Error: The file specified is not a virtual disk in VMware Fusion

Products

• VMware Desktop Hypervisor
• VMware Fusion

Issue/Introduction

• Powering ON the Virtual Machine fails with following error:
  
  The file specified is not a virtual disk.

Cause

This error can occur when there are unknown or unexpected characters in the .vmx file.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, follow the steps below:

1. Backup Virtual Machine (.vmx) file:

   Click and select the .vmx file, drag and drop onto the local Desktop location.
   
   

2. Edit the Virtual Machine's settings (.vmx) file:

   1. Power Off the Virtual Machine.
      
      
   2. In VMware Fusion, from the Apple menu bar, go to Window > Virtual Machine Library.
      
      Note: If the virtual machine is encrypted, click on settings and enter the password to decrypt.
       
   3. Hold the Alt key and Right-click the Virtual Machine > Select Open Config File in Editor.
      
      To open the .vmx in TextEdit in Fusion 4.x and above:
      
      
      • Select Show in Finder
      • Right-click the Virtual Machine and select Show package Contents.
      • Locate the .vmx file and open it in a text editor.
      • Add or Edit lines as needed. Lines are displayed in no particular order.
      
      Note: While editing the .vmx file in TextEdit, disable Smart Quotes option from TextEdit > Preferences > New Document. Smart quotes, if enabled, will not work in the .vmx file and the virtual machine will fail to boot.
       
   4. When finished, close the window which auto-saves it (Mountain Lion) or click Save a version (Lion) or Save (not Save As) (Snow Leopard and earlier), and exit.
      
      
   5. Look for the line that begins with:
      
      scsi0:0.fileName =
      
      Or
      
      ide0:0.fileName =
      
      
   6. There is a file name, in quotes, after the equal sign. Ensure that the virtual disk file is a virtual disk or a snapshot disk, and not a slice. For more information on these file types, see Contents of the virtual machine bundle in Fusion (1021016)
      

      If it is pointing to a slice, truncate the file name by removing the reference to the slice so that the file name indicates only the parent virtual disk.

      Example:
      
      Change "Windows XP Professional-000001-s007.vmdk" to "Windows XP Professional-000001.vmdk"
      Change "Windows Vista-s021.vmdk" to "Windows Vista.vmdk"

   7. Save and Close the settings file.
      
      
   8. Quit Fusion, and reopen it, to reload the settings file.
      
      
   9. Power ON the Virtual Machine.

Note: If the issue still persists, try to repair the virtual disk. For more information, refer Repairing a sparse virtual disk in Fusion

Additional Information

A Boot Camp virtual machine fails to power on with a disk error
Contents of the virtual machine bundle in Fusion
Repairing a sparse virtual disk in Fusion