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VMware Server: 511 vmware-serverd service is not running.

Originally published Last updated 29 comments

At some point, my Windows-based VMware Server host ran out of disk space while running a couple of important production virtual machines. Windows reported low disk space, with only 32 KB left. When I tried to open the VMware Server console, I received the error "511 vmware-serverd service is not running." All the virtual machines were running except the one that had consumed the remaining disk space.

VMware Server Console. There was a problem connecting: 511 vmware-serverd service is not running.

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Recover the virtual machines and service

To resolve the issue, I had to:

  • Shut down one of the virtual machines through a Remote Desktop connection.
  • Move the virtual machine directory to another VMware Server host.
  • Shut down the other virtual machines through Remote Desktop connections. At some point, I could not shut down the two remaining virtual machines. Neither was accessible through RDP, and the Linux machine was also inaccessible through SSH.

I opened Task Manager and located the remaining processes for the virtual machines.

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Each virtual machine has its own vmware-vmx.exe process. Two were left, and I stopped both vmware-vmx.exe processes. I then opened Services.msc and restarted the "VMware Registration Service" service.

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After the service was restarted, the power-on task started. All virtual machines were up and running. Stopping the processes and moving some directories resolved the problem with my VMware Server.

This brings me back to why it happened. One important lesson was to size the virtual machines and their disk space. I plan to implement thresholds and notifications with a CactiEZ appliance soon.

28 comments

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  2. Mike D

    Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\VMAuthdService]
    "DependOnService"=hex(7):76,00,6d,00,78,00,38,00,36,00,00,00,77,00,6d,00,69,00,00,00,00,00

    This is the fix, copy the above to a file with a .reg extension and run it. It will add a dependency to the VMWare Authentication service

  3. Claudio Laurita

    Thanks a lot to Mike D.
    I had a similar problem running VMware server 1.05 on a 2kpro.
    The missing wmi dependency caused a fault in Auth service start that caused a fault in registration service start.
    With his fix, everything works fine.

    Claudio Laurita

  9. Arun.PC

    Fantastic! Was stuck with this error and following your article got it working. Keep writing good solutions like these.

    Thanks,
    Arun.P.C
    www.arunpc.com

  18. abo

    Hi all,

    Thanks for this suggested fixe but it does not fixe my issue.
    I applyied this fixe provide by Mike but no success.

    I uninstalled VmWare then reinstalled it: issue still present.

    Any ide is very welcome.

    Thanks,

  19. torteflo

    Hi abo,

    did you upgrade your vmware server version?
    what is your current one?

  21. sky86

    I use XP os
    I execute this command :
    C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware Server\vmserverdWin32.exe
    than i solve this problem!

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