Newbee

[cjobes]

Hi all,

I just started with VMWare Workstation because we inherited a development
environment that was saved as a vmdk file. After reading through manuals it
seems that we don't have everything to recreate the environment. We have 3
files:
Test.vmdk
TestDrive
TestDrive.lck
The lck has 0 in size.
From what I can see we are missing the vmx file. Is that correct or am I
missing something?

Thanks for your help,
Claus

[RobD]

For some reason, your vmx file is called TestDrive without the extent. I
know this because the lock file is always named *.vmx.lck. Look at
TestDrive and see if it is the vmx file. If you don't know what a vmx file
looks like, create a new vm and look at it for comparison. I would rename
TestDrive with the vmx extent and delete the old lock file. If it isn't a
vmx file, you can create one by creating a new VM and simply tell vmware to
use the existing vmdk file.

- Robert -

Post by cjobes
Hi all,
I just started with VMWare Workstation because we inherited a development
environment that was saved as a vmdk file. After reading through manuals it
seems that we don't have everything to recreate the environment. We have 3
Test.vmdk
TestDrive
TestDrive.lck
The lck has 0 in size.
From what I can see we are missing the vmx file. Is that correct or am I
missing something?
Thanks for your help,
Claus

[cjobes]

Robert,

Thanks very much for answering. I did follow your instruction and renamed
the TestDrive with a vmx extent, deleted the lock file and tried to start
the VM. Then I started the VM. It told me that it's an old version and needs
to upgrade. When I said yes it asked for a bootable CD to install the guest
OS. At that point I stopped because that would mean that it wouldn't be a
recreation of the existing VM.

I then tried to create a new VM and find a way to tell it to use the
existing vmdk file. I get and error message that there is an existing
virtual disk file at the specified location and I should choose a different
location.

What am I doing wrong?

Claus

Post by RobD
For some reason, your vmx file is called TestDrive without the extent. I
know this because the lock file is always named *.vmx.lck. Look at
TestDrive and see if it is the vmx file. If you don't know what a vmx file
looks like, create a new vm and look at it for comparison. I would rename
TestDrive with the vmx extent and delete the old lock file. If it isn't a
vmx file, you can create one by creating a new VM and simply tell vmware to
use the existing vmdk file.
- Robert -

Post by cjobes
Hi all,
I just started with VMWare Workstation because we inherited a development
environment that was saved as a vmdk file. After reading through manuals it
seems that we don't have everything to recreate the environment. We have 3
Test.vmdk
TestDrive
TestDrive.lck
The lck has 0 in size.
From what I can see we are missing the vmx file. Is that correct or am I
missing something?
Thanks for your help,
Claus

[RobD]

When you create the new VM, select "Custom " on the first page of the
wizard. Then select the OS type, location, memory, network, disk adapter,
and finally "Use an existing virtual disk." Check the documentation for
details on how to create a custom configuration.

If vmware told you that your virtual hardware needed to be upgraded, that
has nothing to do with the OS installation. It sounds like your virtual
disk may not have a working OS on it. But, before you give up, make sure
the bios has that drive listed as the first drive (only a problem if you
have multiple drives configured). I have seen cases where the boot disk was
moved down in the list of disks and never used.

One last thing to check is your original VM may have been using the older
format created by older versions of vmware (pre WKS3). In that case, you
should have told vmware to scan your host's drives for old VMs when you
installed it. It would have made the necessary header changes and renamed
the files for you. I have never used the older versions of vmware, so I
don't know if that is your real problem. You might want to start over and
reinstall vmware to make sure the scan is performed. If you do this, be
sure you replace the current VM with the original one.

- Robert -

Post by cjobes
Robert,
Thanks very much for answering. I did follow your instruction and renamed
the TestDrive with a vmx extent, deleted the lock file and tried to start
the VM. Then I started the VM. It told me that it's an old version and needs
to upgrade. When I said yes it asked for a bootable CD to install the guest
OS. At that point I stopped because that would mean that it wouldn't be a
recreation of the existing VM.
I then tried to create a new VM and find a way to tell it to use the
existing vmdk file. I get and error message that there is an existing
virtual disk file at the specified location and I should choose a different
location.
What am I doing wrong?
Claus

[cjobes]

Thanks Robert,

I will make this my weekend special. Hopefully I will get it up and running
on our test server. I'm still reading through VM to get a hang of it.

Thanks again for your help,

Claus

Post by RobD
When you create the new VM, select "Custom " on the first page of the
wizard. Then select the OS type, location, memory, network, disk adapter,
and finally "Use an existing virtual disk." Check the documentation for
details on how to create a custom configuration.
If vmware told you that your virtual hardware needed to be upgraded, that
has nothing to do with the OS installation. It sounds like your virtual
disk may not have a working OS on it. But, before you give up, make sure
the bios has that drive listed as the first drive (only a problem if you
have multiple drives configured). I have seen cases where the boot disk was
moved down in the list of disks and never used.
One last thing to check is your original VM may have been using the older
format created by older versions of vmware (pre WKS3). In that case, you
should have told vmware to scan your host's drives for old VMs when you
installed it. It would have made the necessary header changes and renamed
the files for you. I have never used the older versions of vmware, so I
don't know if that is your real problem. You might want to start over and
reinstall vmware to make sure the scan is performed. If you do this, be
sure you replace the current VM with the original one.
- Robert -

Post by cjobes
Robert,
Thanks very much for answering. I did follow your instruction and renamed
the TestDrive with a vmx extent, deleted the lock file and tried to start
the VM. Then I started the VM. It told me that it's an old version and needs
to upgrade. When I said yes it asked for a bootable CD to install the guest
OS. At that point I stopped because that would mean that it wouldn't be a
recreation of the existing VM.
I then tried to create a new VM and find a way to tell it to use the
existing vmdk file. I get and error message that there is an existing
virtual disk file at the specified location and I should choose a different
location.
What am I doing wrong?
Claus