2010-04-04.

VMWare server 2: wholly irritating with its web-based GUI instead of the 
thoroughly functional 'real' application (vmware-console ?)that the earlier 
version had.   Now is seems to get easily into a state of just not responding,
unless lucky about killing all processes, unloading modules, running the 
configure.pl and starting again.
So, after doing these steps to get anything at all working, I tried /not/
using the web-based thing but the command-based method:


root@diagsim /vmware/mswxpp32nt0 # vmware-vim-cmd vmsvc/
Commands available under vmsvc/:
acquiremksticket          get.configoption          power.off
connect                   get.datastores            power.on
convert.toTemplate        get.disabledmethods       power.reboot
convert.toVm              get.environment           power.reset
createdummyvm             get.filelayout            power.shutdown
destroy                   get.guest                 power.suspend
device.connection         get.guestheartbeatStatus  reload
device.connusbdev         get.managedentitystatus   setscreenres
device.disconnusbdev      get.networks              snapshot.create
device.diskadd            get.runtime               snapshot.dumpoption
device.diskaddexisting    get.snapshotinfo          snapshot.get
device.diskremove         get.summary               snapshot.remove
device.getdevices         get.tasklist              snapshot.removeall
device.toolsSyncSet       getallvms                 snapshot.revert
device.vmiadd             gethostconstraints        snapshot.setoption
device.vmiremove          login                     tools.cancelinstall
devices.createnic         logout                    tools.install
get.capability            message                   tools.upgrade
get.config                power.getstate            unregister
get.config.cpuidmask      power.hibernate           upgrade

root@diagsim /vmware/mswxpp32nt0 # vmware-vim-cmd vmsvc/power.on mswxpp32nt0
Powering on VM:
(vmodl.fault.ManagedObjectNotFound) {
   dynamicType = <unset>,
   obj = 'vim.VirtualMachine:mswxpp32nt0',
   msg = "The request refers to an object that no longer exists or has never existed."
}

root@diagsim /vmware/mswxpp32nt0 # vmware-vim-cmd vmsvc/connect mswxpp32nt0
Already connected.

root@diagsim /vmware/mswxpp32nt0 # vmware-vim-cmd vmsvc/get.capability mswxpp32nt0
(vim.fault.NotFound) {
   dynamicType = <unset>,
   msg = "Unable to find a VM corresponding to "mswxpp32nt0""
}

root@diagsim /vmware/mswxpp32nt0 # vmware-vim-cmd vmsvc/getallvms
Vmid      Name                       File                      Guest OS       Version   Annotation
16     mswxpp64dm    [standard] mswxpp64dm/mswxpp64dm.vmx   winXPPro64Guest   vmx-07
32     mswxpp32nt0   [standard] mswxpp32nt0/mswxpp.vmx      winXPProGuest     vmx-07

root@diagsim /vmware/mswxpp32nt0 # vmware-vim-cmd vmsvc/power.on 32
Powering on VM:


[And it worked: there it was in a minute or two.]
To make the changes I'd wanted, to memory allocation, I edited the *.vmx file in 
the virtual machine's directory.  I also deleted the file and directory 
named *.vmem* (swap or memory image or something to slow things down).