VMware Disk Mount Users Guide
Virtual Disk Development Kit
VMware Disk Mount Users Guide Item: EN-000055-01
You can find the most up-to-date technical documentation on the VMware Web site at: http://www.vmware.com/support/ The VMware Web site also provides the latest product updates. If you have comments about this documentation, submit your feedback to: docfeedback@vmware.com
2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved. Protected by one or more U.S. Patent Nos. 6,397,242, 6,496,847, 6,704,925, 6,711,672, 6,725,289, 6,735,601, 6,785,886, 6,789,156, 6,795,966, 6,880,022, 6,944,699, 6,961,806, 6,961,941, 7,069,413, 7,082,598, 7,089,377, 7,111,086, 7,111,145, 7,117,481, 7,149,843, 7,155,558, 7,222,221, 7,260,815, 7,260,820, 7,269,683, 7,275,136, 7,277,998, 7,277,999, 7,278,030, 7,281,102, 7,290,253, 7,356,679, 7,409,487, 7,412,492, 7,412,702, 7,424,710, and 7,428,636; patents pending. VMware, the VMware boxes logo and design, Virtual SMP, and VMotion are registered trademarks or trademarks of VMware, Inc. in the United States and/or other jurisdictions. All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies.
VMware, Inc. 3401 Hillview Ave. Palo Alto, CA 94304 www.vmware.com

VMware, Inc.

Contents

AboutThisBook

UsingVMwareDiskMount
LimitationsonMountingVirtualDisks 7 RunningVMwareDiskMountonaWindowsHost 8 LogFiles 8 ExamplesUsingVMwareDiskMountonaWindowsHost 9 RunningVMwareDiskMountonaLinuxHost 10 LogFile 10 ExamplesUsingVMwareDiskMountonaLinuxHost 11 InstallingtheFusePackage 12

About This Book

ThisVMwaremanual,theVMwareDiskMountUsersGuide,providesanintroductiontousingthe vmware-mountcommandlineutility.

Revision History

Thisbookisrevisedwitheachreleaseoftheproductorwhennecessary.Arevisedversioncancontainminor ormajorchanges.Table P1summarizesthesignificantchangesineachversionofthisguide. Table P-1. Revision History
Revision Description FirstversionoftheVMwareDiskMountUsersGuide. UpdatewithsupportforLinuxhostsandremotevirtualdisks. Newoptionforinventorypathofthevirtualmachine. UpdatedsupportinformationandFusemount. Correctedinformationaboutsnapshotsand/poption. AddedinformationaboutWindowsandLinuxlogfiles.

Intended Audience

ThisbookisintendedforanyonewhousesVMwareDiskMount.Userstypicallyincludepeoplewhodo softwaredevelopmentandtestingorworkwithmultipleoperatingsystemsorcomputingenvironments: systemadministrators,applicationdevelopers,QAengineers,andanyonewhowantstocreate,manage,and modifyvirtualdiskfilesfromscriptsoratthecommandline.

Documentation Resources

ToaccessthecurrentversionsofVMwareAPIandSDKdocumentation,goto: http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/sdk_pubs.html ToaccessthecurrentversionsofotherVMwaremanuals,goto: http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs

Documentation Feedback

VMwarewelcomesyoursuggestionsforimprovingourdocumentation.Sendyourfeedbackto: docfeedback@vmware.com
Technical Support and Education Resources
Thefollowingsectionsdescribethetechnicalsupportandeducationalresourcesavailabletoyou.

Online Support

YoucansubmitquestionsorpostcommentstotheDeveloperCommunitySDKsandAPIsforum,whichis monitoredbyVMwaretechnicalsupportandproductteams.Toaccesstheforum,goto: http://communities.vmware.com/community/developer

Support Offerings

TofindouthowVMwaresupportofferingscanhelpmeetyourbusinessneeds,goto: http://www.vmware.com/support/services
VMware Professional Services
VMwareEducationServicescoursesofferextensivehandsonlabs,casestudyexamples,andcoursematerials designedtobeusedasonthejobreferencetools.Coursesareavailableonsite,intheclassroom,andlive online.Foronsitepilotprograms andimplementationbestpractices,VMwareConsultingServicesprovides offeringstohelpyouassess,plan,build,andmanageyourvirtualenvironment.Toaccessinformationabout educationclasses,certificationprograms,andconsultingservices,goto: http://www.vmware.com/services/

