How to Convert a VMware Pre-allocated Virtual Disk to a Growable Virtual Disk
VMware Server supports both growable and pre-allocated virtual disks. In addition, the disks can be specified to be contained in a single file, or divided into multiple 2GB files.
The virtual disk type is defined at the point that the disk is created. Whilst this is generally not a problem, VMware Server does not support the shrinking of pre-allocated virtual disks. Before a pre-allocated disk can be reduced in size, therefore, it is necessary to first convert it to a growable disk. This can be performed using the Virtual Disk Manager tool (vmware-vdiskmanager).
The vmware-vdiskmanager tool
The VMware Disk Management Tool is a command line tool which is installed by default with VMware Server. The executable file is named vmware-vdiskmanager and is located in \Program Files\VMware\VMware Server on Windows hosts, and /usr/bin on Linux systems.
The tool accepts a number of command-line arguments, a full listing of which can be obtained by running vmware-vdiskmanager with no options.
vmware-vdiskmanager
Virtual Disk Types
The type to which a virtual disk is to be converted is specified using the -t flag, together with the target disk type. This is represented by a number as outlined in the following table:
Type Identifier |
Description |
---|---|
0 |
Growable (single .vmdk file) |
1 | Growable (multiple 2GB files) |
2 | Pre-allocated (single file) |
3 |
Pre-allocated (multiple 2GB files) |
4 | Pre-allocated ESX |
5 | Compressed for streaming |
Performing the Type Conversion
vmware-vdiskmanager -r win2008-1_2.vmdk -t 0 new.vmdk Creating disk 'new.vmdk' Convert: 100% done. Virtual disk conversion successful.