Hi,

Following is the procedure used to backup vmdk files of a VM using VDDK.
1. Take a snapshot of the VM.
2. Connect using VDDK
3. Open base vmdk file
4. Read vmdk files and do backup
5. Close vmdk file
6. Disconnect using VDDK
7. Delete the snapshot of the VM

We have tried backup of a VM using hotadd mode (using above procedure) and at the end(possibly during disconnect) it fails with following error in vddk output log file.

2010-12-29 23:09:12.193  diskLibPlugin: [2010-12-29 23:09:12.193 00552 verbose 'transport'] Could not remove SCSI device: adapter 0, target 1, error -536870373

2010-12-29 23:09:12.205  diskLibPlugin: [2010-12-29 23:09:12.205 00552 verbose 'transport'] Could not remove SCSI device: adapter 0, target 3, error -536870373

After this, the delete snapshot operation fails with error "Unable to access file since it is locked <unspecified file name>".

Please help us in finding what could cause to generate above error message.

Note: The backup works fine with hotadd mode.

Environment Details:
ESXi 4.1
VDDK 1.2
Guest OS: Windows 2008 R2

Thanks in Advance

Hello again everyone,

I'm getting very close to getting VDDK to work with advanced mode SAN on Ubuntu 10.04.  I think the error I'm getting now may or may not be related to VDDK, but I'm not sure.  Perhaps someone that knows more about Fibre Channel could help me out.

When I call VixDiskLib_Open I get the following from the logs:

[2011-05-23 10:04:39,841][DEBUG   ] backup.backup:158 VixDiskLib: Trying to open disk [System-Disk] puppetTestAppServer/puppetTestAppServer.vmdk using mode san.
[2011-05-23 10:04:39,842][DEBUG   ] backup.backup:158 SAN: Starting.
[2011-05-23 10:04:39,842][DEBUG   ] backup.backup:158 SAN: Received valid san token arg.
[2011-05-23 10:04:39,842][DEBUG   ] backup.backup:158 SAN: Attempting server connect.
[2011-05-23 10:04:40,066][DEBUG   ] backup.backup:158 diskLibPlugin: [2011-05-23 10:04:40.066 7FB0AFB63700 error 'DiskLibPlugin'] No path to device LVID:4c59969d-188ea5f0-ef3c-001b7879ac2a/4c572ff4-b5eccc10-1bad-001b7879ac2a/1 found.

[2011-05-23 10:04:40,066][DEBUG   ] backup.backup:158 diskLibPlugin: [2011-05-23 10:04:40.066 7FB0AFB63700 error 'DiskLibPlugin'] Failed to open new LUN LVID:4c59969d-188ea5f0-ef3c-001b7879ac2a/4c572ff4-b5eccc10-1bad-001b7879ac2a/1.
[2011-05-23 10:04:40,084][DEBUG   ] backup.backup:158 diskLibPlugin: [2011-05-23 10:04:40.084 7FB0AFB63700 error 'BlockList']
[2011-05-23 10:04:40,096][DEBUG   ] backup.backup:158 SAN: Cannot access a SAN/iSCSI LUN backing this virtual disk. (Hint: If you are using vcbMounter you can use the option "-m nbd" to switch to network based disk access if this is what you want.) If you were attempting file-level access, stop the vmount Service by typing "net stop vmount2" on a command prompt to force vmount to re-scan for SAN LUNs and re-try the command.
[2011-05-23 10:04:40,096][DEBUG   ] backup.backup:158 DISKLIB-LINK  : "san://1120-snapshot-66[System-Disk] puppetTestAppServer/puppetTestAppServer.vmdk@ks-prod-esx-01.vm.kingsolutions.local?root/XXX" : failed to open (You do not have access rights to this file).
[2011-05-23 10:04:40,097][DEBUG   ] backup.backup:158 DISKLIB-CHAIN : "san://1120-snapshot-66[System-Disk] puppetTestAppServer/puppetTestAppServer.vmdk@ks-prod-esx-01.vm.kingsolutions.local?root/XXX" : failed to open (You do not have access rights to this file).
[2011-05-23 10:04:40,097][DEBUG   ] backup.backup:158 DISKLIB-LIB   : Failed to open 'san://1120-snapshot-66[System-Disk] puppetTestAppServer/puppetTestAppServer.vmdk@ks-prod-esx-01.vm.kingsolutions.local?root/XXX' with flags 0x1e You do not have access rights to this file (3390).
[2011-05-23 10:04:40,097][ERROR   ] backup.process:181 An error occured while processing puppetTestAppServer