Using VMware Disk Mount

VMwareDiskMountisautilityforWindowsandLinuxhoststhatallowsyoutomountanunusedvirtualdisk asaseparatedriveorpartitionwithoutneedingtoconnecttothevirtualdiskfromwithinavirtualmachine. Youcanmountspecificvolumesofavirtualdiskifthevirtualdiskispartitioned. Afteryoumountavirtualdisk,youcanreadfromandwritetothemountedvirtualdiskasifitwereaseparate filesystemwithitsowndriveletterormountpointonyourcomputer.Forexample,youcouldscanthedisk forvirusesortransferfilesbetweenthehostsystemandapoweredoffvirtualmachine.Whenyouarefinished usingamountedvirtualdisk,youshouldunmountitsothevirtualmachinecanuseitsvirtualdiskagain. Thischaptercontainsthefollowingsections: LimitationsonMountingVirtualDisksonpage 7. RunningVMwareDiskMountonaWindowsHostonpage 8. RunningVMwareDiskMountonaLinuxHostonpage 10.

Limitations on Mounting Virtual Disks
Considerthefollowingwhenyoumountvirtualdisks: Youcannotmountavirtualdiskthatiscurrentlybeingusedbyarunningorsuspendedvirtualmachine. Youcanonlymountdisksthatareinapoweredoffvirtualmachine,ordisksthatarenotarenotassociated withavirtualmachine. YoucanmountandreadWindowsvirtualdisksonWindowshosts(withatleastoneNTFSvolume)or LinuxvirtualdisksonLinuxhosts.Crossmountingisrestrictedasdescribedbelow. YoucanuseDiskMountwithvirtualdiskscreatedbyVMwareESXServer3.xand2.x(preallocateddisks only),VMwareWorkstation6,5,or4,VMwarePlayer,VMwareACE,VMwareFusion,VMwareServer2 or1,andVMwareGSXServer3.xand2.5.Howeveryoucannotmountencryptedvirtualdisks. Youcannotmountavirtualdiskifanyofits.vmdkfilesarecompressedorhavereadonlypermissions. Changetheseattributesbeforemountingthevirtualdisk. OnWindowshosts,youmustmountvirtualdisksasdriveD:orgreater.Youcannotspecifyadriveletter alreadyinuseonthehost. OnWindowshosts,youcanmountvolumesformattedwithFAT(12/16/32)orNTFSonly.Ifthevirtual diskhasamixofpartitionsorvolumeswhere,forexample,apartitionisunformattedorisformattedwith aLinuxoperatingsystemandanotherpartitionisformattedwithaWindowsoperatingsystem,youcan mounttheWindowspartitionwithDiskMount. Ifyouspecifyavirtualdiskwithsnapshots,thiscommandlocatesandmountsthelastsnapshot.On Windowsyoucanmountprevioussnapshotsreadonly.OnLinuxyoucannotmountprevioussnapshots. CAUTIONWhenyouhaveasnapshotmountedwithvmware-mount,donotreverttoaprevioussnapshot usinganyotherVMwareinterface.Doingsomakesitimpossibletounmountthepartition.
DiskMountrunsfromthecommandlineonanyversionofWindows2000,WindowsXP,WindowsServer 2003,orWindowsVista,aswellasanyversionofLinuxthatissupportedasahostforVMwareWorkstation. DiskMountonLinuxrequirestheFusepackage.SeeInstallingtheFusePackageonpage 12.
Running VMware Disk Mount on a Windows Host
TorunVMwareDiskMount,openacommandpromptonaWindowshost.TheDiskMountutilityinstallsin C:\Program Files\VMware\VMwareVirtualDiskDevelopmentKit\bin bydefault,whichtheinstaller addstoyoursearchpath,soyoucanprobablytypejustvmware-mounttoruntheutility. TheDiskMountcommandsyntaxis:
vmware-mount [driveletter:] [path-to-vmdk] [options]
Usedriveletter:tospecifythedriveletterwhereyouwanttomountorunmountavirtualdisk.Examples inthissectionusetheJ:driveandnearbyletters. Thepath-to-vmdkspecifiesthelocationofavirtualdiskthatyouwanttomountorqueryforinformation, C:\DocumentsandSettings\<user>\MyDocuments\MyVirtualMachines\<VMname>\<VMname>.vmdk forexample,where<VMname>isthenameofavirtualmachine. Withnoarguments,vmware-mountdisplaysmounteddrivemappings,ifany.Thisissimilartothe/Loption. Possibleoptionsare:

