Hi,
I am experiencing an issue for the second time now, so I wanted to ask help. I use ESXi for a couple of VMs, version 6.7.0 Update 3 (Build 15018017). After I move a VM to a different datastore (from a VMFS5 datastore to a VMFS6 datastore), it somehow uses a disk of months ago - like the past X months weren't stored properly.
What I did to migrate:
After going through this process, it shows the latest files within the VM from april 2019, while there were changes every day after that. But those... just disappeared?
The VMX contents:
.encoding = "UTF-8"
config.version = "8"
virtualHW.version = "13"
vmci0.present = "TRUE"
floppy0.present = "FALSE"
numvcpus = "2"
memSize = "16384"
bios.bootRetry.delay = "10"
tools.upgrade.policy = "manual"
sched.cpu.units = "mhz"
vm.createDate = "1556720757032586"
usb.present = "TRUE"
ehci.present = "TRUE"
scsi0.virtualDev = "lsisas1068"
scsi0.present = "TRUE"
sata0.present = "TRUE"
sata0:0.startConnected = "FALSE"
sata0:0.allowGuestConnectionControl = "FALSE"
sata0:0.deviceType = "cdrom-raw"
sata0:0.clientDevice = "TRUE"
sata0:0.fileName = "emptyBackingString"
sata0:0.present = "TRUE"
ethernet0.virtualDev = "e1000e"
ethernet0.networkName = "llc-ams01-cust-net1"
ethernet0.addressType = "static"
ethernet0.address = "00:0c:29:2c:f2:f3"
ethernet0.wakeOnPcktRcv = "FALSE"
ethernet0.present = "TRUE"
displayName = "llc-ams01-cust-vmname"
guestOS = "windows9srv-64"
toolScripts.afterPowerOn = "TRUE"
toolScripts.afterResume = "TRUE"
toolScripts.beforeSuspend = "TRUE"
toolScripts.beforePowerOff = "TRUE"
tools.syncTime = "FALSE"
uuid.bios = "56 4d b4 10 93 51 a9 5a-c0 26 e5 53 fa 05 66 c6"
uuid.location = "56 4d 97 05 db f8 07 1a-49 f5 1e 90 ea 28 99 74"
vc.uuid = "52 88 5e f4 99 50 64 cf-da b9 85 ae 6d 39 e9 26"
sched.cpu.min = "0"
sched.cpu.shares = "high"
sched.mem.min = "0"
sched.mem.minSize = "0"
sched.mem.shares = "high"
sched.cpu.affinity = "all"
vmci0.id = "-100309306"
cleanShutdown = "FALSE"
extendedConfigFile = "llc-ams01-cust-vmname.vmxf"
scsi0:0.deviceType = "scsi-hardDisk"
scsi0:0.fileName = "llc-ams01-cust-vmname.vmdk"
sched.scsi0:0.shares = "normal"
sched.scsi0:0.throughputCap = "off"
scsi0:0.present = "TRUE"
disk.EnableUUID = "TRUE"
featMask.vm.hv.capable = "Min:1"
tools.guest.desktop.autolock = "FALSE"
nvram = "llc-ams01-cust-vmname.nvram"
pciBridge0.present = "TRUE"
svga.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"
hpet0.present = "TRUE"
RemoteDisplay.maxConnections = "-1"
cpuid.coresPerSocket = "2"
sched.cpu.latencySensitivity = "normal"
numa.autosize.vcpu.maxPerVirtualNode = "2"
numa.autosize.cookie = "20001"
pciBridge0.pciSlotNumber = "17"
pciBridge4.pciSlotNumber = "21"
pciBridge5.pciSlotNumber = "22"
pciBridge6.pciSlotNumber = "23"
pciBridge7.pciSlotNumber = "24"
scsi0.pciSlotNumber = "160"
usb.pciSlotNumber = "32"
ethernet0.pciSlotNumber = "192"
ehci.pciSlotNumber = "33"
vmci0.pciSlotNumber = "34"
sata0.pciSlotNumber = "35"
scsi0.sasWWID = "50 05 05 60 93 51 a9 50"
monitor.phys_bits_used = "43"
vmotion.checkpointFBSize = "4194304"
vmotion.checkpointSVGAPrimarySize = "4194304"
softPowerOff = "FALSE"
usb:1.speed = "2"
usb:1.present = "TRUE"
usb:1.deviceType = "hub"
usb:1.port = "1"
usb:1.parent = "-1"
toolsInstallManager.lastInstallError = "0"
svga.guestBackedPrimaryAware = "TRUE"
tools.remindInstall = "FALSE"
toolsInstallManager.updateCounter = "10"
ethernet0.checkMACAddress = "FALSE"
vm.genid = "-3427782277700550669"
vm.genidX = "-3089548162795944296"
nakivo.uuid = "754944da-a301-4175-b169-ace492abc3ba"
sched.swap.derivedName = "/vmfs/volumes/5d189dec-b1f98545-32a2-801844f26f5a/llc-ams01-cust-vmname/llc-ams01-cust-vmname-aa2c8000.vswp"
migrate.hostLog = "./LLC-RDP-VMNAME-AMS01-5efdd000.hlog"
scsi0:0.redo = ""
usb:0.present = "TRUE"
usb:0.deviceType = "hid"
usb:0.port = "0"
usb:0.parent = "-1"
And the contents of the VM directory:
[root@ams01vh01:~] ls -lah /vmfs/volumes/HDD/llc-ams01-cust-vmname/
total 620513600
drwxr-xr-x 1 root root 76.0K Jan 3 12:43 .
drwxr-xr-t 1 root root 76.0K Dec 29 12:26 ..