VixDiskLibError: [13] You do not have access rights to this file

Here are the stats on the server:

Processor             : 2x Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU            5150  @ 2.66GHz
Memory                : 3924MB (3331MB used)
Operating System      : Ubuntu 10.04.2 LTS

Kernel                : Linux 2.6.38.2-candela (x86_64)
Compiled              : #1 SMP Tue Mar 29 16:52:38 CDT 2011
C Library             : GNU C Library version 2.11.1 (stable)
Default C Compiler    : GNU C Compiler version 4.4.3 (Ubuntu 4.4.3-4ubuntu5)

# lspci | grep QLogic
06:00.0 Fibre Channel: QLogic Corp. ISP2432-based 4Gb Fibre Channel to PCI Express HBA (rev 03)
0f:00.0 Fibre Channel: QLogic Corp. ISP2432-based 4Gb Fibre Channel to PCI Express HBA (rev 02)

# cat /etc/multipath.conf

defaults {
   user_friendly_names yes
   path_grouping_policy    group_by_serial
   path_checker            tur
}

devnode_blacklist {
    devnode "^(ram|raw|loop|fd|md|dm-|sr|scd|st)[0-9]*"
    devnode "^cciss!c[0-9]d[0-9]*"
#        devnode "*"
}

devices {
    device {
            vendor                  "Pillar  "
            product                 "Axiom 300       "
            getuid_callout          "/lib/udev/scsi_id -g -u --device=/dev/%n"
            prio_callout            "/sbin/mpath_prio_alua %n"
            features                "0"
            hardware_handler        "0"
            path_grouping_policy    group_by_prio
            rr_weight               priorities
            rr_min_io               10000
            failback                immediate
            path_checker            tur no_path_retry queue
    }
}