Option /v:N /d /f Definition MountsvolumeNofavirtualdisk.Ndefaultsto1. Givenadriveletter,deletesthemappingtothevirtualdiskdrivevolume. Forciblydeletesthemappingtoavirtualdiskdrivevolume.Usethisoptionwhena technicalerrororacorrectableconditionsuchasopenfilehandlespreventsDiskMount fromunmountingthedrive.Otherwisestopaccessingthevolumeanduse/d. Givenpath-to-vmdk,displaysthepartitions(volumes)onthevirtualdisk.Localonly. Displaysallvirtualdisksmountedonthehostcomputer.Usewithoutotheroptions. Mountsdiskinreadandwritemode,thedefault. Mountsdiskinnonpersistentreadonlymode.Allowsmountingofsnapshotdisk. Displaysvmware-mountusageinformation.

/p /L /m:w /m:n /?

Theoptionsforremotevirtualdisksare:
Option /i:InventoryPath /h:HostName /u:UserName /s:Password /P:Port Definition SpecifiesinventorypathontheVirtualCenterthatmanagesthisvirtualdisk. SpecifiesthenameorIPaddressoftheESXServertoaccessthemanagedvirtualdisk. SpecifiesusernamefortheESXServer. SpecifiesthepasswordfortheESXServer. SpecifiesthePortnumberusedtocommunicatewiththeserver.Thisisoptionaland defaultsto902.

Log Files

OnWindowsthediagnosticlogfilesforeach<user>whoranvmware-mountarelocatedhere:
C:\Documents and Settings\<user>\Local Settings\Temp\vmware-<user>-<nnnn>/vmount.log C:\Documents and Settings\<user>\Local Settings\Temp\vmware-<user>-<nnnn>/vmount-client.log
Examples Using VMware Disk Mount on a Windows Host
FollowingaresomeexamplesthatillustratehowtouseDiskMountonaWindowshost. To mount a local virtual disk AssumingshortcutC:\MyVirtualMachinesandvirtualmachineWindows98,typethiscommand:
vmware-mount J: "C:\My Virtual Machines\Windows98\Windows98.vmdk"
To mount a remote virtual disk Typeacommandinthisform,where<VMname>istheguestOSname,<inv>istheinventorypath,<server> isanESXserverorVirtualCenter,<user>isaprivilegeduser,and<password>istheaccountpassword:
vmware-mount K: "[storage1] <VMname>/<VMname>.vmdk" /i:<inv> /h:<server> /u:<user> /s:<password>

Herearetwoexamples,connectingthroughESXServerandVirtualCenter:
vmware-mount K: [storage1] WinXP/WinXP.vmdk /i:ha-datacenter/vm/WinXP /h:esx3 /u:root /s:secret vmware-mount K: [storage1] WinXP/WinXP.vmdk /i:Datacenter/vm/WinXP /h:vc2 /u:admin /s:secretv
NOTEESXpathnamesarecasesensitive. To unmount the J: drive, if not in use Usethe/doption:

