Hello all!!!!! Home lab player. I have a VM that I was trying to move to a SSD that I installed rather than a regular HDD. I copied it from one data store to another with no luck then I tried the move to the new data store with no luck. I am new to this and would like some help saving my VM. I have windows server installed on it and it is controlling my domain. I do not want to re install the server and re-do the computers on my network. If anyone could help point me in a direction I would appreciate it.
Thank you,
As I thought, WINSvr-flat.vmdk seems to be missing. Since it is a data disk (and not the descriptor), it cannot be recreated. Only option would be to restore it from the backup, if any. If WINSvr16 is the new VM you are talking about, I would say let's go ahead and get it up.
Please consider marking this answer as "correct" or "helpful" if you think your questions have been answered.
Cheers,
Supreet
Digging in while waiting for a little help I found that I cannot save the config file. Also, when I try and power on the VM it never writes to the log file.
How are you trying to move the files? Using the migrate option or from using the move option from the datastore browser? Is the VM running on a snapshot?
Can you share the screenshot of the error you are getting while moving/migrating the disk? Also, are both source and destination datastore VMFS-5? Or on a different version?
Cheers,
Supreet
SupreetK,
They move fine but do not start after moving. They don't start after moving back either. Data Stores are VMFS-6. Not sure how to tell if it is running on a snapshot.
How are you moving the files (by using the migrate option or move option on the datastore)? What files are you moving? Can you get all the files back to the source datastore, navigate to the VM folder, run the below commands and share the output?
1) grep -i vmdk VM_name.vmx
2) ls -lrht *vmdk*
You can refer to the KB VMware Knowledge Base to know how to identify if a VM is running on snapshot.
Cheers,
Supreet
Yes I am running on a snapshot. Here is the output of the commands:
grep -i does not give me an output
I moved first by copy in the data store, then I tried with the move from the data store.
Can you run the below commands from the VM folder and share the output? I don't see a flat.vmdk file in the above screenshot.
ls -lrht *vmdk*
grep -i vmdk "WINSvr.vmx"
vmkfstools -e "WINSvr-000002.vmdk"
vmkfstools -e "WINSvr-000001.vmdk"
vmkfstools -e "WINSvr.vmdk"
Cheers,
Supreet
Here is the screen attachment. Thank you for helping.
Looks like three main files are missing - WINSvr-000001.vmdk, WINSvr.vmdk and WINSvr-flat.vmdk. The first two files can be recreated but, the flat cannot be. From the root folder of the ESXi, run the command <find . -iname *WINSvr* | grep -i vmdk> and share the output. This will help us identify if the above three files are residing in a different location.
Cheers,
Supreet
Here is the screen shot. My work keeps me busy. Sorry for taking so long to get back. As you see, I have another ready to go if we cannot get the other back up and running.
As I thought, WINSvr-flat.vmdk seems to be missing. Since it is a data disk (and not the descriptor), it cannot be recreated. Only option would be to restore it from the backup, if any. If WINSvr16 is the new VM you are talking about, I would say let's go ahead and get it up.
Please consider marking this answer as "correct" or "helpful" if you think your questions have been answered.
Cheers,
Supreet
Thank you for all of your help!!!!!!!
I had this problem moving my VMs from an NFS DS to an iSCSI one in the ESXi 6.7 web ui. I found that if you choose the VM. Go to Actions. Snapshots. Manage Snapshots. Delete all snapshots. Then copy/move the VM to the other DS they work fine. Seems like an issue with snapshots and moving between DS. Not sure if this affects VMDS to VMDS moves. The drawback, of course, is that you lose your snapshots. You can take new ones afterwards. So if the system is in a good state then maybe this would work?
The problem here was a missing flat.vmdk and this problem was not solved at all.
Flat.vmdks can be recreated or recovered ... a fake flat.vmdk can then be used to extract some user-data.
Anyway - it does not really make sense to suggest something without feedback from the OP.
And this an old post .... better forget about it.
Hi,
Seen this article and have pretty much same issue, however i still have the flat file. Keep getting the below error.
Failed - Unable to enumerate all disks.
Errors
0"
Unable to enumerate all disks.
A required file was not found
This post is about a missing flat.vmdk - you say you still have the flat.vmdk so your problem obviously is completely different.
Create a new post and provide details.
You're already helping on that thread Ulli: https://communities.vmware.com/t5/Backup-Recovery-Discussions/Snapshot-won-t-delete/m-p/2814578#M183...