VMWare can't be run purely from the command line

VMControl error -16: Virtual machine requires user input to continue

If you see that when manipulating a VMWare machine, you'll need to connect the management console and click on the window VMWare will show you.

vmware-server-console or whatever you use.

I can't see that even a hard reset can get rid of this without starting the graphical interface. If there is a way to get a machine back from the command line only, I'd be thankful to hear of it.