vmware-mount J: /d

To mount a specific volume from a virtual disk Listthevolumepartitions,thendecidewhichtomount:
vmware-mount "C:\My Virtual Machines\Windows98\Windows98.vmdk" /p vmware-mount J: "C:\My Virtual Machines\Windows98\Windows98.vmdk" /v:2
To list the currently mounted virtual disks Usethe/Loption,withsampleoutputshownbelow:
vmware-mount /L Currently mounted volumes: J:\ => C:\My Virtual Machines\Windows98\Windows98.vmdk K:\ => [storage1]WindowsXP2/WindowsXP2.vmdk
To unmount a virtual disk so virtual machines can access it again Usingdrivelettersfromtheexamplesabove,type:
vmware-mount J: /d vmware-mount K: /d
Inventory Path OnanESXserverwiththe/ioption,specifyInventoryPathas:
/i:ha-datacenter/vm/<VMpathname as read from inventory tree in VC client UI>
OnVirtualCenterwiththe/ioption,specifyInventoryPathas:
/i:<Path to your datacenter>/vm/<VMpathname as read from inventory tree in VC client UI>
ThepathtoyourdatacenterisasreadfromthetreedisplayintheVirtualCenterUI.
Running VMware Disk Mount on a Linux Host
TorunDiskMount,openacommandterminalonaLinuxhost.DiskMountinstallsin/usr/binbydefault, soyoucantypejustvmware-mounttodisplayusageinformation.Manymountoperationsrequireroot(su -) orsuperuser(sudo)permission. VMwareDiskMountforLinuxofferstwomodesformountingdisks: 1 Youcanmountaspecificpartitionofavirtualdisk,eitherlocalorremote. Thecommandsyntaxformountingaspecificpartitionisasfollows(defaultpartitionNumberis1):
vmware-mount /path/to/disk [partitionNumber] /mount/point
Youcanmountaflatfilerepresentationofanentirevirtualdisk. Thecommandsyntaxformountingaflatfilerepresentationis:
vmware-mount -f /path/to/disk /mount/point
DiskMountincludesanumberofotheroptionstousewithvirtualdisksandmountpoints.Thecommand syntaxformostoptionsiseitherofthefollowing:
vmware-mount [option] [/path/to/disk] vmware-mount [option] [/mount/point]
Inthefollowinglistofoptions,<diskID>isanidentifieroftheformusername@hostname:/path/to/disk forremotedisks,orjustthe/path/to/diskforlocaldisks.Optionsthatmountaremotediskalsorequirethe -h,-u,-F,andpossibly-voptions.The-voptionisrequiredwhenconnectingtoaVirtualCenter.

Option <diskID> <mountPoint> -p <diskID> -l <diskID> -L -d <mountPoint> -f <diskID> <mountPoint> -k <diskID> -K <diskID> -x -X Definition Mounts Displaysthepartitionsonavirtualdisk. Displaysallmountedpartitionsavirtualdisk. Displaysallvirtualdisksmountedonthehostcomputer. Cleanlyunmountsthispartition,closingdiskifitisthelastpartition. Mountsaflatfilerepresentationofanentirevirtualdiskatthespecifiedmountpoint. Unmountsallpartitionsonavirtualdiskandclosesthevirtualdisk. Forciblyunmountsallpartitionsonavirtualdiskandclosesallvirtualdisks. Unmountsallpartitionsandclosesallvirtualdisks. Forciblyunmountsallpartitionsandclosesallvirtualdisks.
Option -v InventoryPath -h HostName -u UserName -F PasswordFile -P Port Definition SpecifiesinventorypathontheVirtualCenterthatmanagesthisvirtualdisk SpecifiesthenameorIPaddressoftheESXServertoaccessthemanagedvirtualdisk. SpecifiesusernamefortheESXServer. SpecifiesthepathnametoaplaintextfilecontainingthepasswordfortheESXServer. SpecifiesthePortnumberusedtocommunicatewiththeserver.Thisisoptionaland defaultsto902.

