Help with VMware Workstation! Missing .vmdk files

[westwave22]

Hi all,

As I was trying to move a virtual machine from one laptop to another (without it being fully backed up, huge mistake, I now know this very well), I by mistake, moved files and did not copy files. The files that I moved, I deleted, thinking they were just copies as I switched from using a thumb drive to using google drive.  Oh I don't need the files on the thumb drive.  And that's where I went wrong.  In turn, I deleted 3 -s00X.vmdk files and the virtual machine will not open on VMworkstation 10. The error I get when I try to resume the machine is as follows:

Unable to open file "C:\Users\xxx\Desktop\ISO\OSCP\pwk_vm-cl1-000001.vmdk":

I cannot revert to previous snapshots in the snapshot manager either.

If I open pwk_vm-cl1-000001.vmdk with Notepad, I get the following information:

------------------------------------------------------------

# Disk DescriptorFile

version=1

encoding="UTF-8"

CID=eb40a504

parentCID=8887bfed

isNativeSnapshot="no"

createType="twoGbMaxExtentSparse"

parentFileNameHint="pwk_vm-cl1.vmdk"

# Extent description

RW 4192256 SPARSE "pwk_vm-cl1-000001-s001.vmdk"

RW 4192256 SPARSE "pwk_vm-cl1-000001-s002.vmdk"

RW 4192256 SPARSE "pwk_vm-cl1-000001-s003.vmdk"

RW 4192256 SPARSE "pwk_vm-cl1-000001-s004.vmdk"

RW 4192256 SPARSE "pwk_vm-cl1-000001-s005.vmdk"

RW 4192256 SPARSE "pwk_vm-cl1-000001-s006.vmdk"

RW 4192256 SPARSE "pwk_vm-cl1-000001-s007.vmdk"

RW 4192256 SPARSE "pwk_vm-cl1-000001-s008.vmdk"

RW 4192256 SPARSE "pwk_vm-cl1-000001-s009.vmdk"

RW 4192256 SPARSE "pwk_vm-cl1-000001-s010.vmdk"

RW 4192256 SPARSE "pwk_vm-cl1-000001-s011.vmdk"

RW 4192256 SPARSE "pwk_vm-cl1-000001-s012.vmdk"

RW 4192256 SPARSE "pwk_vm-cl1-000001-s013.vmdk"

RW 4192256 SPARSE "pwk_vm-cl1-000001-s014.vmdk"

RW 4192256 SPARSE "pwk_vm-cl1-000001-s015.vmdk"

RW 30720 SPARSE "pwk_vm-cl1-000001-s016.vmdk"

# The Disk Data Base

#DDB

ddb.longContentID = "f656846a95bf2699f5065afdeb40a504"

---------------------------------------------------------------------

So I check my folder to make sure I have all the files. The 3 that I must have deleted were the following:

• pwk_vm-cl1-000001-s001.vmdk
• pwk_vm-cl1-000001-s002.vmdk
• pwk_vm-cl1-000001-s003.vmdk

My questions:

Is there anyway I can turn the machine back on with those sub vmdk files deleted for good? Even if it's at an earlier state/snapshot?  I have pwk_vm-cl1-000002.vmdk through pwk_vm-cl1-000011.vmdk files and all the appropriate sub files. I still have all the snapshots and .vmem, ,vmsn, vmx and vmsd files for the vm.

I realize this is totally my fault and of my own doing. This VM was used for a course I was taking and have spent 150+ hours on, I would just love to boot the machine up and grab my massive note file if at all possible. Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated.  All my current files are backed up, so I am free to try different fixes if any. If you need any additional file information, I surely can provide.

Thank you in advance for your time.

Background information:

