Missing VMDK snapshot files HELP

Checkout2011101 · ‎12-08-2011

Hello, i had shutdown a VMWare server because of setting up a new one with the same specs and IP nummers. Now i wanted to start the original one but it was missing some snapshot files. Whem i look in the datastore they where not anymore there.

The VMSD file looks like this:

snapshot1.createTimeHigh = "305375"

snapshot1.createTimeLow = "288137721"

snapshot1.numDisks = "3"

snapshot1.disk0.fileName = "SQL2009-1-000001.vmdk"

snapshot1.disk0.node = "scsi0:0"

snapshot1.disk1.fileName = "SQL2009-1_2-000001.vmdk"

snapshot1.disk1.node = "scsi0:1"

snapshot1.disk2.fileName = "SQL2009-1_1-000002.vmdk"

snapshot1.disk2.node = "scsi0:2"

snapshot2.uid = "4"

snapshot2.filename = "SQL2009-1-Snapshot4.vmsn"

snapshot2.parent = "2"

snapshot2.displayName = "Nadat Eloi wijzigingen heeft aangebracht"

napshot2.description = ""

snapshot2.createTimeHigh = "305375"

snapshot2.createTimeLow = "288137721"

snapshot2.numDisks = "3"

snapshot2.disk0.fileName = "SQL2009-1-000006.vmdk"

snapshot2.disk0.node = "scsi0:0"

snapshot2.disk1.fileName = "SQL2009-1_2-000005.vmdk"

snapshot2.disk1.node = "scsi0:1"

snapshot2.disk2.fileName = "SQL2009-1_1-000006.vmdk"

snapshot2.disk2.node = "scsi0:2"

snapshot3.uid = "4"

snapshot3.filename = "SQL2009-1-Snapshot4.vmsn"

snapshot3.parent = "3"

snapshot3.displayName = "Nadat Eloi wijzigingen heeft aangebracht"

snapshot3.description = ""

snapshot3.createTimeHigh = "305375"

snapshot3.createTimeLow = "288137721"

snapshot3.numDisks = "3"

snapshot3.disk0.fileName = "SQL2009-1-000006.vmdk"

snapshot3.disk0.node = "scsi0:0"

snapshot3.disk1.fileName = "SQL2009-1_2-000005.vmdk"

snapshot3.disk1.node = "scsi0:1"

snapshot3.disk2.fileName = "SQL2009-1_1-000006.vmdk"

snapshot3.disk2.node = "scsi0:2"

snapshot.needConsolidate = "TRUE"

And the datastore looks like this:

Please can anyone telle me to get the missing files back???

Eric

continuum · ‎12-08-2011

are you sure files are missing ?

without having seen the vmx and the latest logs it looks just like a bad vmsd file to me -
and as vmsd-files are very fragile that is not unusual

________________________________________________
Do you need support with a VMFS recovery problem ? - send a message via skype "sanbarrow"
I do not support Workstation 16 at this time ...

cjscol · ‎12-08-2011

Please post the vmx file.

I assume you are getting an error message when you attempt to power the virtual machine on, what does it say?

Do you need to keep the snapshots on this virtual machine so that you can revert to them at some point in the future, or are you happy to remove them once we have the virtual machine working again?

Can you go into remote tech support mode and post all of the vmdk files? Don't do this from the Datastore browser as it doesn't show the actual vmdk files, these are small descriptor files. I need to see those to work out the snapshot chain.

Calvin Scoltock VCP 2.5, 3.5, 4, 5 & 6 VCAP5-DCD VCAP5-DCA http://pelicanohintsandtips.wordpress.com/blog LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cscoltock

Checkout2011101 · ‎12-08-2011

Hello,

This is the vmx file. When i tryed to start the machine, there where no harddisks anymore, i had them manual re-added.

