Knowledge Base

Overview steps

1. Identify the size of the flat file in bytes.
2. Create a new blank virtual disk that is the same size as the original. This serves as a baseline example that is modified in later steps.
   
   Note: This step is critical to assure proper disk geometry.
   
   
3. Rename the descriptor file (also referred to as a header file) of the newly-created disk to match the name of the original virtual disk.
4. Modify the contents of the renamed descriptor file to reference the flat file.
5. Remove the leftover temporary flat file of the newly-created disk, as it is not required.

Detailed steps

1. Log into the terminal of the ESXi/ESX host:
   
   • For ESX 4.1 and earlier, see Connecting to an ESX host using a SSH client (1019852). Alternatively, access the system directly and press Alt+F1 to begin the login process. Log in as root.
     
   • For ESXi 4.1 and 5.0, see Using Tech Support Mode in ESXi 4.1 and ESXi 5.x (1017910).
     
   • For ESXi 4.0 and 3.5, see Tech Support Mode for Emergency Support (1003677).
     
     
2. Navigate to the directory that contains the virtual machine disk with the missing descriptor file using the command:
   
   # cd /vmfs/volumes/myvmfsvolume/mydir
   
   Note:
   
   • If you are using a version of ESXi, you can access and modify files and directories using the vSphere Client Datastore Browser or the vifs utility included with the vSphere CLI. For more information, see the section Performing File System Operations in the vSphere Command-Line Interface Documentation.
   • If you are using VMware Fusion, the default location for the virtual machine files is the home/Documents/Virtual Machines.localized/virtual_machine/ folder, where home is your home folder, and virtual_machine is the name of the virtual machine.
   
   
3. Identify the type of SCSI controller the virtual disk is using. You can do this by examining the virtual machine configuration file (.vmx). The controller is identified by the line scsi#.virtualDev, where # is the controller number. There may be more than one controller and controller type attached to the virtual machine, such as lsisas1068 (which is the LSILogic SAS controller), lsilogic, or buslogic. This example uses lsilogic:
   
   scsi0.present = "true"
   scsi0.sharedBus = "none"
   scsi1.present = "true"
   scsi1.sharedBus = "virtual"
   scsi1.virtualDev = "lsilogic"
   
   
4. Identify and record the exact size of the -flat file using a command similar to:
   
   # ls -l vmdisk0-flat.vmdk
   
   -rw------- 1 root root 4294967296 Oct 11 12:30 vmdisk0-flat.vmdk
   
   
5. Use the vmkfstools command to create a new virtual disk:
   
   # vmkfstools -c 4294967296 -a lsilogic -d thin temp.vmdk
   
   The command uses these flags:
   
   
   • -c size
     
     This is the size of the virtual disk.
     
     
   • -a virtual_controller
     
     Whether the virtual disk was configured to work with BusLogic, LSILogic (for both lsilogic and lsilogic SAS) or IDE.
     
     
   • -d thin
     
     This creates the disk in thin-provisioned format.
   
   Note: To save disk space, we create the disk in thin-provisioned format using the type thin. The resulting flat file then consumes minimal amounts of space (1 MB) instead of immediately assuming the capacity specified with the -c switch. The only consequence, however, is the descriptor file contains an extra line that must be manually removed in a later step.
   
   The temp.vmdk and temp-flat.vmdk files are created as a result.
   
   
6. Delete temp-flat.vmdk, as it is not needed. Run the command:
   
   # rm temp-flat.vmdk
   
   
7. Rename temp.vmdk to the name that is required to match the orphaned .flat file (or vmdisk0.vmdk, in this example):
   
   # mv temp.vmdk vmdisk0.vmdk
   
   
8. Edit the descriptor file with a text editor:
   
   
   1. Under the Extent Description section, change the name of the .flat file to match the orphaned .flat file you have.
      
      
   2. Find and remove the line ddb.thinProvisioned = "1" if the original .vmdk was not a thin disk. If it was, retain this line.
      
      # Disk DescriptorFile
      version=1
      CID=fb183c20
      parentCID=ffffffff
      createType="vmfs"
      
      # Extent description
      RW 8388608 VMFS "vmdisk0-flat.vmdk"
      
      # The Disk Data Base
      #DDB
      
      ddb.virtualHWVersion = "4"
      ddb.geometry.cylinders = "522"
      ddb.geometry.heads = "255"
      ddb.geometry.sectors = "63"
      ddb.adapterType = "lsilogic"
      ddb.thinProvisioned = "1"
      
      The virtual machine is now ready to power on. Verify your changes before starting the virtual machine.
      
      If powering on the virtual machine is not successful, see Troubleshooting a virtual machine that is unable to power on (2001005).
      
      
9. To check the disk chain for consistency, run this command against the disk descriptor file:
   
   For ESXi 5.0:
   # vmkfstools -e filename.vmdk
   
   For a complete chain, you see output similar to:
   Disk chain is consistent
   
   For a broken chain, you will see a summary of the snapshot chain and then an output similar to:
   Disk chain is not consistent : The parent virtual disk has been modified since the child was created. The content ID of the parent virtual disk does not match the corresponding parent content ID in the child (18)
   
   For ESXi 3.5/4.x:
   # vmkfstools -q filename.vmdk
   
   For a complete chain, you see output similar to:
   filename.vmdk is not an rdm
   
   For a broken chain, you see output similar to:
   Failed to open 'test-000001.vmdk' : The parent virtual disk has been modified since the child was created (18)
   
   Note: The primary purpose of the vmkfstools -q command is(from the vmkfstools help page: vmkfstools -h): -q --queryrdm.
   This command will identify any issues with the snapshot chain, not its intended purpose, which is to identify if the vmdk disk is a raw device mapping.
   
   For more information on the vmkfstools command see: vmkfstools - vSphere CLI for managing VMFS volumes
   
   

• Although these steps are specific to the ESX host's Service Console (otherwise referred to as the Console OS), they may also be applied to platforms using VMware desktop products such as VMware Server or VMware Workstation. Instead of using the vmkfstools command, use the vmware-vdiskmanager utility. For more information on the Virtual Disk Manager, see the Virtual Disk Manager User's Guide.
• When performing these operations on a different platform, you must use the equivalent commands for your platform. For example, move, copy, and del for Microsoft Windows platforms, and mv, cp, and rm for Unix, Linux, and Mac OS X platforms.
• For more information about platform-specific commands, see DOS versus Linux Commands from the Linux Documentation Project.

• Recreating a missing virtual disk (VMDK) descriptor file for delta disks (1026353)
  
• Recreating a missing virtual disk (VMDK) descriptor file for imported ESX 2.x virtual machines (1026254)
  
• Recreating a missing virtual disk (VMDK) descriptor file for disks split into 2GB files (1026266)
  
• Recreating pass-through Raw Device Mapping (RDM) files for a virtual machine (1026256)
  

Additional Information

• 日本語： 仮想マシンの失われたディスク記述子（VMDK）ファイルの再作成 (1037912)
  
• Portuguese: Recriando arquivo descritor ausente de disco (VMDK) de máquina virtual (2015957)