# multipath -ll
mpath2 (2000b08002c002436) dm-6 Pillar  ,Axiom 300    
[size=2.0T][features=0][hwhandler=0]
\_ round-robin 0 [prio=520][active]
\_ 0:0:0:3  sdc  8:32   [active][ready]
\_ 0:0:3:3  sdag 66:0   [active][ready]
\_ 3:0:1:3  sdba 67:64  [active][ready]
\_ 3:0:2:3  sdbk 67:224 [active][ready]
\_ round-robin 0 [prio=40][enabled]
\_ 0:0:1:3  sdm  8:192  [active][ready]
\_ 0:0:2:3  sdw  65:96  [active][ready]
\_ 3:0:0:3  sdaq 66:160 [active][ready]
\_ 3:0:3:3  sdbu 68:128 [active][ready]
mpath1 (2000b080033002436) dm-10 Pillar  ,Axiom 300    
[size=1.5T][features=0][hwhandler=0]
\_ round-robin 0 [prio=40][enabled]
\_ 0:0:1:1  sdl  8:176  [active][ready]
\_ 0:0:2:1  sdv  65:80  [active][ready]
\_ 3:0:0:1  sdap 66:144 [active][ready]
\_ 3:0:3:1  sdbt 68:112 [active][ready]
\_ round-robin 0 [prio=520][active]
\_ 0:0:0:1  sdb  8:16   [active][ready]
\_ 0:0:3:1  sdaf 65:240 [active][ready]
\_ 3:0:1:1  sdaz 67:48  [active][ready]
\_ 3:0:2:1  sdbj 67:208 [active][ready]
mpath0 (2000b080031002436) dm-13 Pillar  ,Axiom 300    
[size=2.0T][features=0][hwhandler=0]
\_ round-robin 0 [prio=40][enabled]
\_ 0:0:0:0  sda  8:0    [active][ready]
\_ 0:0:3:0  sdae 65:224 [active][ready]
\_ 3:0:1:0  sday 67:32  [active][ready]
\_ 3:0:2:0  sdbi 67:192 [active][ready]
\_ round-robin 0 [prio=520][active]
\_ 0:0:1:0  sdk  8:160  [active][ready]
\_ 0:0:2:0  sdu  65:64  [active][ready]
\_ 3:0:0:0  sdao 66:128 [active][ready]
\_ 3:0:3:0  sdbs 68:96  [active][ready]
mpath9 (2000b080021002436) dm-11 Pillar  ,Axiom 300    
[size=2.0T][features=0][hwhandler=0]
\_ round-robin 0 [prio=40][enabled]
\_ 0:0:0:20 sdj  8:144  [active][ready]
\_ 0:0:3:20 sdan 66:112 [active][ready]
\_ 3:0:1:20 sdbh 67:176 [active][ready]
\_ 3:0:2:20 sdbr 68:80  [active][ready]
\_ round-robin 0 [prio=520][active]
\_ 0:0:1:20 sdt  65:48  [active][ready]
\_ 0:0:2:20 sdad 65:208 [active][ready]
\_ 3:0:0:20 sdax 67:16  [active][ready]
\_ 3:0:3:20 sdcb 68:240 [active][ready]
mpath8 (2000b080030002436) dm-5 Pillar  ,Axiom 300    
[size=2.0T][features=0][hwhandler=0]
\_ round-robin 0 [prio=40][enabled]
\_ 0:0:0:10 sdi  8:128  [active][ready]
\_ 0:0:3:10 sdam 66:96  [active][ready]
\_ 3:0:1:10 sdbg 67:160 [active][ready]
\_ 3:0:2:10 sdbq 68:64  [active][ready]
\_ round-robin 0 [prio=520][active]
\_ 0:0:1:10 sds  65:32  [active][ready]
\_ 0:0:2:10 sdac 65:192 [active][ready]
\_ 3:0:0:10 sdaw 67:0   [active][ready]
\_ 3:0:3:10 sdca 68:224 [active][ready]
mpath7 (2000b08002a002436) dm-1 Pillar  ,Axiom 300    
[size=385G][features=0][hwhandler=0]
\_ round-robin 0 [prio=520][active]
\_ 0:0:1:9  sdr  65:16  [active][ready]
\_ 0:0:2:9  sdab 65:176 [active][ready]
\_ 3:0:0:9  sdav 66:240 [active][ready]
\_ 3:0:3:9  sdbz 68:208 [active][ready]
\_ round-robin 0 [prio=40][enabled]
\_ 0:0:0:9  sdh  8:112  [active][ready]
\_ 0:0:3:9  sdal 66:80  [active][ready]
\_ 3:0:1:9  sdbf 67:144 [active][ready]
\_ 3:0:2:9  sdbp 68:48  [active][ready]
mpath6 (2000b08002e002436) dm-2 Pillar  ,Axiom 300    
[size=2.0T][features=0][hwhandler=0]
\_ round-robin 0 [prio=520][active]
\_ 0:0:1:8  sdq  65:0   [failed][ready]
\_ 0:0:2:8  sdaa 65:160 [active][ready]
\_ 3:0:0:8  sdau 66:224 [active][ready]
\_ 3:0:3:8  sdby 68:192 [active][ready]
\_ round-robin 0 [prio=40][enabled]
\_ 0:0:0:8  sdg  8:96   [active][ready]
\_ 0:0:3:8  sdak 66:64  [active][ready]
\_ 3:0:1:8  sdbe 67:128 [active][ready]
\_ 3:0:2:8  sdbo 68:32  [active][ready]
mpath5 (2000b080034002436) dm-7 Pillar  ,Axiom 300    
[size=500G][features=0][hwhandler=0]
\_ round-robin 0 [prio=40][enabled]
\_ 0:0:1:7  sdp  8:240  [active][ready]
\_ 0:0:2:7  sdz  65:144 [active][ready]
\_ 3:0:0:7  sdat 66:208 [active][ready]
\_ 3:0:3:7  sdbx 68:176 [active][ready]
\_ round-robin 0 [prio=520][active]
\_ 0:0:0:7  sdf  8:80   [active][ready]
\_ 0:0:3:7  sdaj 66:48  [active][ready]
\_ 3:0:1:7  sdbd 67:112 [active][ready]
\_ 3:0:2:7  sdbn 68:16  [active][ready]
mpath4 (2000b08002f002436) dm-16 Pillar  ,Axiom 300    
[size=1.5T][features=0][hwhandler=0]
\_ round-robin 0 [prio=40][enabled]
\_ 0:0:1:6  sdo  8:224  [active][ready]
\_ 0:0:2:6  sdy  65:128 [active][ready]
\_ 3:0:0:6  sdas 66:192 [active][ready]
\_ 3:0:3:6  sdbw 68:160 [active][ready]
\_ round-robin 0 [prio=520][active]
\_ 0:0:0:6  sde  8:64   [active][ready]
\_ 0:0:3:6  sdai 66:32  [active][ready]
\_ 3:0:1:6  sdbc 67:96  [active][ready]
\_ 3:0:2:6  sdbm 68:0   [active][ready]
mpath3 (2000b080001002436) dm-14 Pillar  ,Axiom 300    
[size=1.0T][features=0][hwhandler=0]
\_ round-robin 0 [prio=520][active]
\_ 0:0:0:5  sdd  8:48   [active][ready]
\_ 0:0:3:5  sdah 66:16  [active][ready]
\_ 3:0:1:5  sdbb 67:80  [active][ready]
\_ 3:0:2:5  sdbl 67:240 [active][ready]
\_ round-robin 0 [prio=40][enabled]
\_ 0:0:1:5  sdn  8:208  [active][ready]
\_ 0:0:2:5  sdx  65:112 [active][ready]
\_ 3:0:0:5  sdar 66:176 [active][ready]
\_ 3:0:3:5  sdbv 68:144 [active][ready]

