Insufficient permission to access file (38).

[qiaozi]

I installed the VMware player 4.0.1 update and now I cannot run any of my Linux guests. Get lots of permission errors, even though I have full control over the files and directories as user and administrator. So I look in the log file and find lots of error messages like the following:

2011-11-30T15:29:07.303+08:00| vmx| I120: ConfigDB: Failed to load C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware Workstation\config.ini

2011-11-30T15:29:07.303+08:00| vmx| I120: Msg_Reset:

2011-11-30T15:29:07.303+08:00| vmx| I120: [msg.dictionary.load.openFailed] Cannot open file "C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware Workstation\config.ini": The system cannot find the file specified.

2011-11-30T15:29:07.303+08:00| vmx| I120: ----------------------------------------

2011-11-30T15:29:07.303+08:00| vmx| I120: ConfigDB: Failed to load C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware Workstation\config.ini

2011-11-30T15:29:07.303+08:00| vmx| I120: Msg_Reset:

2011-11-30T15:29:07.303+08:00| vmx| I120: [msg.dictionary.load.openFailed] Cannot open file "C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware Workstation\settings.ini": The system cannot find the file specified.

The problem here is that I am running WMware Player, NOT VMware Workstation.

The "VMware Workstation" folder is empty, the config.ini file is in the "VMWare Player" folder.

Anybody know how to fix this?????

[qiaozi]

Further to the above, I ran the VMware installer again to repair the installation. Then I started VMware Player and was able to start one of my linux guests, everything worked fine, then as soon as I shutdown the guest the permission errors start popping up again and I cannot start any of the linux guests.

I also noticed that the error popups have "VMware Workstation" in the title bar, not "VMware Player".

[qiaozi]

......then I uninstalled 4.0.1 and installed 4.0, but same thing happens, first startup of a linux guest everything works fine, then after shutting down the guest a big load of permission errors. Will try reverting to 3.1.5 next.

[qiaozi]

So I install VMware Player 3.1.5, start up ubuntu, everything works fine, shutdown ubuntu and try to restart and get messages like this:

Error while opening the virtual machine: No permission to access this virtual machine.

and

Unable to lock user preference file

So this could be Windows 7 craptacular access control system, anyway I have wasted enough of my life on it. Goodbye VMware, hello VirtualBox.

[mahodges]

I'm using VMware Workstation 8.0.0-471780 and having the exact same problem.   Have  you made any progress?

[milton123]

You have to verify and reset the permissions

Investigating permissions for Fusion virtual machines

Cheers, Yours Udin

[esclay]

Not exactly the same error message as the OP (vmware workstation unable to open file vmdk insufficient permission to access file) but since this is the first hit from Google ...I found that in Windows server 2012 even though I had permissions from the 'Administrators' group that I had to for some reason add myself specifically to the vmdk file.

[mike1880]

I realise this thread has been around for a long time but since I had the same problem today (trying to open VM left behind by ex-colleague) and it doesn't seem to have been answered yet...the solution that worked for me is to take ownership of the folder and files:

1. Right click on the top-level folder containing the VM folders and files, select Properties

2. Select Security tab

3. Click on Advanced button

4. Select Owner tab

5. Click on Edit

6. Select your user name if present in the "Change owner" section, or click on Other users and groups button to enter it

7. Click on Apply and then "OK" your way out of the various dialogues

Once I'd done that it worked fine
.

[rizonable]

The issue is with the permissions on the folder and file. You can address it by changing the owner and group of the file to match your new user. You can get into this state when moving a vm from one user to another on the same system. When copying from one system to another this should be taken care of for you.

open the os x terminal app

cd to the folder that holds your VMware folder

sudo chown -R username:groupname vm_foldername

This will change the owner and group to the correct owner and group for your vmware folder and all it's contents.

To find the username and group-name do the following

open the os x terminal app

cd ~

ls -l

The output should be something like

drwx------+  5 username  group-name   170 Mar 23 10:33 Desktop

user those the username and group-name to set them to your user and group.

You can also do this by typing

whoami - this will give you your username

groups - this will give you all the groups and the first group is the one you want to use.