Recovering VM from VMDK File Only

[jfmorales]

For one of my VMs, for some reason all the files have disappeared except for the vmdk file itself. Is there some way to recover/recreate a VM from just the vmdk file? I've tried importing it in various ways, but couldn't find any selection for importing a vmdk file.

This is on VMWare ESX Server 3.5.0, 64607 with VMWare Infrastructure Server 2.5.0, 59306.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Joseph

[Troy_Clavell]

create a new VM using the custom setup... When you get to "Select a disk" and choose "use and existing virtual disk, point to where the .vmdk file is. Once complete, try and power it on.

[jfmorales]

Thanks, Troy. I did as you suggested. When I try to power on the virtual machine, the console window shows the message "Operating System not found."

Is there some further workaround I can try?

Joseph

[jfmorales]

An update... I noticed that the .vmdk file was in a different folder than the folder where the virtual machine was created. So I dumped that virtual machine (removed from inventory and deleted the files) and started over, after having first moved the vmdk file to a folder with the exact name that I planned to give to the virtual machine. This time I was able to power up the VM successfully and run Windows. However, I notice that VMWare created a new folder with the same name as the old one, but with _1 at the end, and put the new virtual machine files in that folder. So the virtual hard disk is still in a different folder than the other virtual machine files. It's a bit strange from a maintenance point of view, but at least it is working!

Is there any way of creating a custom VM to use an existing hard disk, and have it end up in the same folder as the new VM files?

Thanks,

Joseph

[Dave_Mishchenko]

If you connect the VI client directly to the host and the folder does not contain a vmx file, then it will create the news files for the vm is nhe same folder name. Going through VirtualCenter seems to create a new folder regardless of what is in the folder with the same name of the vm that you are creating.

You could also create a vm with no hard drive, move the vmdk to the folder after the vm is created then edit the vm's settings and add the vmdk.

[jfmorales]

>> . . . You could also create a vm with no hard drive, move the vmdk to the folder after the vm is created then edit the vm's settings and add the vmdk.

Thanks, Dave!