# sg_map -x
/dev/sg0  1 0 0 0  5  /dev/scd0
/dev/sg1  0 0 0 0  0  /dev/sda
/dev/sg2  0 0 0 1  0  /dev/sdb
/dev/sg3  0 0 0 3  0  /dev/sdc
/dev/sg4  0 0 0 5  0  /dev/sdd
/dev/sg5  0 0 0 6  0  /dev/sde
/dev/sg6  0 0 0 7  0  /dev/sdf
/dev/sg7  0 0 0 8  0  /dev/sdg
/dev/sg8  0 0 0 9  0  /dev/sdh
/dev/sg9  0 0 0 10  0  /dev/sdi
/dev/sg10  0 0 0 20  0  /dev/sdj
/dev/sg11  0 0 1 0  0  /dev/sdk
/dev/sg12  0 0 1 1  0  /dev/sdl
/dev/sg13  0 0 1 3  0  /dev/sdm
/dev/sg14  0 0 1 5  0  /dev/sdn
/dev/sg15  0 0 1 6  0  /dev/sdo
/dev/sg16  0 0 1 7  0  /dev/sdp
/dev/sg17  0 0 1 8  0  /dev/sdq
/dev/sg18  0 0 1 9  0  /dev/sdr
/dev/sg19  0 0 1 10  0  /dev/sds
/dev/sg20  0 0 1 20  0  /dev/sdt
/dev/sg21  0 0 2 0  0  /dev/sdu
/dev/sg22  0 0 2 1  0  /dev/sdv
/dev/sg23  0 0 2 3  0  /dev/sdw
/dev/sg24  0 0 2 5  0  /dev/sdx
/dev/sg25  0 0 2 6  0  /dev/sdy
/dev/sg26  0 0 2 7  0  /dev/sdz
/dev/sg27  0 0 2 8  0  /dev/sdaa
/dev/sg28  0 0 2 9  0  /dev/sdab
/dev/sg29  0 0 2 10  0  /dev/sdac
/dev/sg30  0 0 2 20  0  /dev/sdad
/dev/sg31  0 0 3 0  0  /dev/sdae
/dev/sg32  0 0 3 1  0  /dev/sdaf
/dev/sg33  0 0 3 3  0  /dev/sdag
/dev/sg34  0 0 3 5  0  /dev/sdah
/dev/sg35  0 0 3 6  0  /dev/sdai
/dev/sg36  0 0 3 7  0  /dev/sdaj
/dev/sg37  0 0 3 8  0  /dev/sdak
/dev/sg38  0 0 3 9  0  /dev/sdal
/dev/sg39  0 0 3 10  0  /dev/sdam
/dev/sg40  0 0 3 20  0  /dev/sdan
/dev/sg41  3 0 0 0  0  /dev/sdao
/dev/sg42  3 0 0 1  0  /dev/sdap
/dev/sg43  3 0 0 3  0  /dev/sdaq
/dev/sg44  3 0 0 5  0  /dev/sdar
/dev/sg45  3 0 0 6  0  /dev/sdas
/dev/sg46  3 0 0 7  0  /dev/sdat
/dev/sg47  3 0 0 8  0  /dev/sdau
/dev/sg48  3 0 0 9  0  /dev/sdav
/dev/sg49  3 0 0 10  0  /dev/sdaw
/dev/sg50  3 0 0 20  0  /dev/sdax
/dev/sg51  3 0 1 0  0  /dev/sday
/dev/sg52  3 0 1 1  0  /dev/sdaz
/dev/sg53  3 0 1 3  0  /dev/sdba
/dev/sg54  3 0 1 5  0  /dev/sdbb
/dev/sg55  3 0 1 6  0  /dev/sdbc
/dev/sg56  3 0 1 7  0  /dev/sdbd
/dev/sg57  3 0 1 8  0  /dev/sdbe
/dev/sg58  3 0 1 9  0  /dev/sdbf
/dev/sg59  3 0 1 10  0  /dev/sdbg
/dev/sg60  3 0 1 20  0  /dev/sdbh
/dev/sg61  3 0 2 0  0  /dev/sdbi
/dev/sg62  3 0 2 1  0  /dev/sdbj
/dev/sg63  3 0 2 3  0  /dev/sdbk
/dev/sg64  3 0 2 5  0  /dev/sdbl
/dev/sg65  3 0 2 6  0  /dev/sdbm
/dev/sg66  3 0 2 7  0  /dev/sdbn
/dev/sg67  3 0 2 8  0  /dev/sdbo
/dev/sg68  3 0 2 9  0  /dev/sdbp
/dev/sg69  3 0 2 10  0  /dev/sdbq
/dev/sg70  3 0 2 20  0  /dev/sdbr
/dev/sg71  3 0 3 0  0  /dev/sdbs
/dev/sg72  3 0 3 1  0  /dev/sdbt
/dev/sg73  3 0 3 3  0  /dev/sdbu
/dev/sg74  3 0 3 5  0  /dev/sdbv
/dev/sg75  3 0 3 6  0  /dev/sdbw
/dev/sg76  3 0 3 7  0  /dev/sdbx
/dev/sg77  3 0 3 8  0  /dev/sdby
/dev/sg78  3 0 3 9  0  /dev/sdbz
/dev/sg79  3 0 3 10  0  /dev/sdca
/dev/sg80  3 0 3 20  0  /dev/sdcb