Log File

OnLinuxthediagnosticlogfilesforeach<user>whoranvmware-mountarelocatedhere:
/tmp/vmware-<user>/fuseMount.log
Examples Using VMware Disk Mount on a Linux Host
FollowingaresomeexamplesthatillustratehowtouseDiskMountonaLinuxhost. To show the partitions on a local virtual disk Assumingdirectory/vmware/guestandvirtualmachineRHEL4,typethiscommand,whichproducesthe followingoutput:
vmware-mount -p /vmware/guest/RHEL4/RHEL4.vmdk Volume 1 : 102 MB, Linux Volume 2 : 19862 MB, Linux Volume 3 : 510 MB, Linux swap
To mount a partition from a local virtual disk Tomountthesecondpartitionfromabove,typethiscommand:
vmware-mount /vmware/guest/RHEL4/RHEL4.vmdk 2 /mnt/rhel4
To mount a remote virtual disk Typeacommandinthisform,where<VMname>istheguestOSname,<inv>istheinventorypath,<srv>is anESXserverorVirtualCenter,<user>isaprivilegeduser,and<pfile>isafilecontainingthepassword:
vmware-mount -v <inv> -h <srv> -u <user> -F <pfile> "[storage1] <VMname>/<VMname>.vmdk" /mount/pt
vmware-mount -i ha-datacenter/vm/RH5 -h esx3 -u root -F pwf "[storage1] RH5/RH5.vmdk" /mnt/rh5 vmware-mount -i Datacenter/vm/RH5 -h vc2 -u admin -F pwf "[storage1] RH5/RH5.vmdk" /mnt/rh5
NOTEESXpathnamesarecasesensitive. To mount a flat representation of a virtual disk Usethe-foption:

vmware-mount -f /vmware/guest/SUSE10/SUSE10.vmdk /mnt/suse10
To list the currently mounted virtual disks Usethe-Loption,withsampleoutputshownbelow:
vmware-mount -L Disks with mounted partitions: /vmware/guest/RHEL4/RHEL4.vmdk partition2 /mnt/rhel4 root@esx3.example.com:[storage1]RHEL5/RHEL5.vmdk /mnt/rhel5 /vmware/guest/SUSE10/SUSE10.vmdk /mnt/suse10/flat
To unmount a virtual disk so virtual machines can access it again Youcanusethe-doptionandsupplyamountpoint:
vmware-mount -d /mnt/rhel4
Youcanalsousethe-koptionandsupplyadiskID:
vmware-mount -k root@esx3.example.com:[storage1]RHEL5/RHEL5.vmdk
Youmayalsousethe-xor -Xoptiontounmount,orforceunmount,allpartitions. Inventory Path OnanESXserverwiththe/ioption,specifyInventoryPathas:

VMware, Inc. 11

Installing the Fuse Package
Fuse(filesysteminuserspace)isaloadablekernelmoduleforUNIXoperatingsystems.Itallowsregular (nonroot)userstocreateandaccesstheirownfilesystems.Thefilesystemcoderunsinuserspace,whilethe Fusemoduleprovidesabridgetotheactualkernelmountinterfaces.FusewasmergedintomainstreamLinux inkernelversion2.6.14.ForearlierversionsofLinux,youmightneedtoinstallit. To check if your system has Fuse Runthemodprobe-lcommand:
modprobe -l fuse /lib/modules/2.6.22-14-generic/kernel/fs/fuse/fuse.ko
Ifthesecondlineshowingfuse.koappears,stop. Ifnooutputappears,proceedtooneofthesectionsbelow. To install Fuse with APT ObtaintheFusepackageonLinuxsystemsthatuseAPTinstallerasfollows:
sudo apt-get install fuse-utils
Nowyoucanrunthevmware-mountcommandasdescribedinthismanual. To install Fuse from the Web DownloadFusesoftwarefromthehttp://fuse.sourceforge.netWebsite. Unpackthesoftwareandchangetotheunpackeddirectory:
tar -zxf <FusePackage>.tar.gz cd <FusePackage>
Configurethemakefileforyoursystemandrunmaketocompileit:

./configure make

Assuperuser,installthepackage(thisputsitin/usr/local/lib):

sudo make install

If/usr/local/libisnotlistedin/etc/ld.so.conforanincludedfile,insertalineforitandrunthe ldconfigcommand.Alternatively,modifyyourLD_LIBRARY_PATHenvironment.
sudo edit /etc/ld.so.conf sudo ldconfig
RunthemodprobecommandtoinsertFusemoduleintothekernel:

sudo modprobe fuse

Nowyoucanrunthevmware-mountcommandasdescribedinthismanual.

