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Disk Files
- Jan 04, 2016.
- To convert to a preallocated virtual disk split in 2Gb files vmware-vdiskmanager.exe -r sourceDisk.vmdk -t 3 destinationDisk.vmdk Note: This conversion will require a minimum amount of free space on your hard drive as the size of the virtual disk.
Dec 23, 2012. Mar 13, 2019. VMDK descriptor is just like a log file for VMDK file if you split it into multiple parts. If you choose Split virtual disk into multiple files option, a descriptor file will be created in the same folder where the split VMDK file is stored. If you have no idea about the file type your VMDK is saved in, either SPARSE or FLAT, you can check Is Descriptor option.
In the virtual machine settings editor (VM > Settings), you can choose the disk files for a virtual machine. See What Files Make Up a Virtual Machine? for a comprehensive list of the other files.
You may want to choose a file other than the one created by the New Virtual Machine Wizard if you are using a virtual disk that you created in a different location or if you are moving the automatically created disk files to a new location.
The disk files for a virtual disk store the information that you write to a virtual machine's hard disk — the operating system, the program files and the data files. The virtual disk files have a .vmdk extension.
A virtual disk is made up of one or more .vmdk files.
On Windows hosts, each virtual disk is contained in one file by default. You may, as an option, configure the virtual disk to use a set of files limited to 2GB per file. Use this option if you plan to move the virtual disk to a file system that does not support files larger than 2GB.
You must set this option at the time the virtual disk is created.
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Flat Vmdk File
If you are setting up a new virtual machine, in the New Virtual Machine Wizard, follow the Custom path. In the screen that allows you to specify the virtual disk's capacity, select Split disk into 2GB files.
If you are adding a virtual disk to an existing virtual machine, follow the steps in the Add Hardware Wizard. In the screen that allows you to specify the virtual disk's capacity, select Split disk into 2GB files.
When a disk is split into multiple files, larger virtual disks have more .vmdk files.
The first .vmdk file for each disk is small and contains pointers to the other files that make up the virtual disk. The other .vmdk files contain data stored by your virtual machine and use a small amount of space for virtual machine overhead.
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If you chose to allocate space for the virtual disk in advance, the file sizes are fixed, and most of the files are 2GB. As mentioned above, the first file is small. The last file in the series may also be smaller than 2GB.
If you did not allocate the space in advance, the .vmdk files grow as data is added, to a maximum of 2GB each — except for the first file in the set, which remains small.
The virtual machine settings editor shows the name of the first file in the set — the one that contains pointers to the other files in the set. The other files used for that disk are automatically given names based on the first file's name.
Vuescan 9 6 26 – scanner software with advanced features. For example, a Windows XP Professional virtual machine using the default configuration, with files that grow as needed, stores the disk in files named Windows XP Professional.vmdk, Windows XP Professional-s001.vmdk, Windows XP Professional-s002.vmdk and so on.
If the disk space is allocated in advance, the names are similar, except that they include an f instead of an s — for example, Windows XP Professional-f001.vmdk.
If you are using a physical disk, the .vmdk file stores information about the physical disk or partition used by the virtual machine.
In order to merge split vmdk files into one, you need to use the vmware-vdiskmanager command. However, this is only available if you have VMware Fusion or VMware Workstation installed. VMware Player doesn’t have this.
Luckily this little utility can be downloaded separately from the VMware site. It is the
1023856-vdiskmanager-windows-7.0.1.exe.zip
attachment that you will need.Once downloaded, extract and rename
1023856-vdiskmanager-windows-7.0.1.exe
to vmware-vdiskmanager.exe
and copy or move to the directory where VMware Player is installed. For instance C:Program Files (x86)VMwareVMware Player
Open Vmdk File In Vmware
In order to merge vmdk files, open a Command Prompt and CD to the directory where the vmdk files are located. For instance
CD VMWareImagesMyImage
Assume you have the following vmdk files :
MyImage.vmdk
MyImage-s001.vmdk
MyImage-s002.vmdk
MyImage-s003.vmdk
MyImage-s004.vmdk
MyImage-s005.vmdk
MyImage-s006.vmdk
MyImage-s007.vmdk
MyImage-s008.vmdk
To merge them into one single vmdk file, use the following command:
The new vmdk file will then be created:
Creating disk 'MyNewImage.vmdk'
Convert: 41% done.
Split Vmdk Into Multiple Files Esxi
Once done, either rename the original vmdk files or move them to a different directory. Finally rename
MyNewImage.vmdk
to MyImage.vmdk
and you’re all set.