Any ideas why I might be getting this error?

Any help would be appreciated!

I am using CA Arcserve 15 SP1 with vddk 1.2.1 on a W2k3 R2 SP2 connected to a Fibrecat SAN mapped the VMFS and the RDM LUNs.

I used the vcbsandbg.exe from VCB 1.5U2 (just copied the exe + dll files - there is no VCB installed on the vddk proxy) to check if all the LUNs are visible and they are (at least comparing all the NAA.xxxxxxx ).

Whenever i backup the VM with 2 1TB RDM drives connected the job cant access the RDM drives. The drives the VM holds on VMFS are backuped succesfully and properly over SAN.

AW0551 Unable to map the VM volume to a VM disk image file. (VM Volume=[E:\])

Crawling through the vcbpopulate log gives me no hint how arcserve is aware about the drive letters withhin the VM and how it would identify them. Anyway i would espect that it parses the vmx file - found vmdks - check to access them - if VMDKs on VMFS mounting the datastore - if RDM using the same api as vmkfstools -q disk.vmdk cut out the naa.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx numbers from the vml.yyyyyyyyxxxxxxxxx output - check on the proxy for this number and mount the drive. I am aware that some replication mechanism use the same NAA number for the destination LUN - which should be no issue as i espect that the vddk proxy only read from it.

I runned vddk in debug mode but could not understand the logs - they mention a lot of hexcodes - vpd pages.

I tried along with vmware-mount.exe to divide and conquer my problem - but i dont find the way to force the transportmode it uses. I succesful mounted a snapshot of the RDM but only over NBD.

1. How to force using SAN as transport mode when using vmware-mount.exe ?

2. What information are stored where about the RDMs and VMDKs - does the vmware tools publish any information about drive letters out ?

3. How the information about a VM is captured by vddk - is there a vddk command plobbing out the informations about the drives of a VM ?

4. Do i need R/W access when using vddk to backup - i tried with RO acces and it worked perfect on any vmdk on a datastore - i switched back for troubleshooting purposes.

Hello everyone,

I have studied the VMDK specs over the last few days. I have a bit of a unique use case because we actually want to use VMDK files as the back end for a "normal" (i.e. non-virtual) volume backup application. We chose VMDK because we want these volume backups to be usable by VMWare as virtual disks. We can settle for importable if direct mounting is not possible, but we would like VMware to be able to read the files somehow.

