrey\Documents\virtual machines\Clone of Windows Server 2008 R2 x64 2_server_core.vmwarevm
C:\Users\jeffrey\Documents\virtual machines\Clone of Windows 7_vm_1
C:\Users\jeffrey\Documents\virtual machines\BranchOffice


I wanted to place their parents into a sub directory called "VM Masters"
I moved the following VM's into "C:\Users\jeffrey\Documents\virtual machines\VM Masters"


C:\Users\jeffrey\Documents\virtual machines\Windows 7_vm_1.vmwarevm\
C:\Users\jeffrey\Documents\virtual machines\Windows Server 2008 R2 x64 2_server_core.vmwarevm
C:\Users\jeffrey\Documents\virtual machines\Windows Server 2008 R2 x64.vmwarevm


After the move, I powered on the team.


"Clone of Windows Server 2008 R2 x64 2_server_core.vmwarevm" , "Clone of Windows 7_vm_1" and "BranchOffice" required that I browse to the correct vmdk file and then they boot successfully.


****HOWEVER****


"Clone of Windows Server 2008 R2 x64.vmwarevm" could not find the following file" :


"Windows Server 2008 R2 x64-000008.vmdk"


I browsed inside each subdir in "C:\Users\jeffrey\Documents\virtual machines\" and could not locate it.


Now here is where things get beyond my comfort level. A little back story is necessary.

Last year I began my MCITP studies using VM Fushion on a Mac. It quickly became apparent that I would need to invest in a dedicated windows rig (8GIGS RAM, SSD, etc...). If memory serves the "Windows Server 2008 R2 x64.vmwarevm" VM was originally created on VM Fusion. I imported the Fushion VM into VMware Workstation 7 on my new Desktop PC and I was up and running again.


I ended up finding the missing "Windows Server 2008 R2 x64-000008.vmdk" file inside the following path


"E:\vm\MCITP_VMs_orig_modify_with_care\Virtual Machines\Windows Server 2008 R2 x64.vmwarevm" (This VM was originally created with Fusion.)


Next, I attempted to power on "Clone of Windows Server 2008 R2 x64" but it gave me the following error:


"Cannot open the disk 'C:\Users\jeffrey\Documents\virtuals machines\Clone of Windows Server 2008 R2 x64\Windows Server 2008 R2 x64-cl1-000005.vmdk" or one of the snapshot disks it depends on. Reason: The parent virtual disk has been modifed since the child was created."


I should have stopped here, dove into the forums and calculated the next move. Instead I foolishly went into Snapshot Manager and reverted from "You Are Here" to a previous snapshot and clicked Go To. Things went for bad to worse. "Clone of Windows Server 2008 R2 x64" was stuck in a suspended state. I made some progress here. I was able to get the VM back into a Powered Off state by removing the VM from the Team and following the second step of KB #1003846.


Now when I attempt to resume I get the following error:


"Cannot open the disk 'C:\Users\jeffrey\Documents\virtual machines\Clone of Windows Server 2008 R2 x64\Windows Server 2008 R2 x64-cl1-000005.vmdk' or one of the snapshot disks it depends on.Reason: The parent virtual disk has been modified since the child was created."


Fully immersed in sh*t, it seemed like the perfect time to back up, so the following VM's folders are backed up to an external drive:
1. C:\Users\jeffrey\Documents\virtual machines\Clone of Windows Server 2008 R2 x64
2. C:\Users\jeffrey\Documents\virtual machines\Windows Server 2008 R2 x64.vmwarevm
3. The original Fushion VM


Is it possible to climb out of this hole?  Or am forced to wipe everything and start from scratch?

Below is the standard and full debug log for:
"C:\Users\jeffrey\Documents\virtual machines\Clone of Windows Server 2008 R2"

Standard Log: http://pastebin.com/c0xVFVwe

Full Debug: http://pastebin.com/bpyTx4uu


Again, any assistance is greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

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9 Replies
continuum
Immortal
Immortal

Hi
please just attach the vmware.logs next time - the site you used changes them slightly ....

anyway - put
"Windows Server 2008 R2 x64-000008.vmdk"
"Windows Server 2008 R2 x64-cl1-000001.vmdk"
"Windows Server 2008 R2 x64-cl1-000002.vmdk"
"Windows Server 2008 R2 x64-cl1-000003.vmdk"
"Windows Server 2008 R2 x64-cl1-000004.vmdk"
"Windows Server 2008 R2 x64-cl1-000005.vmdk"
"Windows Server 2008 R2 x64-cl1.vmdk"

into a zip-file and attach it here - does not look too serious


________________________________________________
Do you need support with a VMFS recovery problem ? - send a message via skype "sanbarrow"
I do not support Workstation 16 at this time ...

