strange fsck results

[Derek Ragona]

At 06:08 AM 12/28/2008, reese at adeptscience.com wrote:
>I am running VMware Server 2.0 but see the same results with
>VMware Server 1.0.  The virtual machines are copies that I
>made by transferring the vmware files for it from another server.
>As far as I know it did not have any fsck problems on that machine
>but I don't have access to it any more.  I have noticed that there
>are a lot of failures (corrupted files) when moving VMware appliances with 
>the
>use of USB memory sticks so I do test them right on the memory
>stick before I disconnect from the PC.
>
>All the host OSs are Windows XP Professional using IDE ATA drives, current
>hardware is an HP dx2450 AMD Phenom. but I saw the same errors on an Acer.
>
>The files systems are:
>
># Device                Mountpoint      FStype  Options         Dump    Pass#
>/dev/ad0s1b             none            swap    sw              0       0
>/dev/ad0s1a             /               ufs     rw              1       1
>/dev/ad0s1e             /usr            ufs     rw              2       2
>/dev/ad0s1d             /var            ufs     rw              2       2
>/dev/acd0               /cdrom          cd9660  ro,noauto       0       0
>
>Here is a bit from fsck of /var
>
>hueysan_vm: {10} fsck /var
>** /dev/ad0s1d (NO WRITE)
>** Last Mounted on /var
>** Phase 1 - Check Blocks and Sizes
>** Phase 2 - Check Pathnames
>** Phase 3 - Check Connectivity
>** Phase 4 - Check Reference Counts
>UNREF FILE  I=190413  OWNER=root MODE=100644
>SIZE=235 MTIME=Dec 27 12:23 2008
>RECONNECT? no
>
>
>CLEAR? no
>...
>
>I get about a dozen similar UNREF errors.
>
>
>I am only worried about the errors if they might cause a problem
>with the use of the virtual server as a development server.  I have
>installed and have running apache, mysql, sendmail, samba,
>rsync, etc and they all seem to work fine.  I am planning on
>distributing copies of the virtual server to some others who are
>working on a project with me so I really only need to be
>fairly sure that no hidden gotchas are going to plague
>our efforts.  Having the virtual server setup is a BIG plus
>when collaborating with people who only have Windows
>PCs, before I had a central FreeBSD server for testing
>etc but that is so much slower then have a local development
>server.  Being able to just send off a memory stick with the
>VMserver and instructions is fantastic.
>
>
>Thanks to all,
>Charlie Reese

Charlie,

I have a number of FreeBSD servers 7.0 running under ESX server 3.5.  With 
FreeBSD 7, it has the background fsck.  I checked my servers and did see 
one  with an issue from fsck, but later the background fsck had it fixed.

The only issue I've had running the i386 version of FreeBSD, and other OS's 
under ESX is to be sure to use the vmware tools to copy the VM's once they 
are properly powered off.

You might want to try upgrading one of your VM FreeBSD servers to 7.0 and 
see if the issue persists.

         -Derek

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