VM won't start - vSphere 4

[shannonadams]

See attached error.  I think what happened is server ran out of space in the middle of a weekend backup.  I am using Veeam Backup and Replication to perform backups.  The out of space issue has been resolved.  I think when this happened in the past, I could go into the Snapshot Manager and delete all of them.  But, when I right-click on the SM, it shows no shapshots.  Here is a directory listing of the VM as it stands now:

-rw-r--r-- 1 root root       24423 Mar 14 07:33 vmware.log
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root       24424 Mar 13 10:32 vmware-6.log
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root       24423 Mar 13 10:21 vmware-5.log
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root         953 Mar 11 21:38 Websense.vmsd
-rw------- 1 root root      165888 Mar 11 20:34 Websense-000002-delta.vmdk
-rw------- 1 root root         311 Mar 11 20:34 Websense-000002.vmdk
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root        2749 Mar 11 20:34 Websense.vmx
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root      237329 Mar 11 20:01 vmware-4.log
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root        8684 Mar 11 20:01 Websense.nvram
-rw------- 1 root root      165888 Mar 11 20:01 Websense-000001-delta.vmdk
-rw------- 1 root root         304 Mar 11 20:01 Websense-000001.vmdk
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 85899345920 Mar 11 20:01 Websense-flat.vmdk
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root         481 Mar  4 21:39 Websense.vmdk
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root        1852 Feb 10 11:29 Websense.vmxf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root      994051 Feb 10 11:29 vmware-3.log
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root          13 Oct 16 03:59 Websense-aux.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root      270886 Sep 30 15:43 vmware-2.log
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root     1460350 Sep  2  2010 vmware-1.log

Can someone let me know how I can get rid of these snapshots and start the VM?  If I have to roll back a few days, it is not a big deal.

Thanks.

[Troy_Clavell]

you could always go into your snapshot manager, create a snapshot, then delete all.

[PduPreez]

Troy is right.

But it sounds like the mappings between your child vdisks (snaps) and the parent vmdk is messes up in your vmx file

If the create then delete does not work, and as mentioned you do not mind rolling back a few days, you could just create a new VM

By the look of it, your 1st snap was taken on the 11th of March and this VM only have one vmdk

Create a new VM, copy "Websense.vmdk" to the new VM folder, and in "eddit settings", use this vmdk as hard drive

Happy Virtualizing

[-TAZZ-]

Creating a new snapshot and after that removing all is idd the first option to resolve this.

If this doesn't work you could try the following.

Go to the service console of the host that is currently running the VM and browse to the  location of the Websense VM.

Run this command 'grep –I ddb.dele Websense-000001.vmdk' and 'grep –I ddb.deleWebsense-000002.vmdk' to  identify the descriptors that need to be corrected.

This  will quickly identify the delta files that are non-deletable. Now edit the Websense VMDK descriptor  file and change 'ddb.deletable' from '' FALSE' to 'TRUE'. Also edit the root VMDK file and also change this field.  Now that you have edited all the files, create a new snapshot for the VM. Then 'Delete All'  snapshots to force ESX to combine all the files and close all  the visible and hidden snapshots.

Good luck

[shannonadams]

I attemped to just create a snapshot and delete all, but it didn't delete any of them.  I went with the opton Erik suggested and ran these commands:

#grep –I ddb.deleWebsense-000001.vmdk *
grep: ddb.deleWebsense-000001.vmdk: No such file or directory
Binary file Websense-flat.vmdk matches

#grep –I ddb.deleWebsense-000002.vmdk *
grep: ddb.deleWebsense-000002.vmdk: No such file or directory
Binary file Websense-flat.vmdk matches

I can't really edit the huge binary file Websense-flat.vmdk can I?

[-TAZZ-]

No idd. You should edit the VMDK descriptor file not the huge binary/flat VMDK file.

[shannonadams]

It sounds as if I need to edit two files.  Here are the contents of my Websense.vmdk file.  I can't find a value of ddb.deletable.  What do I need to edit in the Websense.vmdk file and what is the other file I need to edit?

Thanks for the help:

Websense.vmdk file:

# Disk DescriptorFile
version=1
CID=2fea0e08
parentCID=ffffffff
createType="vmfs"

# Extent description
RW 167772160 VMFS "Websense-flat.vmdk"

# The Disk Data Base
#DDB

ddb.virtualHWVersion = "4"
ddb.uuid = "60 00 C2 90 41 18 77 91-ba 23 70 3e a6 81 2a fc"
ddb.geometry.cylinders = "10443"
ddb.geometry.heads = "255"
ddb.geometry.sectors = "63"
ddb.adapterType = "lsilogic"
ddb.toolsVersion = "8194"
ddb.encoding = "UTF-8"
ddb.longContentID = "a719215786069f49dda4285b2fea0e08"

[shannonadams]

Here are the vmdk files under the VM directory:

-rw------- 1 root root         311 Mar 14 09:53 Websense-000004.vmdk
-rw------- 1 root root      165888 Mar 14 09:53 Websense-000004-delta.vmdk
-rw------- 1 root root      165888 Mar 14 09:52 Websense-000003-delta.vmdk
-rw------- 1 root root         311 Mar 14 09:52 Websense-000003.vmdk
-rw------- 1 root root      165888 Mar 11 20:34 Websense-000002-delta.vmdk
-rw------- 1 root root         311 Mar 11 20:34 Websense-000002.vmdk
-rw------- 1 root root      165888 Mar 11 20:01 Websense-000001-delta.vmdk
-rw------- 1 root root         304 Mar 11 20:01 Websense-000001.vmdk
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 85899345920 Mar 11 20:01 Websense-flat.vmdk
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root         481 Mar  4 21:39 Websense.vmdk

Do I need to add ddb.deletable = true to these files manually?

Websense.vmdk

Websense-000001.vmdk

Websense-000002.vmdk

Websense-000003.vmdk

Websense-000004.vmdk

There is no ddb.deletable variable in any of these files now.

[-TAZZ-]

If this causes the snapshots to not be deleted there should be a ddb.deletable = false entry in all Websense-00000?.vmdk files.

There was a small typo (missing space) in the previous command line, try: grep –I ddb.dele Websense-000001.vmdk

[shannonadams]

Do I need to manually add ddb.deletable = false or ddb.deletable = true to these files?

Websense.vmdk

Websense-000001.vmdk

Websense-000002.vmdk

Websense-000003.vmdk

Websense-000004.vmdk

I ran this:

# grep –I ddb.dele Websense-000001.vmdk
grep: ddb.dele: No such file or directory

[-TAZZ-]

If there is no ddb.delete entry check out these VMware (KB) and related articles

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=100423...

and

http://communities.vmware.com/message/884186

It could be a problem with the parent and child disk ID (CID)

[opbz · Accepted solution]

Hi,

Its pretty easy... since I assume you do not care what is on those 2 snapshots you have.

You can edit the VMX file to point to original vmdk.

THen you need to get it re-read. Only way I know how to do this is to remove it from the inventory. THen browse the datastore and re-add it.

By the way that will NOT clean up your datstore. You will need to delete the snapshots manually.

[shannonadams]

Perfect, opbz.  That worked great and the VM is back in action.

Shannon