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guynamedghost
Contributor
Contributor

continuum,

Thank you for looking into this.

Please see attached.

Just to be safe, here are the paths:

"Windows Server 2008 R2 x64-000008.zip" compressed from

E:\vm\MCITP_VMs_orig_modify_with_care\Virtual Machines\Windows Server 2008 R2 x64.vmwarevm\

"Windows Server 2008 R2 x64-cl1.zip" compressed from

C:\Users\jeffrey\Documents\virtual machines\Clone of Windows Server 2008 R2 x64\

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continuum
Immortal
Immortal

Hi
I also need the small vmdk descriptorfiles from this directory
"E:\vm\MCITP_VMs_orig_modify_with_care\Virtual Machines\Windows Server 2008 R2 x64.vmwarevm"


________________________________________________
Do you need support with a VMFS recovery problem ? - send a message via skype "sanbarrow"
I do not support Workstation 16 at this time ...

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guynamedghost
Contributor
Contributor

See attached.

Thanks!

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continuum
Immortal
Immortal

there is one CID missmatch in your chain

when "Windows Server 2008 R2 x64-cl1.vmdk" links to its parent
"E:\vm\MCITP_VMs_orig_modify_with_care\Virtual Machines\Windows Server 2008 R2 x64.vmwarevm\Windows Server 2008 R2 x64-000008.vmdk"
the CID chain is broken.
SoI would adjust  the parentCID value of "Windows Server 2008 R2 x64-cl1.vmdk" to match the CID value of
"E:\vm\MCITP_VMs_orig_modify_with_care\Virtual Machines\Windows Server  2008 R2 x64.vmwarevm\Windows Server 2008 R2 x64-000008.vmdk"

I think that if you change the file "Windows Server 2008 R2 x64-cl1.vmdk" which now starts like

# Disk DescriptorFile
version=1
encoding="UTF-8"
CID=591f0332
parentCID=3515b64a
isNativeSnapshot="no"
createType="twoGbMaxExtentSparse"
....

to

# Disk DescriptorFile
version=1
encoding="UTF-8"
CID=591f0332
parentCID=348ae19a
isNativeSnapshot="no"
createType="twoGbMaxExtentSparse"
....

then both VMs should work again.


________________________________________________
Do you need support with a VMFS recovery problem ? - send a message via skype "sanbarrow"
I do not support Workstation 16 at this time ...

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guynamedghost
Contributor
Contributor

I adjusted the parentCID value of C:\Users\jeffrey\Documents\virtual machines\Clone of Windows Server 2008 R2 x64\Windows Server 2008 R2 x64-cl1.vmdk" as you indicated. Power On results in the following error:

Cannot open the disk 'C:\Users\jeffrey\Documents\virtual machines\Clone of Windows Server 2008 R2 x64\Windows Server 2008 R2 x64-cl1-000005.vmdk' or one of the snapshot disks it depends on. Reason: The parent virtual disk has been modified since the child was created.

Do you need me to post any further logs? Please take note of the attached screenshot to confirm directory paths of VM I am trying to boot.

Not sure if this is helpful, but since "Clone of Windows Server 2008 R2 x64" became unbootable, I have powered on, booted to desktop and shutdown

"E:\vm\MCITP_VMs_orig_modify_with_care\Virtual Machines\Windows Server  2008 R2 x64.vmwarevm\Clone of Windows Server 2008 R2 x64.vmx

Could this action constitute a modification to the parent?

Thank you.

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continuum
Immortal
Immortal

> Could this action constitute a modification to the parent?

Yes - of course - this 2 VMs are not independant.

Now we have to start from the beginning.

Please send the vmdks again - this time include the vmx of both VMs and al the small vmdks


________________________________________________
Do you need support with a VMFS recovery problem ? - send a message via skype "sanbarrow"
I do not support Workstation 16 at this time ...

0 Kudos
guynamedghost
Contributor
Contributor

I have also attached the contents of each directory. Hopefully this will be useful to you.

Please respond at your conveinence.

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continuum
Immortal
Immortal

Hi
sorry - I forgot your case as I am rather short on time at the moment.

Please have a look at my notes - http://sanbarrow.com/vmdk-errors.html#e4

these issues are not too hard to fix  - maybe you can help your self.
I hope to find the time to look into it again tonight

Ulli


________________________________________________
Do you need support with a VMFS recovery problem ? - send a message via skype "sanbarrow"
I do not support Workstation 16 at this time ...

0 Kudos