".encoding = ""UTF-8"""
"config.version = ""8"""
"virtualHW.version = ""7"""
"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"""
"nvram = ""SQL2009-1.nvram"""
"virtualHW.productCompatibility = ""hosted"""
"powerType.powerOff = ""soft"""
"powerType.powerOn = ""hard"""
"powerType.suspend = ""hard"""
"powerType.reset = ""soft"""
"displayName = ""SQL2009-1"""
"extendedConfigFile = ""SQL2009-1.vmxf"""
"floppy0.present = ""TRUE"""
"numvcpus = ""4"""
"memsize = ""8192"""
"ide0:0.present = ""TRUE"""
"ide0:0.clientDevice = ""FALSE"""
"ide0:0.deviceType = ""atapi-cdrom"""
"ide0:0.startConnected = ""TRUE"""
"floppy0.startConnected = ""FALSE"""
"floppy0.fileName = """""
"floppy0.clientDevice = ""TRUE"""
"ethernet0.present = ""TRUE"""
"ethernet0.wakeOnPcktRcv = ""FALSE"""
"ethernet0.networkName = ""TESTOMGEVING"""
"ethernet0.addressType = ""generated"""
"usb.present = ""TRUE"""
"ehci.present = ""TRUE"""
"guestOS = ""winnetenterprise"""
"uuid.location = ""56 4d 44 2e 30 82 63 09-29 31 e8 b9 da ab 4f 51"""
"uuid.bios = ""56 4d a6 af 51 20 1c b4-6e 9c 66 3a 41 3f d9 ce"""
"vc.uuid = ""52 e6 ae 42 2a 4a a2 4b-78 47 01 2b 1f 42 fb 28"""
"sched.cpu.affinity = ""all"""
"sched.mem.affinity = ""all"""
"ethernet0.generatedAddress = ""00:0c:29:3f:d9:ce"""
"vmci0.id = ""1094703566"""
"tools.syncTime = ""FALSE"""
"cleanShutdown = ""TRUE"""
"replay.supported = ""FALSE"""
"unity.wasCapable = ""FALSE"""
"sched.swap.derivedName = ""/vmfs/volumes/4dff4570-95ebad4c-3283-001e0bc7501e/SQL2009-1/SQL2009-1-8bd2c0ba.vswp"""
"replay.filename = """""
"pciBridge0.pciSlotNumber = ""17"""
"pciBridge4.pciSlotNumber = ""21"""
"pciBridge5.pciSlotNumber = ""22"""
"pciBridge6.pciSlotNumber = ""23"""
"pciBridge7.pciSlotNumber = ""24"""
"usb.pciSlotNumber = ""32"""
"ethernet0.pciSlotNumber = ""33"""
"ehci.pciSlotNumber = ""34"""
"vmci0.pciSlotNumber = ""35"""
"vmotion.checkpointFBSize = ""16777216"""
"usb:0.present = ""TRUE"""
"usb:1.present = ""TRUE"""
"ethernet0.generatedAddressOffset = ""0"""
"hostCPUID.0 = ""0000000a756e65476c65746e49656e69"""
"hostCPUID.1 = ""0001067600040800000ce33dbfebfbff"""
"hostCPUID.80000001 = ""00000000000000000000000120100800"""
"guestCPUID.0 = ""0000000a756e65476c65746e49656e69"""
"guestCPUID.1 = ""0001067600010800800822010febbbff"""
"guestCPUID.80000001 = ""00000000000000000000000120100800"""
"userCPUID.0 = ""0000000a756e65476c65746e49656e69"""
"userCPUID.1 = ""0001067600040800000822010febbbff"""
"userCPUID.80000001 = ""00000000000000000000000120100800"""
"evcCompatibilityMode = ""FALSE"""
"usb:1.deviceType = ""hub"""
"usb:0.deviceType = ""mouse"""
"tools.upgrade.policy = ""manual"""
"guestOSAltName = ""Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition (32-bit)"""
"ide0:0.fileName = ""/vmfs/devices/genscsi/mpx.vmhba0:C0:T0:L0"""
"sched.scsi0:1.shares = ""normal"""
"svga.autodetect = ""TRUE"""
"vmci0.unrestricted = ""TRUE"""
"scsi0.present = ""TRUE"""
"scsi0:0.present = ""TRUE"""
"scsi0:2.present = ""TRUE"""
"scsi0:3.present = ""TRUE"""
"scsi0.sharedBus = ""none"""
"scsi0.virtualDev = ""lsilogic"""
"scsi0:0.fileName = ""SQL2009-1.vmdk"""
"scsi0:0.deviceType = ""scsi-hardDisk"""
"scsi0:2.fileName = ""SQL2009-1_2.vmdk"""
"scsi0:2.deviceType = ""scsi-hardDisk"""
"scsi0:3.fileName = ""SQL2009-1_3.vmdk"""
"scsi0:3.deviceType = ""scsi-hardDisk"""
"scsi0:0.redo = """""
"scsi0:2.redo = """""
"scsi0:3.redo = """""
"scsi0.pciSlotNumber = ""16"""
"scsi0:1.present = ""TRUE"""
"scsi0:1.fileName = ""SQL2009-1_1.vmdk"""
"scsi0:1.deviceType = ""scsi-hardDisk"""
"scsi0:4.present = ""FALSE"""
"ide0:1.present = ""FALSE"""
"scsi0:1.redo = """""

