VMs show only snapshot files and no base disk in the VM directory

Products

• VMware vSAN
• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Virtual machines appear to be missing their base virtual disk (.vmdk) files. Upon inspecting the datastore, the VM folder only contains a descriptor file with a snapshot naming convention (e.g., VM-Name-000001.vmdk).

Because this naming format typically represents the first delta disk in a snapshot chain, it creates the false appearance that the primary base disk (VM-Name.vmdk) is missing or has been deleted. This issue can affect all disks on a VM or only a subset of disks attached to the VM.

Environment

VMware vSphere (All Versions)
VMware vSAN OSA (All Versions)

Cause

This behavior is generally caused by an incomplete cleanup from third-party backup or replication software.

During a backup failure, snapshots may be reverted or consolidated. While the data consolidation completes successfully, the virtual disk descriptor is not properly renamed to reflect its status as the base disk. It retains the -000001.vmdk suffix.

Technical Verification: You can confirm this by inspecting the descriptor file of the suspected snapshot. Snapshot disks have a Content ID (CID) and a parent Content ID (parentCID) that points to the next disk in the chain.

• If you open the VM-Name-000001.vmdk descriptor and see parentCID=ffffffff, this confirms the disk is at the end of the chain.

• A parentCID of ffffffff dictates that it does not have a parent and is functioning as the base disk.

There is no data corruption or actual missing data; the issue is strictly a naming discrepancy.  As shown in KB:327862, if the descriptor is to a virtual disk with a snapshot then the descriptor with have the value for parentFileNameHint pointing to the next snapshot in the sequence or the base disk.

Resolution

To resolve the naming discrepancy and restore the standard base disk naming convention, perform a Virtual Machine Clone operation.

1. Right-click the affected Virtual Machine in the vSphere Client and select Clone > Clone to Virtual Machine.

2. Follow the prompts to provision the newly cloned VM.

3. Once the cloning process completes, inspect the datastore folder of the new VM. The cloning process will automatically write the disks in the normal format, stripping the -000001.vmdk suffix and restoring the standard VM-Name.vmdk naming convention.

4. Power on the cloned VM to verify functionality. Once confirmed, you can safely decommission the original VM.

5. If no downtime can be taken via the clone process, the VM can be storage vMotioned to another datastore.  It can then be migrated back if it needs to reside on the original datastore.