vmware restore problem

[TammamWar]

hello all

can anybody help me please

i have a windows 2012 physical server that includes virtual windows server 2012, the virtual server is backed up everyday on external hard drive

suddenly the physical server hard drives all crashed i had to install new hard drives when i tried to recover the VMware server i am getting the message in the pic attached

can anybody help me fixing this issue please

[scott28tt]

@TammamWar 

Post a full directory listing of the 25-11 folder, and attach a copy of the VMX file.

[TammamWar]

@scott28tt 

hers is the pic and vmx file content

.encoding = "windows-1252"
config.version = "8"
virtualHW.version = "12"
numvcpus = "4"
cpuid.coresPerSocket = "2"
vcpu.hotadd = "TRUE"
scsi0.present = "TRUE"
scsi0.virtualDev = "lsisas1068"
sata0.present = "TRUE"
memsize = "16384"
mem.hotadd = "TRUE"
scsi0:0.present = "TRUE"
scsi0:0.fileName = "Windows Server 2012.vmdk"
sata0:1.present = "TRUE"
sata0:1.fileName = "auto detect"
sata0:1.deviceType = "cdrom-raw"
usb.present = "TRUE"
ehci.present = "TRUE"
ehci.pciSlotNumber = "34"
usb_xhci.present = "TRUE"
sound.present = "TRUE"
sound.startConnected = "FALSE"
sound.virtualDev = "hdaudio"
sound.fileName = "-1"
sound.autodetect = "TRUE"
serial0.present = "TRUE"
serial0.fileType = "thinprint"
pciBridge0.present = "TRUE"
pciBridge4.present = "TRUE"
pciBridge4.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"
pciBridge4.functions = "8"
pciBridge5.present = "TRUE"
pciBridge5.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"
pciBridge5.functions = "8"
pciBridge6.present = "TRUE"
pciBridge6.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"
pciBridge6.functions = "8"
pciBridge7.present = "TRUE"
pciBridge7.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"
pciBridge7.functions = "8"
vmci0.present = "TRUE"
hpet0.present = "TRUE"
displayName = "Windows Server 2012-88"
guestOS = "windows8srv-64"
nvram = "Windows Server 2012.nvram"
virtualHW.productCompatibility = "hosted"
powerType.powerOff = "soft"
powerType.powerOn = "soft"
powerType.suspend = "soft"
powerType.reset = "soft"
extendedConfigFile = "Windows Server 2012.vmxf"
gui.lastPoweredViewMode = "fullscreen"
uuid.bios = "56 4d f9 9f 34 1f 6d 45-d9 e4 70 f2 2f a6 aa 3a"
uuid.location = "56 4d f9 9f 34 1f 6d 45-d9 e4 70 f2 2f a6 aa 3a"
migrate.hostlog = ".\Windows Server 2012-074ae39d.hlog"
scsi0:0.redo = ""
pciBridge0.pciSlotNumber = "17"
pciBridge4.pciSlotNumber = "21"
pciBridge5.pciSlotNumber = "22"
pciBridge6.pciSlotNumber = "23"
pciBridge7.pciSlotNumber = "24"
scsi0.pciSlotNumber = "160"
usb.pciSlotNumber = "32"
sound.pciSlotNumber = "33"
usb_xhci.pciSlotNumber = "192"
vmci0.pciSlotNumber = "35"
sata0.pciSlotNumber = "36"
scsi0.sasWWID = "50 05 05 6f 34 1f 6d 40"
vmci0.id = "-152539209"
vm.genid = "-3245638244953257005"
vm.genidX = "-1275252150117429574"
monitor.phys_bits_used = "42"
vmotion.checkpointFBSize = "4194304"
vmotion.checkpointSVGAPrimarySize = "33554432"
cleanShutdown = "FALSE"
softPowerOff = "FALSE"
sata0:1.autodetect = "TRUE"
svga.guestBackedPrimaryAware = "TRUE"
tools.syncTime = "FALSE"
tools.remindInstall = "TRUE"
toolsInstallManager.updateCounter = "8"
toolsInstallManager.lastInstallError = "0"
checkpoint.vmState = ""
isolation.tools.hgfs.disable = "TRUE"
sharedFolder0.present = "true"
sharedFolder0.enabled = "true"
sharedFolder0.readAccess = "true"
sharedFolder0.writeAccess = "true"
sharedFolder0.hostPath = "D:\"
sharedFolder0.guestName = "D"
sharedFolder0.expiration = "never"
sharedFolder.maxNum = "1"
hgfs.mapRootShare = "true"
gui.viewModeAtPowerOn = "fullscreen"
tools.upgrade.policy = "manual"
sata0:1.startConnected = "FALSE"
workingDir = "."
scsi0:1.present = "TRUE"
scsi0:1.deviceType = "scsi-passthru"
scsi0:1.fileName = "SCSI2:0"
scsi0:1.connectionStatus = "1"
usb_xhci:6.speed = "2"
usb_xhci:6.present = "TRUE"
usb_xhci:6.deviceType = "hub"
usb_xhci:6.port = "6"
usb_xhci:6.parent = "-1"
usb_xhci:7.speed = "4"
usb_xhci:7.present = "TRUE"
usb_xhci:7.deviceType = "hub"
usb_xhci:7.port = "7"
usb_xhci:7.parent = "-1"
ethernet0.present = "TRUE"
ethernet1.present = "TRUE"
ethernet2.present = "TRUE"
floppy0.present = "FALSE"
ethernet0.virtualDev = "e1000e"
ethernet1.virtualDev = "e1000e"
ethernet2.virtualDev = "e1000e"
ethernet3.virtualDev = "e1000e"
ethernet0.wakeOnPcktRcv = "false"
ethernet0.addressType = "generated"
ethernet0.linkStatePropagation.enable = "true"
ethernet0.txbw.limit = "10"
ethernet0.pciSlotNumber = "224"
ethernet0.generatedAddress = "00:0c:29:a6:aa:3a"
ethernet0.generatedAddressOffset = "0"
ethernet1.wakeOnPcktRcv = "false"
ethernet1.addressType = "generated"
ethernet1.pciSlotNumber = "256"
ethernet1.generatedAddress = "00:0c:29:a6:aa:44"
ethernet1.generatedAddressOffset = "10"
ethernet2.wakeOnPcktRcv = "false"
ethernet2.addressType = "generated"
ethernet2.pciSlotNumber = "1184"
ethernet2.generatedAddress = "00:0c:29:a6:aa:4e"
ethernet2.generatedAddressOffset = "20"
ethernet3.present = "TRUE"
ethernet3.wakeOnPcktRcv = "false"
ethernet3.addressType = "generated"
ethernet3.pciSlotNumber = "1216"
ethernet3.generatedAddress = "00:0c:29:a6:aa:58"
ethernet3.generatedAddressOffset = "30"
gui.exitOnCLIHLT = "TRUE"
usb_xhci:4.present = "TRUE"
usb_xhci:4.deviceType = "hid"
usb_xhci:4.port = "4"
usb_xhci:4.parent = "-1"
unity.wasCapable = "TRUE"