Thanks in advance to help me out....

Eric

Checkout2011101 · ‎12-08-2011

Sorry for the quick reaction...here are the missing answers:

I assume you are getting an error message when you attempt to power the virtual machine on, what does it say?

The harddisk where gone, i had re-added them from my datastore.

Do you need to keep the snapshots on this virtual machine so that you can revert to them at some point in the future, or are you happy to remove them once we have the virtual machine working again?

Yes i need the snapshot statevery badly (from at least 5-9-2011 better is 5-12-2011) , because there is an SQL enviroment with datafiles on it and that we needed in the production enviroment

Can you go into remote tech support mode and post all of the vmdk files? Don't do this from the Datastore browser as it doesn't show the actual vmdk files, these are small descriptor files. I need to see those to work out the snapshot chain.

How do I do that? I only know the maintenance mode.
Maybe this is what youre are looking for:

Name	Last modified	Size

Parent Directory		-
SQL2009-1-000003-delta.vmdk	06-Jul-2011 06:26	268468736
SQL2009-1-000003.vmdk	04-Jul-2011 13:48	306
SQL2009-1-000004-delta.vmdk	11-Jul-2011 13:56	1040220672
SQL2009-1-000004.vmdk	06-Jul-2011 14:17	306
SQL2009-1-000005-delta.vmdk	15-Jul-2011 14:49	1073775104
SQL2009-1-000005.vmdk	11-Jul-2011 14:00	306
SQL2009-1-000007-delta.vmdk	07-Dec-2011 16:05	10099917312
SQL2009-1-000007.vmdk	07-Dec-2011 16:05	299
SQL2009-1-Snapshot4.vmsn	25-Jul-2011 06:38	28948
SQL2009-1-flat.vmdk	07-Dec-2011 19:06	16121548800
SQL2009-1.nvram	07-Dec-2011 19:06	8684
SQL2009-1.vmdk	07-Dec-2011 19:00	596
SQL2009-1.vmsd	08-Sep-2011 13:32	2269
SQL2009-1.vmx	07-Dec-2011 19:06	3594
SQL2009-1.vmxf	07-Dec-2011 19:00	264
SQL2009-1_1-000001-delta.vmdk	24-Jun-2011 10:29	70397405696
SQL2009-1_1-000001.vmdk	24-Jun-2011 06:59	304
SQL2009-1_1-000003-delta.vmdk	06-Jul-2011 06:26	4999817728
SQL2009-1_1-000003.vmdk	04-Jul-2011 13:49	311
SQL2009-1_1-000004-delta.vmdk	11-Jul-2011 13:56	7818390016
SQL2009-1_1-000004.vmdk	06-Jul-2011 14:17	311
SQL2009-1_1-000005-delta.vmdk	15-Jul-2011 14:49	7617063424
SQL2009-1_1-000005.vmdk	11-Jul-2011 14:01	311
SQL2009-1_1-000007-delta.vmdk	07-Dec-2011 14:30	31642036736
SQL2009-1_1-000007.vmdk	07-Nov-2011 08:26	304
SQL2009-1_1-flat.vmdk	07-Dec-2011 19:06	107389255680
SQL2009-1_1.vmdk	07-Dec-2011 19:00	601
SQL2009-1_2-000002-delta.vmdk	06-Jul-2011 06:26	1577101824
SQL2009-1_2-000002.vmdk	04-Jul-2011 13:49	310
SQL2009-1_2-000003-delta.vmdk	11-Jul-2011 13:56	2181081600
SQL2009-1_2-000003.vmdk	06-Jul-2011 14:17	310
SQL2009-1_2-000004-delta.vmdk	15-Jul-2011 14:49	4076907008
SQL2009-1_2-000004.vmdk	11-Jul-2011 14:01	310
SQL2009-1_2-000006-delta.vmdk	07-Dec-2011 14:30	16861145600
SQL2009-1_2-000006.vmdk	07-Nov-2011 08:26	303
SQL2009-1_2-flat.vmdk	07-Dec-2011 19:06	21484431360
SQL2009-1_2.vmdk	07-Dec-2011 19:00	598
SQL2009-1_3-flat.vmdk	07-Dec-2011 14:30	107374182400
SQL2009-1_3.vmdk	07-Nov-2011 08:26	452
vmware-36.log	25-Jul-2011 06:38	100063
vmware-37.log	07-Nov-2011 08:20	729569
vmware-38.log	07-Dec-2011 14:30	132035
vmware-39.log	07-Dec-2011 16:05	63160
vmware-40.log	07-Dec-2011 16:09	44826
vmware-41.log	07-Dec-2011 18:52	170890
vmware.log	07-Dec-2011 19:06	76492