To be clear, we intend to write our own code that creates these VMDK files. I.e. we are not limited by what the SDK supports, but we are limited by what the VMware software can read.

We need these disks to have the following properties:

- split into 2GB files (so that we can store them on most filesystems)

- sparse

- compressed grains

The problem I am facing right now is that it ALMOST seems to be possible to do what I need to do within the file format as specified, but there are some problems. In particular when compression is used.

According to the spec, compression seems to only be supported for streamOptimized files. But these files cannot apparently be split into 2GB parts (the spec says that "These disks are currently used only in the monolithic form.").

But if I ignore this sentence, I could easily create a spec-confirming non-monolithic streamOptimized disk, simply by specifying multiple extents in the descriptor. Is it OK to do this? I.e. could VMware import such a disk?

Alternatively I could create a "twoGbMaxExtentSparse" disk and simply set the metaDataMarker and Compressed flags (bits 16 and 17) in the extent header. Would VMware be able to use those (mount or import)?

I also found a mention on the web "ACE compressed/encrypted sparse extents", but these do not seem to be described in the spec. From the name it seems that these types of extents would be a better match for my use case. Do they exist? If so, is there a format specification?

Any help or pointers would be appreciated.

Hi there,

I am seeing the  VIX_E_DISK_OUTOFRANGE ("DiskLinkRWv failed : You have requested access to an area of the virtual disk that is out of bounds (17)") error when writing to a disk. This has only happened for one user yet and unfortunately I have no access to that vSphere environment or to the copy of the disk. So I want to ask this as a general question: what are the possible scenarios where I could get the above error message?

- obviously, when the virtual disk I created is smaller than the data I want to write. However, the same code ran fine in hundreds of similar tests, so it is not just that simple (I am trying hard to reproduce the issue though)

- disk does not end on VMFS block boundaries? in this case block size is 2 MB and disk is exactly 40 GB (40960 MB)

- can shared data store have an influence?

- vMotion?

- ESX cluster?

- data store (almost) out of disk space?

- snapshots?

- vSphere versions?

- anything else?

The mentioned copy was done without CBT and the transfer method was NBD.

Thanks in advance,

Eros

When I mount or umount a virtual disk, I have some unhappy message.

It is like this:

root@client1:/mnt# vmware-mount -k /root/data/VM33/VM33.vmdk

VixDiskLib: Failed to load libvixDiskLibVim.so : Error = libvixDiskLibVim.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory.

How can I solve this problem?

Thank you very much!

Does VDDK fully support IPv6 ?

The release notes say "The 1.2 release of VDDK has not been tested with VADP and the new IPv6 features of vSphere 4". What does that refer to ?

Hi,

In order to connect to virtual disk of windows server 2008 R2 I use VDDK 1.2.1. In order to connect to virtual disk I have followed guide line from http://www.vmware.com/support/developer/vddk/vddk12_api_programming.pdf and the code is working for every VMs, except for a windows server 2008 R2 after a snapshot is taken with quiesce=true and memory = false. This is strange because with all other VM which support quiesce no problem appears.

Windows 2008 R2 is "fresh" installed  and the only program installed is vmwaretools (ESXi 4.1 and vmwaretools are updated). VM Windows 2008 R2 was created with ESXi 4.1 and disk.EnableUUID = true (in order to have an application-consistent snapshot)

the code in c# is the following (simplified):

morefid is the moref of windows server 2008 R2

//Crete Snapshot (quiesce option enabled)

VDDKMethods.Connect(host, user, password, morefid, ref connPtr);

string diskfilename="[Storage 2T] Win server 2008 R2/Win server 2008 R2.vmdk";

Wrapper.VixError vixError = Wrapper.VixDiskLib_Open(connPtr, diskfilename, Wrapper.VIXDISKLIB_FLAG_OPEN_READ_ONLY, ref diskPtr);

//Remove Snapshot

the VixDiskLib_Open error is the following: VIX_E_FILE_NOT_FOUND
this error is strange, because without quiesce option the code is working correctly.
Furthermore: if the VM already contains a quiesce snapshot, it's not possible to connect to disk, until quiesce snapshot is removed.

