VMWare "Unable to save snapshot file"

May 26, 2008

I often try things on my SharePoint virtual machine that I keep on my laptop, hosted in VMWare Server environment. A few months ago suddenly it became impossible to suspend the machine, because every time I tried to do so, the following error message appeared:

> Error taking snapshot: Unable to save snapshot in <Path>. Please verify that the directory exists and you have write permissions. Failed to suspend the virtual machine.

I thought it was caused by the insufficient permissions for the virtual machine folder. I tried to add my user as the owner of the folder but it didn't solve the problem. Browsing on the VMWare forums, I found the solution here.

WORKAROUND

  • Ensure that your Virtual Machine is shut down
  • Check in the VM properties the folder where the snapshot files are stored (the Working Directory)
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  • Make a subfolder inside that folder (for example, Snapshots)
  • Set the working directory of the VM to that subfolder

That's it. It seems that cloning the VM from an existing VM sometimes has the unpleasant consequence of losing track of the working folder, even if it's displayed correctly.


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Written by Edin Kapić Insatiably curious code-writing tinkerer. Geek father. Aviation enthusiast. Cuisine journeyman. Follow me on Twitter