With kind regard,

Eric

cjscol · ‎12-08-2011

When you re-add the virtual hard disk you should have selected the last delta file in the snapshot chain for each hard disk, this may have been (but might not have been)

SQL2009-000007.vmdk
SQL2009_2-000006.vmdk
SQL2009_1-000007.vmdk

If you have now powered the virtual machine on using the original flat files then you will most probably have updated these files and broken the snapshot consistency and will struggle to be able to access the data since the 1st snapshot was taken. If you have backup copies of the flat files then you will be able to rebuild the snapshot chain. I would need to see the vmdk descriptor files to help with this, we need to look at the CID and parentCID settings in each of these files.

Calvin Scoltock VCP 2.5, 3.5, 4, 5 & 6 VCAP5-DCD VCAP5-DCA http://pelicanohintsandtips.wordpress.com/blog LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cscoltock

continuum · ‎12-08-2011

that vmx-file you posted does reference the basedisks only
if you start this VM as it is the snapshots will NOT be used

enable ssh-access
then use Winscp and download all vmdks without flat and delta in the name
download all vmware.logs and the vmx

create one archive from that fil;es and attach it here

________________________________________________
Do you need support with a VMFS recovery problem ? - send a message via skype "sanbarrow"
I do not support Workstation 16 at this time ...

cjscol · ‎12-08-2011

Looks like you have 4 snapshots on this virtual machine taken at the floowing times:

4 July 2011 @ 13:48
6 July 2011 @ 14:17
11 July 2011 @ 14:00
7 Nov 2011 @ 08:26

Now that you have started the virtual machine up with the base files you will need to restore the following files from a backup taken after 4 July 2011 @ 13:48

SQL2009-1-flat.vmdk
SQL2009-1_1-flat.vmdk
SQL2009-1_2-flat.vmdk

You might also need the following but I think you can recover with the ones that are still there:

SQL2009-1.vmdk
SQL2009-1_1.vmdk
SQL2009-1_2.vmdk

If you are unable to restore the -flat files then you could try removing the hard disk from the virtual machine and adding the following instead

SQL2009-1-000007.vmdk
SQL2009-1_1-000007.vmdk
SQL2009-1_2-000006.vmdk

But I think you will get an error when you attempt to power on the virtual machine because the -flat files have been updated. If you can restore the -flat files then do the above by removing the existing hard disks and adding the latest delta files instead.

