Unable to start virtual machine by using command line

[martyouel]

Hi,

I'm trying to start my virtual machine by using command line and I always get that error :

"Command failed : You do not have access rights to this file"

I'm admin of computer...

Here's the command that I run :

"C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware Workstation\vmrun.exe" start "C:\Documents and Settings\mouellette\My Documents\My Virtual Machines\DYNACOM-VMBUILD-V10\Windows XP Professional.vmx"

I'm using Vmware workstation 6. I'm able to start one other virtual machine by command line, but the one I really need wont start. This virtual machine start great when I dbl-click on .vmx file.

What's wrong?

Here's my .vmx file :

config.version = "8"

virtualHW.version = "6"

scsi0.present = "TRUE"

memsize = "1000"

MemAllowAutoScaleDown = "FALSE"

ide0:0.present = "TRUE"

ide0:0.fileName = "dynacom-vmbuild-000005.vmdk"

ide1:0.present = "TRUE"

ide1:0.fileName = "auto detect"

ide1:0.deviceType = "cdrom-raw"

floppy0.present = "FALSE"

ethernet0.present = "TRUE"

usb.present = "TRUE"

sound.present = "TRUE"

sound.virtualDev = "es1371"

sound.fileName = "-1"

sound.autodetect = "TRUE"

displayName = "DYNACOM-VMBUILD"

guestOS = "winxppro"

nvram = "Windows XP Professional.nvram"

ide0:0.redo = ""

ide1:0.startConnected = "TRUE"

ide1:0.autodetect = "TRUE"

tools.syncTime = "FALSE"

ethernet0.address = 00:50:56:3A:60:30

checkpoint.vmState.readOnly = "FALSE"

checkpoint.vmState = ""

ethernet0.connectionType = "bridged"

extendedConfigFile = "Windows XP Professional.vmxf"

virtualHW.productCompatibility = "hosted"

tools.upgrade.policy = "manual"

isolation.tools.hgfs.disable = "TRUE"

uuid.action = "create"

uuid.location = "56 4d 46 da 38 e7 1c 73-1a 44 1a 26 99 c8 5b 53"

uuid.bios = "56 4d 46 da 38 e7 1c 73-1a 44 1a 26 99 c8 5b 53"

ethernet0.addressType = "generated"

ethernet0.generatedAddress = "00:0c:29:c8:5b:53"

ethernet0.generatedAddressOffset = "0"

pciBridge0.present = "TRUE"

ehci.present = "TRUE"

svga.autodetect = "TRUE"

thanks in advance for you help.

[Liz · Accepted solution]

try changing the word myuser and mypass in the following command to your username and password

"C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware Workstation\vmrun.exe" -u myuser -p mypass start "C:\Documents and Settings\mouellette\My Documents\My Virtual Machines\DYNACOM-VMBUILD-V10\Windows XP Professional.vmx"

PS You are logged in as mouellette right? Otherwise its not "My Documents" its "mouellette's Documents"

[martyouel]

Umm, I still get the same error.

I tried my mouellette user, witch is a user from domain, and also tried local user Administrator and both don't work.

[Liz]

Try moving the vm to a more central location such as c:\vm

[martyouel]

That still don't work.

I found the problem...it's the configuration file name. Vmware seem to don't like space in name. In Vmware 5 that worked great, but in Vmware 6 we need to have a configuration file name without spaces.

[RDPetruska]

I've got plenty of VMs with spaces in the vmx file names here, running Workstation 6, and do not have that problem. Are you certain that you surrounded your path+filename with quotes on the command line?

[martyouel]

Yeah, just take look my first post.

Here's the command that I run :

"C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware Workstation\vmrun.exe" start "C:\Documents and Settings\mouellette\My Documents\My Virtual Machines\DYNACOM-VMBUILD-V10\Windows XP Professional.vmx"

That command line worked great on VM5, but not on VM6 and I tried that on two computers here and always get the same error. So, I renamed my vmx file to Build.vmx and all works great now...

[Liz]

I wasnt thinking of the spaces being an issue, more the location within someone elses my documents directory.

Glad you fixed it.

[ScottNZ]

Hi,

Just an additional comment. I was experiencing the same problem but with a .vmx with no spaces but a number. Renaming the .vmx and removing the single trailing number solved the issue in my case. I suspect it's not really the space or number that's the problem because I have several other VMs with spaces and numbers. Maybe it's something about the act of renaming the file??

Cheers,

ScottNZ