Below is the .VMX file of the vm if this helps

scsi0:0.fileName = "pwk_vm-cl1-000002.vmdk"

ide1:0.present = "TRUE"

ide1:0.fileName = "auto detect"

ide1:0.deviceType = "cdrom-raw"

ethernet0.present = "TRUE"

ethernet0.connectionType = "nat"

ethernet0.wakeOnPcktRcv = "FALSE"

ethernet0.addressType = "generated"

usb.present = "TRUE"

usb.generic.allowHID = "TRUE"

ehci.present = "TRUE"

ehci.pciSlotNumber = "35"

sound.present = "TRUE"

sound.startConnected = "TRUE"

sound.fileName = "-1"

sound.autodetect = "TRUE"

pciBridge0.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"

vmci0.present = "TRUE"

hpet0.present = "TRUE"

usb.vbluetooth.startConnected = "TRUE"

displayName = "UPGRADE of Offsec-PWK/OSCP-VM"

guestOS = "debian7"

nvram = "UPGRADE of Offsec-PWK_OSCP-VM.nvram"

virtualHW.productCompatibility = "hosted"

powerType.powerOff = "soft"

powerType.powerOn = "soft"

powerType.suspend = "soft"

powerType.reset = "soft"

extendedConfigFile = "UPGRADE of Offsec-PWK_OSCP-VM.vmxf"

tools.syncTime = "TRUE"

vmx.buildType = "release"

replay.supported = "FALSE"

replay.filename = ""

scsi0:0.redo = ""

pciBridge0.pciSlotNumber = "17"

pciBridge4.pciSlotNumber = "21"

pciBridge5.pciSlotNumber = "22"

pciBridge6.pciSlotNumber = "23"

pciBridge7.pciSlotNumber = "24"

scsi0.pciSlotNumber = "16"

usb.pciSlotNumber = "32"

ethernet0.pciSlotNumber = "33"

sound.pciSlotNumber = "34"

vmci0.pciSlotNumber = "36"

vmci0.id = "-279022975"

monitor.phys_bits_used = "40"

vmotion.checkpointFBSize = "33554432"

cleanShutdown = "TRUE"

softPowerOff = "FALSE"

usb:1.speed = "2"

usb:1.present = "TRUE"

usb:1.deviceType = "hub"

usb:1.port = "1"

usb:1.parent = "-1"

ide1:0.startConnected = "FALSE"

tools.remindInstall = "FALSE"

toolsInstallManager.updateCounter = "3"

unity.wasCapable = "TRUE"

checkpoint.vmState = "UPGRADE of Offsec-PWK_OSCP-VM-93ee6071.vmss"

gui.exitOnCLIHLT = "TRUE"

ide1:0.autodetect = "TRUE"

gui.lastPoweredViewMode = "fullscreen"

checkpoint.vmState.readOnly = "FALSE"

vc.uuid = ""

policy.vm.mvmtid = ""

rollingTier0.uid = "1"

rollingTier0.interval = "86400"

rollingTier0.maximum = "1"

rollingTier0.live = "TRUE"

rollingTier0.clientFlags = "8"

rollingTier0.displayName = "AutoProtect Snapshot"

rollingTier1.uid = "2"

rollingTier1.interval = "604800"

rollingTier1.baseTier = "1"

rollingTier1.baseTierInterval = "7"

rollingTier1.maximum = "1"

rollingTier1.live = "TRUE"

rollingTier1.clientFlags = "8"

rollingTier1.displayName = "AutoProtect Snapshot"

rollingTier2.uid = "3"

rollingTier2.interval = "2419200"

rollingTier2.baseTier = "1"

rollingTier2.baseTierInterval = "28"

rollingTier2.maximum = "1"

rollingTier2.live = "TRUE"

rollingTier2.clientFlags = "8"

rollingTier2.displayName = "AutoProtect Snapshot"

snapshot.numRollingTiers = "3"

rollingTier0.timeSincelast = "57623"

rollingTier1.timeSincelast = "144057"

rollingTier2.timeSincelast = "2026056"

usb:0.present = "TRUE"

usb:0.deviceType = "hid"

usb:0.port = "0"

usb:0.parent = "-1"

rollingTier1.baseTierSnapshotCount = "1"

rollingTier2.baseTierSnapshotCount = "23"

serial0.present = "FALSE"

floppy0.present = "FALSE"

[continuum · Accepted solution]

Hi
3 of those missing pieces may contain just a few Mbs or upto  6Gbs.
If durinmg the time you actively wrote into those 3 files your Debian updated grub and installed a new initrd you will have a serious problem.
But as you used the Autodestruct-feature I rather assume those vmdks were rather smaller than completely filled.

Getting the VM to start again is actually quite easy - writing safe instructions on the other hand is way more work.

So I think that fixing it remotely should not take much longer than 15 minutes.If you want call me via skype so that we can arrange something.

At the moment I dont have time to write a good howto ...

Ulli