Taking a snapshot of VM "Win Server 2008 R2" with quiesce=true and memory=false two delta files are created:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-rw-------    1 root     root             983552 Jun 14 15:33 Win server 2008 R2-000001-ctk.vmdk
-rw-------    1 root     root           16809984 Jun 14 15:33 Win server 2008 R2-000001-delta.vmdk
-rw-------    1 root     root                416 Jun 14 15:33 Win server 2008 R2-000001.vmdk
-rw-------    1 root     root             983552 Jun 14 15:33 Win server 2008 R2-000002-ctk.vmdk
-rw-------    1 root     root           16809984 Jun 14 15:33 Win server 2008 R2-000002-delta.vmdk
-rw-------    1 root     root                416 Jun 14 15:33 Win server 2008 R2-000002.vmdk
-rw-------    1 root     root         2147483648 Jun 10 15:05 Win server 2008 R2-33bcfcee.vswp
-rw-------    1 root     root              28477 Jun 14 15:33 Win server 2008 R2-Snapshot159.vmsn
-rw-r--r--    1 root     root                139 Jun 14 15:33 Win server 2008 R2-aux.xml
-rw-------    1 root     root             983552 Jun 14 15:05 Win server 2008 R2-ctk.vmdk
-rw-------    1 root     root        16106127360 Jun 14 15:33 Win server 2008 R2-flat.vmdk
-rwx------    1 root     root             169309 Jun 14 15:33 Win server 2008 R2-vss_manifests159.zip
-rw-------    1 root     root               8684 Jun 10 14:07 Win server 2008 R2.nvram
-rw-------    1 root     root                575 Jun  3 13:06 Win server 2008 R2.vmdk
-rw-r--r--    1 root     root                431 Jun 10 10:56 Win server 2008 R2.vmsd
-rwx------    1 root     root               2990 Jun 14 15:33 Win server 2008 R2.vmx
-rw-------    1 root     root                273 Jun 14 15:15 Win server 2008 R2.vmxf

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

Before snapshot process no delta files are present. According to vmware support this is "normal" behaviour for quiesce snapshot on Win Server 2008 R2.

Thanks for your help!

becco

I have a VDDK based application running on machine A, turning to vCenter B, in order to read a virtual disk for a VM located on host C

VixMntapi_OpenDisks was failing, claiming that the server has refused the connection.

Further investigation found that

    - The host was known to the vCenter by its DNS name

    - Machine A's DNS could not resolve C

One I fixed A's DNS resolving the problem was fixed.

Is this expected ?

Is A required to know how to resolve DNS names of hosts, or is there a way around it ?

Hi,

I am trying to mount an vmdk files under Windows 7 64bit. I am following a blog http://4sysops.com/archives/free-vmware-diskmount-gui-mount-vmdk-files/

I downloaded and installed the virtual disk development kit. I am able to mount my vmdk file successfully in command line and able to view files. But when it is not showing up in windows explorer. Can anybody help me with this?

I wanted to transfer some files from a vmdk. I have VMWARE workstation installed.

Thanks,

RT

Guys,

I downloaded and installed latest VDDK 1.2.1 and managed to remotely mount ESXi VM vmdk as below :

• Windows Server 2008 without SP = Mounted = Drive Browseable = Size is Okay (20GB)
• Windows Server 2008 SP2 = Mounted = Drive Browseable = Size in ONLY 99MB?

Anyone know what causing this? Is it because vddk don't support Windows Server 2008 SP2 vmdk?

Thanks

Hi,

I have created simple application which mount vmdk file and getosinfo with vs2010 and vddk. I am able to getos info on development machine but problem is when  i am running same exe on other machine its successfully open vmdk file but at the time of mounting it is giving error that driver not found.

So tried by installing vddk on other machine then its working correct .but for me it is not possible to install vddk on all machine.

Is there any way to solve this problem?

Hi,

I'm trying to use vmware-mount under a Linux host connecting to a vcenter but always end up with an error telling me :

I've read the different posts around this issue, but it seems clear to me that my path are correct. I'm attaching a screenshot of vcenter. My command line is:

vmware-mount -v "BI/Linux/invikrt2" -h vcenter01 -u "oliviert" -F pw "[VMFS_Linux01] invikrt2/invikrt2.vmdk" /mnt/tmp

Any idea of what I'm doing wrong or how I can debug this?

Thanks

Hi,

I was trying to get some hands on with vmware-mount (shipped as part of VDDK 1.2.1) on SLES-11-SP1-32bit and finding some issues.