-rw------- 1 root root 129.7G Dec 28 21:09 llc-ams01-cust-vmname-000001-delta.vmdk
-rw------- 1 root root 378 Dec 28 21:15 llc-ams01-cust-vmname-000001.vmdk
-rw------- 1 root root 44.8G Dec 28 21:15 llc-ams01-cust-vmname-000002-delta.vmdk
-rw------- 1 root root 331 Dec 28 22:03 llc-ams01-cust-vmname-000002.vmdk
-rw------- 1 root root 24.0G Dec 28 21:18 llc-ams01-cust-vmname-000003-delta.vmdk
-rw------- 1 root root 331 Dec 28 22:03 llc-ams01-cust-vmname-000003.vmdk
-rw------- 1 root root 30.6G Dec 28 21:22 llc-ams01-cust-vmname-000004-delta.vmdk
-rw------- 1 root root 331 Dec 28 22:03 llc-ams01-cust-vmname-000004.vmdk
-rw------- 1 root root 16.0G Jan 3 12:41 llc-ams01-cust-vmname-aa2c8000.vswp
-rw------- 1 root root 13 Dec 28 22:03 llc-ams01-cust-vmname-aux.xml
-rw------- 1 root root 350.0G Jan 3 13:44 llc-ams01-cust-vmname-flat.vmdk
-rw------- 1 root root 8.5K Jan 3 12:44 llc-ams01-cust-vmname.nvram
-rw------- 1 root root 543 Jan 3 12:43 llc-ams01-cust-vmname.vmdk
-rw------- 1 root root 77 Dec 28 22:03 llc-ams01-cust-vmname.vmsd
-rw------- 1 root root 3.5K Jan 3 12:41 llc-ams01-cust-vmname.vmx
-rw------- 1 root root 0 Jan 3 12:41 llc-ams01-cust-vmname.vmx.lck
-rw------- 1 root root 3.3K Dec 28 22:03 llc-ams01-cust-vmname.vmxf
-rw------- 1 root root 3.4K Jan 3 12:41 llc-ams01-cust-vmname.vmx~
-rw------- 1 root root 972.2K Dec 28 22:03 vmware-10.log
-rw------- 1 root root 372.6K Dec 28 22:03 vmware-11.log
-rw------- 1 root root 214.2K Jan 3 12:40 vmware-12.log
-rw------- 1 root root 1.6M Dec 28 22:03 vmware-7.log
-rw------- 1 root root 515.1K Dec 28 22:03 vmware-8.log
-rw------- 1 root root 309.0K Dec 28 22:03 vmware-9.log
-rw------- 1 root root 346.0K Jan 3 13:20 vmware.log
-rw------- 1 root root 86.0M Dec 28 22:03 vmx-llc-ams01-cust-vmname-2227188268-2.vswp
-rw------- 1 root root 82.0M Jan 3 12:41 vmx-llc-ams01-cust-vmname-2855043072-1.vswp
did you really delete the snapshots ? there are 4 snapshot-files visible.
check the llc-ams01-cust-vmname.vmsd to see which snapshot is valid
Thank you for your incredibly swift reply, really appreciated!
I did delete the snapshots from the ESXi web interface, of that I am sure. Here is the contents of the vmsd:
[root@ams01vh01:~] cat /vmfs/volumes/HDD/llc-ams01-cust-vmname/llc-ams01-cust-vmname.vmsd
.encoding = "UTF-8"
snapshot.lastUID = "4"
snapshot.needConsolidate = "TRUE"
Can I either edit this file or delete it to not use a snapshot and fallback to the regular vmdk?
perhaps you overlooked the warning "virtual machine needs consolidation" ?
the snapshot deletion failed so you need to consolidate (rightclick->consolidate)
did you move or copy the files to the new destination ? maybe its better to have a backup before because i dont know the behaviour of the webinterface with moved and re-registered machines
The .vmsd file (that's what you also see in the UI) is not reliable, if an issue occurred with deleting snapshots. To find out whether a VM has active snapshots, always check the VM's .vmdk file names in the settings, and/or check whether any delta, or separse files exist in the datastore. Snapshot files are named like <vmname>-00000x.vmdk.
Anyway, to find out what can be done, provide some information:
André
I just re-read your initial post and found:
from a VMFS5 datastore to a VMFS6 datastore
Tha's going to be an issue, because VMFS6 doesn't support delta files anymore. You will have to move (or better copy) the VM back to a VMFS5 datastore in order to try, and fix the issue.
André
perhaps you overlooked the warning "virtual machine needs consolidation" ?
the snapshot deletion failed so you need to consolidate (rightclick->consolidate)
did you move or copy the files to the new destination ? maybe its better to have a backup before because i dont know the behaviour of the webinterface with moved and re-registered machines
Thank you for you swift reply, once more.
I'll create a backup before trying to consolidate the disks. I have moved the files to their destination, rather than copying.
Thank you for your reply!
- for how long has the VM been powered on, when you detected the roll-back
The machine was moved on the 28th of december, has been powered off since. I just discovered the "rollback" - it is now offline again. Has been online for two hours max.
- compress/zip all of the VM's descriptor .vmdk files (the small ones), and attach the .zip archive to a reply post
This might sound really newbie: is there a chance that the descriptor files contain confidential information? And if so, can I take precautions to remove that particular info?
The .vmdk descriptor files are plain text files which can be viewed using an editor (which supports Linux line breaks). They only contain metadata, like the virtual disk's geometry, the snapshot chain information (which is what I am looking for), ...
Since they are kind of hidden in VMware datastore browser, you may use e.g. WinSCP to connect to the host, and download them.
Regarding the VM's uptime. You said that the VM has been powered on since Dec, 28th, but then you also say that it's been online for only 2 hours. Can you please clarify this. The point is that chances to recover data without (or with less) corruption are better, the less modifications/writes to the base .vmdk file has occurred.
André