[a_p_]

The file listing shows that "Windows Server 2012-s003.vmdk" is missing.
This can happen due to a software issue, or e.g. a false positive if *.vm* files are not excluded from an A/V scanner.
Unless you have a backup, post a file listing from the command line, i.e. the output of dir *.* /oen. Often it's possible to replace the missing file by another one, to at least be able to mount/access the virtual disk, and backup important data from it.

André

[TammamWar]

@a_p_ 

thank you so much i didn't notice that before 

may i ask you the following: i have an old backup that works will can i copy Windows Server 2012-s003.vmdk to the current folder . will this solve the problem ??

[a_p_]

It will help to make the VM work again, but not solve the issue with missing data, and - most likely - more or less file system corruption.
Remember that data blocks in the s003.vmdk file have most likely been modified, since the time the backup was taken.

What you may do, is to restore the missing file from the backup, and create a VM snapshot before you power on the VM. This will ensure that the current .vmdk files won't get modified, and you can revert to the current state if required.

André

[TammamWar]

@a_p_ 

thanks for your help here is what dir *.* /oen shows ,

[a_p_]

From the file sizes, I assume that the missing file had stored ~20GB worth of data, which is now missing. In this case, I'd indeed use the backed up file, instead of replacing the missing file with one of the 2.686.976 bytes files (which are likely "empty" files, just containing metadata).

Once you can make the VM power on again (remember to take a snapshot first), do a file level backup of all your important files.
Maybe it is an option to backup new/modified files from the current VM, then restore the complete old VM backup (into another folder), copy the restored files to that server, and use that one from now on.

André

[TammamWar]

@a_p_ 

thank you so much for you help, and the great information 

i will do as you told me and i hope this will solve the problem

thank you so much again 

best regards 

[TammamWar]

@a_p_ 

i tired and copied the file and the vm server powered on but i am getting an error process1_initialization_failed 

Any suggestion to fix this issue ??

[a_p_]

That's likely a corruption of system files, caused by the missing 20GB.

What should work is to mount the VM's virtual disk to your host using VMware Workstation (File -> Map virtual disk), and try to backup the files you need.

André