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ouchway
Contributor
Contributor

Corrupt .vmx file on ESX host

Good day, all. Kindly help with corruption on virtual machine files (.vmx) on the ESX 4 host. vmware-cmd -l shows the .vmx file with preceding '[ ]' characters. fsck does not solve the problem and on the Vcenter the VM's show up as 'invalid' or 'inacessible'. We're running Vcenter 4.0. Kindly help with suggestions. Thanks

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continuum
Immortal
Immortal

Hi and welcome

can you download the vmx-file with datastorebrowser and attach it here ?




_________________________

VMX-parameters- WS FAQ -[ MOAcd|http://sanbarrow.com/moa241.html] - VMDK-Handbook

You also find me in the support crew of PHD Virtual Backup


________________________________________________
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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ouchway
Contributor
Contributor

Thanks, Continuum. It may not be easy for me to get you the .vmx file downloaded for security reasons. We've got strict policies in that line. Is there any way to get help without this?

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continuum
Immortal
Immortal

the vmx-file is a 2kb text-file that has no information I could use for anything else but fixing your problem

sorry - no more ideas - the easiest way to repair a corrupt text-file is checking it myself




_________________________

VMX-parameters- WS FAQ -[ MOAcd|http://sanbarrow.com/moa241.html] - VMDK-Handbook

You also find me in the support crew of PHD Virtual Backup


________________________________________________
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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Mohammad1982
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

If you are able to access the .vmdk files of the VM, then just create a new VM and add the .vmdk file to it.

If you are not able to access the VM's vmdk then it could be the problem with the storage.

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If you found this information useful, please consider awarding points for "Correct" or "Helpful". Thanks!!! Regards, Mohammad Wasim
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wila
Immortal
Immortal

Hello,

The vmx file configuration gets copied into the vmware.log file each time you boot your virtual machine.

So the trick is to see if there's a recent vmware.log file which is not corrupt and then extract the vmx file from that.

Here's a link to a script that can perform the recover operation for you.

http://www.vi-toolkit.com/wiki/index.php/Recover_vmx_from_log_file

Hope this helps,



--
Wil
_____________________________________________________
VI-Toolkit & scripts wiki at http://www.vi-toolkit.com

Contributing author at blog www.planetvm.net

Twitter: @wilva

| Author of Vimalin. The virtual machine Backup app for VMware Fusion, VMware Workstation and Player |
| More info at vimalin.com | Twitter @wilva
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