Performing a clone operation on a set of sparse files fails with the error: The source disk needs to be repaired.  Try option -x

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

When you attempt to perform a clone operation on a set of sparse files that have been transferred to an ESX/ESXi 4.1 host from a hosted platform such as an ESX Server or a VMware Workstation, you experience these symptoms:

• The clone operation fails
• You are unable to clone the disks to a new file
• You see the error:

The source disk needs to be repaired. Try option -x

Environment

VMware ESX 4.1.x
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Embedded
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Installable

Resolution

To resolve this issue, you must correct the file descriptors of the sparse files.

The vmkfstools command in ESX/ESXi 4.1 supports a new option (-x ) that helps you to correct the hosted style file descriptors of sparse files that were transferred from hosted platforms, such as VMware Server or VMware Workstation.

To correct the file descriptors of the sparse files, run this vmkfstools command:

# vmkfstools -x repair <filename>.vmdk

After repairing the sparse files, the clone operation should be successful.

Note: The vmkfstools -x command does not correct chains or links in the delta disk hierarchy.