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND TAKING A BACKUP OF EVERYTHING YOU HAVE AT THE MOMENT BEFORE DOING ANYTHING ELSE SO AT WORST CASE YOU CAN GET BACK TO THIS POINT IF SOMETHING GOES WRONG.

Calvin Scoltock VCP 2.5, 3.5, 4, 5 & 6 VCAP5-DCD VCAP5-DCA http://pelicanohintsandtips.wordpress.com/blog LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cscoltock

continuum · ‎12-08-2011

> Now that you have started the virtual machine up with the base files you will need to restore the following files from a backup taken after 4 July 2011 @ 13:48

not necessarily - in most cases I have seen running the basedisk alone for a while does not render the whole chain unusable.
That of course does not apply if he used a defragmentation tool or checkdisk inside the VM while using the basedisks standalone

anyway - we need to wait for the files before suggesting any actions

________________________________________________
Do you need support with a VMFS recovery problem ? - send a message via skype "sanbarrow"
I do not support Workstation 16 at this time ...

Checkout2011101 · ‎12-08-2011

Hello,

Wher can i find the vmdk descriptor files??

In my snapshotmanager I onlys see this:

Thereby, it is not done to send the files overhere because of the size. It is almost 200Gb of data. I only can send info about the files I have.

Eric

Checkout2011101 · ‎12-08-2011

Okay, I now what the discriptor files are. Witch one do you need???

cjscol · ‎12-08-2011

They are the .vmdlk files you listed previously without -flat or -delta in the filename. They are all about 300 bytes in size. Are you able to access them using whatever tool you used to get the listing you posted earlier? If not then, as continuum stated, you can access these files with winscp.

Calvin Scoltock VCP 2.5, 3.5, 4, 5 & 6 VCAP5-DCD VCAP5-DCA http://pelicanohintsandtips.wordpress.com/blog LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cscoltock

Checkout2011101 · ‎12-08-2011

Okay, clear. I can access those files. I will make a report of them and will post it here.

Thanks in advance.

Eric

Checkout2011101 · ‎12-08-2011

Here is a summary of the disk descriptor files.

continuum · ‎12-08-2011

please send the files as zip archive

________________________________________________
Do you need support with a VMFS recovery problem ? - send a message via skype "sanbarrow"
I do not support Workstation 16 at this time ...

Checkout2011101 · ‎12-08-2011

As ask....

cjscol · ‎12-08-2011

This looks a mess.

The parent of SQL2009-1-000007.vmdk is SQL2009-1.vmdk, it does not use the data in the other delta files for this disk. But for some reason the parentCID in SQL2009-1-000007.vmdk does not match the CID in SQL2009-1.vmdk.

Similarly the parent of SQL2009-1_1-000007.vmdk is SQL2009-1_1.vmdk, and again it does not use the data in the other delta files for this disk. Also the parentCID in SQL2009-1_1-000007.vmdk does not match the CID in SQL2009-1_1.vmdk.

It is the same for the third disk, the parent of SQL2009-1_2-000006.vmdk is SQL2009-1_2.vmdk, it does not use the data in the other delta files for this disk. And again the parentCID in SQL2009-1_2-000007.vmdk does not match the CID in SQL2009-1_2.vmdk.

The following files, and corresponding -delta files, look as if they are left around from when you have had a problem or problems in the past:

SQL2009-1-000003.vmdk

SQL2009-1-000004.vmdk

SQL2009-1-000005.vmdk

SQL2009-1_1-000001.vmdk

SQL2009-1_1-000003.vmdk

SQL2009-1_1-000004.vmdk

SQL2009-1_1-000005.vmdk

SQL2009-1_2-000002.vmdk

SQL2009-1_2-000003.vmdk

SQL2009-1_2-000004.vmdk

I presume the data on hard disk 4 is as it should be. Can you confirm that the data on the other disks are as they were on 7 Nov at 8:26am? You could check the Windows System Log to check the OS disk, scroll down through the events and I am guessing there will be a jump from the time you powered the virtual machine on the first time after adding the disks on back to 7 Nov at about 8:26am.