The following is the command that has been executed

vmware-mount -v <DataCenter>/vm/<VM-Name> -h <VC-Host> -u <User-name> -F <PWD-file>   "[DataStore] <Path-to-vmdk>" <mntpoint>

When I execute this command for a VM which is shutdown we get the following error messages

/dev/loop0 looks like swapspace - not mounted

mount: you must specify the filesystem type

mount: unknown filesystem type 'ntfs-3g'

Failed to mount partition 1 of disk '[DataStore] <Path-to-vmdk>' on '<mntpoint>': The virtual disk does not have any partitions that the host system knows how to mount

When the machine is powered on we get the following error messages.

Failed to open disk: The file is already in use (70403103916047)

Failed to mount disk '[DataStore] <Path-to-vmdk>' : It is not safe to mount the virtual disk.  It may be attached to a suspended or powered-on VM, or it may be inside a snapshot chain.

The machine where the mount command is issued is a SLES-11 32 bit – SP1 machine with kernel version  2.6.32.12 and the guest VM being mounted is a SLES-10, 32-bit

Can someone let me know how to get this binary executed successfully.

Also what are the supported file systems for the mount operation.

Hi,

VDDK write over SAN mode is failing with error "Failed to write to Disk One of the parameters supplied is invalid". But the same is working with NBD transport mode.

Observed following errors in hostd log:

[2011-07-14 12:08:09.720 F6421900 trivia 'VersionValidator'] ALLOWED: Host is not licensing-restricted

[2011-07-14 12:08:09.733 F6421900 info 'App'] AdapterServer caught exception: 5d8ace80

The ESX server has valid license.

Environment:

ESX: 4.1 build-260247

VDDK 1.2.1

Please suggest the cause for the error.

Thanks

Sachin

I am getting an "Unknown error" when trying to open a snapshot virtual disk using SAN (VixDIskLib_Open). The open then falls back to nbdssl which succeeds. I believe I am doing everything that has been recommended in the documentation and this forum including:

1. Calling VixDiskLib_InitEx and VixDiskLib_ConnectEx and supplying the VDDK library path and a config file.

2. Passing a snapshot ref and  null as transport mode in the connect as recommended.

3. Implemented our own logging functions as we are multi-threaded.

4. Doing all opens/closes (and all other Vddk calls except Read/Write) in a single thread as recommended.

5. The backup proxy is a physical machine not a VM.

We are a .NET application and we have implemented wrappers for all the Vddk calls - I believe all this is working correctly.

Now we also have a VCB implementation, and indeed can switch between VCB and VDDK with a simple change in our GUI. The interesting thing is that the VcbMounter open of the virtual disk over the SAN works, so that implies that the SAN and disk devices are correctly configured and visible to our backup proxy node.

I am enclosing relevant logs from both the Vddk attempt and VcbMounter attempt to open the virtual disks using the SAN. Is there anything you can think of to try and make the SAN connection work?

Rich

Hello,

Could anybody explain majorVersion, minorVersion, and configFile parameters or where can I find detailed description please?

1. The version related parameters (majorVersion, minorVersion) could be {1,0} or {1,1} does it mean that vddk 1.2.1 will have {1,2} for proper initialization?

2. What is the difference (if any) in behavior of the VDDK when different minorVersion are specified?

Is my assumption right (?): If I specify {1,0} during usage of VDDK 1.2.1 it will expose exact behavior of the VDDK 1.0.

3. Can anybody list supported parameters which could be specified in the configFile?

Any info would be highly appreciated!

Thank You

I'm using VDDK to obtain random read-only access to disks on an ESX (through I connect using a vCenter hostname).  Occasionally I receive the following error:

7 – VIX_E_FILE_ERROR

A file access error occurred on the host or guest operating system.

What causes this error?

What logs should I look at to track this down?  ESX/vCenter?

Thanks!

Mike

Hi,

VixDiskLib_Open using SAN is failing with following error:-

diskLibPlugin: [2011-08-15 14:36:50.343 05052 error 'DiskLibPlugin'] Acquiring disk lease for snapshot-12121[XX_Data] ABCCOMXXVM/ABCCOMXXVM.vmdk failed with vmodl.fault.SystemError.

Anybody aware of any possible reasons for this failure?

TiA.

I created an NFS export that is mapped to my ESX host. When I try to create a new folder in the NFS share, ESX says:

"Call "FileManager.MakeDirectory" for object "ha-nfc-file-manager" on ESX "hostname" failed."

What does that error mean? I clearly can't make a directory. It isn't mounted read-only. On my NetApp storage array, I have read-write access.

thanks,

-h