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PlazaProp

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VM (inaccessable) on one Host but not another

We have 3 VMWare VMserver 2.0 Hosts.  2 are running on Centos5 and 1 on Windows 2008.  We have setup the 2008 box for testing running vmware server on that platform/hardware as it don't support ESXi.  All boxes are running same Vmware build and version.

I have several virtual machines and I can add them to the hosts that are running on Centos but when I try to add the machine to the 2008 host the VM is tagged (inaccessible).

The vm guests are stored on an SAN box run via Openfiler.  I have used the same credentials used on the Centos box to add the datastore to the 2008 box.  I can browse the datastore without a problem and I can access the vmware web administration console from my workstation without a problem.

While searching for an answer I will try to copy the vm guest to the local drive of the 2008 box to eliminate some sort of permission conflict but I don't really think that is the issue. Windows firewall is disabled to eliminate that as an issue.

Any Ideas?
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Marinertek
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Any chance you're moving from 64-bit Centos to 32-bit 2008? If your 2008 box does not support ESXi than it probably is not an x64 processor - what are the VM OS's you're trying to move?

Do new VM's run correctly on the 2008 host (is it only migrated VM's that are the issue)?
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PlazaProp

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All OS's are 32bit.  The 2008 box is dual Xeon procs on an intel Mobo.  The ESXi installer fails with and error about unsupported hardware.

Migrated/Moved VM's.

Update,  after copying the VM guest files to the local drive on the 2008 box it successfully added to the console. It does appear to be some sort of permissions issue.  Haven't tried to run it yet but I didn't get the tag (inaccessible).  

Maybe I need to change the account that VMWare Server run under.   ?????
In VI Web Access make sure the account you are trying to use is listed as an admin in the permissions tab. Does this correspond to the local admin/domain admin account used to install the software? Also be sure to check the security permissions on the VM files themselves.
do you get any useful output using vmrun in the command line? I believe this works with VMServer (I'm a workstation user personally):

vmrun -T ws start "c:\my VMs\myVM.vmx"

http://www.vmware.com/products/beta/ws/vmrunCommand.pdf
Apparently I cannot create new vm's on the 2008 box.  My guess is that the added guest would not run either because it does appear to be a permissions issue.  I can use windows explorer to create folders and files so I know the share is writable, just not from the VMWare server console.

Thanks for the link to the pdf.  it says it is for workstation 6 and vmware server 2.  I will have to take a look at it in a bit.
No problem - have you checked your BIOS to make sure Virtualization Technology is enabled on your CPU?
Hyper-Threading Technology was enabled. HT technology in MPS was not enabled.  However, this should not affect VMware Server 2.0 as that is software virtualization.  

This may have prevented ESXi from installing but I believe that I tried enabling this once before.
HT technology is different from VT technology - even software hypervisors like virtual-box need it. If your processor does not support VT you may not be able to host virtual machines.
That is an invalid statement.  As I said earlier that after copying the vm files to the local drive I can add the vm in the console just fine, and the vm even boots the guest os. So the issue has nothing to do the the HT or VT settings.  
Sorry PlazaProp - I think my understanding of your issue is confused from what you're saying. My understanding (until your last comment) was this:

1. You have Centos running VMWare Server
2. You have Server 2008 running VMWare Server
3. VM's are fine on Centos
4. Migrated VM's to 2008 do not run
5. Migrated VM's to the local storage on the 2008 box do not run
6. You cannot create new VM's on local storage in VMWare Server.

Given this data it sounds like Virtualization-Technology is missing from your 2008 server's CPU or it's a permissions issue. If you had verified the permissions issue then that leaves VT. For example if you were running Virtual-Box the program would install just fine, but you wouldn't be able to create new VM's unless VT is enabled in your BIOS.

From your last statement you're saying that VM's copied to the local storage now boot fine. This is different from what I took in your third comment.

Please correct my understanding of your issue so I can help solve the problem.

Incorrect on number 5. Migrated vm's to local storage on the 2008 box DO run. I cannot run vm's on the 2008 box that are stored on the openfiler nas device. On the centos boxes I just mount the share in /mnt using a domain account using CIFS. The 2008 box is part of the domain and I can browse the share manually. It just seems that the vmware server is running under an account that cannot write to the nas. It can browse to select the vm, but it gets tagged as inaccessible.
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Marinertek
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What I noticed was that when I copied, edited, moved files from my windows workstation the new files had the permissions of my user.  The Virtual host uses a different user to access and create machines.  If the owner of the file is different, VMWARE has issues, even though both users are part of the same group.  It is def. a permissions issue I just need to find the sweet spot.