If this is the case you could try this: -

Shut the virtual machine down if it is not already.

Take a copy of everything you have at the moment.

Edit the following files:

SQL2009-1-000007.vmdk

Change the parentCID to c5eccf0b, i.e. the CID from SQL2009-1.vmdk

SQL2009-1_1-000007.vmdk

Change the parentCID to 826e2ef2,i.e. the CID from SQL2009-1_1.vmdk

SQL2009-1_2-000006.vmdk

Change the parentCID to be016b7c,i.e. the CID from SQL2009-1_2.vmdk

Remove the disks except SQL2009-1_3.vmdk

Add the following disks to the virtual machine

SQL2009-1-000007.vmdk

SQL2009-1_1-000007.vmdk

SQL2009-1_2-000006.vmdk

But like I said earlier I think you will get an error message saying that the parent disk has been updated.

I can't guarantee this will work as I can not work out how you have ended up in this state.

If you get the virtual machine powered on and the data looks good I suggest you take a new snapshot and then do a Delete All snapshots, note: this should be a delete all and just a delete.

Continuum may be able to suggest something else, otherwise I would log this with VMware Support - assuming you still have a current support contract.

Calvin Scoltock VCP 2.5, 3.5, 4, 5 & 6 VCAP5-DCD VCAP5-DCA http://pelicanohintsandtips.wordpress.com/blog LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cscoltock

continuum · ‎12-08-2011

so I edit the vmdks so that this constellation works ?

scsi0:0.fileName = "SQL2009-1-000007.vmdk"
scsi0:0.present = "TRUE"
scsi0:0.redo = ""
scsi0:1.deviceType = "scsi-hardDisk"
scsi0:1.fileName = "SQL2009-1_2-000006.vmdk"
scsi0:1.present = "TRUE"
scsi0:1.redo = ""
scsi0:2.deviceType = "scsi-hardDisk"
scsi0:2.fileName = "SQL2009-1_1-000007.vmdk"
scsi0:2.present = "TRUE"
scsi0:2.redo = ""
scsi0:3.ctkEnabled = "FALSE"
scsi0:3.deviceType = "scsi-hardDisk"
scsi0:3.fileName = "SQL2009-1_3.vmdk"
scsi0:3.mode = "persistent"
scsi0:3.present = "TRUE"
scsi0:3.redo = ""
scsi0:4.ctkEnabled = "FALSE"
scsi0:4.deviceType = "scsi-hardDisk"
scsi0:4.fileName = "/vmfs/volumes/240b11a5-b93ce00c/SQL2009-1/SQL2009-1.vmdk"
scsi0:4.mode = "persistent"
scsi0:4.present = "TRUE"
scsi0:4.redo = ""

do you still have the file that lives on the other datastore ?

________________________________________________
Do you need support with a VMFS recovery problem ? - send a message via skype "sanbarrow"
I do not support Workstation 16 at this time ...

continuum · ‎12-08-2011

we need more background info about the history of the VM

did anybody ever edit the vmdks manually ?

seeing all vmware.logs would help

________________________________________________
Do you need support with a VMFS recovery problem ? - send a message via skype "sanbarrow"
I do not support Workstation 16 at this time ...

Checkout2011101 · ‎12-08-2011

Yes i have that vmdk on the other datastore but it is not nessacery to be back.

The reason that I came in this state is that I turned on the Virtual Machine, but it say's no operating system. Then I saw the missing disks. I re-attached the disks from the datastore. But I guess not the right ones. I did SQL2009-1 instead of SQL2009-1-000007.vmdk. SQL2009. SQL2009-1_1.vmdk instead of SQL2009-1_1-000007.vmdk.

Is it possible to do it again and then the right disks?

Thanks in advance for you're help...

Eric