After setting up our new server running Windows 2003 Server R2 x64 and VMware Server V1.04 I was continually getting the message “Invalid Virtual Machine Error”.

This was occurring when I tried to open any of our virtual machine templates in the VMware Console after copying it to the new server. I was able to come up with a solution after searching through the VMware forums.

If you’re using [VMWare Server Console] in local mode, switch to remote mode with a valid Admin-level login and try again.

I simply closed the Console, restarted it and entered my login credentials in remote mode instead of choosing “local mode”. This work-around allowed me to add the server templates without further error!