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Title
Restored or replicated VM fails on boot with 'Error loading operation system' -
Description
Successfuly backed up or replicated VM restore or replicate failover actions complete successfully in the vRanger GUI but throw the above error post restore or failover boot.
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Cause
If the VM was P2V'd using the VMware Converter or another P2V tool, there is a discrepancy between the source VM's vmdk & the restored or failed over VM's VM_Name.vmdk [ stub or header ] file, specifically in these vmdk geometry stipulating values:
ddb.geometry.sectors
ddb.geometry.cylinders.
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Resolution
Putty into the restored VM’s ESX host
- cd /vmfs/volumes/
- Then cd into the datastore that the restored < VM_Name > is on.
- Vi or nano edit < VM_Name.vmdk > file, replacing the restored or replicated VM’s ddb.geometry.sectors & ddb.geometry.cylinders values with those of the original VM being restored, if such are available.
- If the original VM’s *.vmdk header or stub file is no longer accessible or does not exist, then you can use the following VMware KB or the ‘oh_dear_I_lost_my_descriptor ‘ tool to generate a new vmdk stub / header file that is generated from the *.-flat.vmdk’s byte count. ***Note that use of the ‘oh_dear_I_lost_my_descriptor’ tool requires copying the *-flat.vmdk file to an accessible drive on the vRanger backup server for *.vmdk header [ stub ] file generation.
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Additional Information