Virtual Disk Manager Users Guide
Virtual Disk Development Kit
Virtual Disk Manager Users Guide Item: EN-000046-01
You can find the most up-to-date technical documentation on the VMware Web site at: http://www.vmware.com/support/ The VMware Web site also provides the latest product updates. If you have comments about this documentation, submit your feedback to: docfeedback@vmware.com
2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved. Protected by one or more U.S. Patent Nos. 6,397,242, 6,496,847, 6,704,925, 6,711,672, 6,725,289, 6,735,601, 6,785,886, 6,789,156, 6,795,966, 6,880,022, 6,944,699, 6,961,806, 6,961,941, 7,069,413, 7,082,598, 7,089,377, 7,111,086, 7,111,145, 7,117,481, 7,149,843, 7,155,558, 7,222,221, 7,260,815, 7,260,820, 7,269,683, 7,275,136, 7,277,998, 7,277,999, 7,278,030, 7,281,102, 7,290,253, 7,356,679, 7,409,487, 7,412,492, 7,412,702, 7,424,710, and 7,428, 636; patents pending. VMware, the VMware boxes logo and design, Virtual SMP, and VMotion are registered trademarks or trademarks of VMware, Inc. in the United States and/or other jurisdictions. All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies.
VMware, Inc. 3401 Hillview Ave. Palo Alto, CA 94304 www.vmware.com

VMware, Inc.

Contents

AboutThisBook

UsingVMwareVirtualDiskManager
AboutVirtualDiskManager 7 UsesofVirtualDiskManager 8 VMwareDiskMount 8 RunningVirtualDiskManager 8 ExamplesUsingVirtualDiskManager 10 CreatingaVirtualDisk 10 ConvertingaVirtualDisk 10 IncreasingtheSizeofanExistingVirtualDisk 10 RenamingorRelocatingaVirtualDisk 11 DefragmentingaVirtualDisk 11 ShrinkingaVirtualDisk 12

About This Book

ThisVMwaremanual,theVirtualDiskManagerUsersGuide,providesanintroductiontousingthe vmware-vdiskmanagercommandlineutility.

Revision History

Thisbookisrevisedwitheachreleaseoftheproductorwhennecessary.Arevisedversioncancontainminor ormajorchanges.Table P1summarizesthesignificantchangesineachversionofthisguide. Table P-1. Revision History
Revision Date 20080407 Description of Changes FirstversionoftheVirtualDiskManagerUsersGuide. UpdatewithsupportforLinuxhostsandremotevirtualdisks. Added-toption5forthecompressedstreamvirtualdisktype. Added-Soptiontoswitchremotesystemfromtargettosource. ReissuedwithVMwareWorkstation6.5andVMwareServer2.0.

Intended Audience

ThisbookisintendedforanyonewhousesVMwareVirtualDiskManager.Userstypicallyincludepeoplewho dosoftwaredevelopmentandtestingorworkwithmultipleoperatingsystemsorcomputingenvironments: systemadministrators,applicationdevelopers,QAengineers,andanyonewhowantstocreate,manage,and modifyvirtualdiskfilesfromscriptsoratthecommandline.

Documentation Resources

ToaccessthecurrentversionsofVMwareAPIandSDKdocumentation,goto: http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/sdk_pubs.html ToaccessthecurrentversionsofotherVMwaremanuals,goto: http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs

Documentation Feedback

VMwarewelcomesyoursuggestionsforimprovingourdocumentation.Sendyourfeedbackto: docfeedback@vmware.com
Technical Support and Education Resources
Thefollowingsectionsdescribethetechnicalsupportandeducationalresourcesavailabletoyou.

Online Support

YoucansubmitquestionsorpostcommentstotheDeveloperCommunitySDKsandAPIsforum,whichis monitoredbyVMwaretechnicalsupportandproductteams.Toaccesstheforum,goto: http://communities.vmware.com/community/developer

Support Offerings

TofindouthowVMwaresupportofferingscanhelpmeetyourbusinessneeds,goto: http://www.vmware.com/support/services
VMware Professional Services
VMwareEducationServicescoursesofferextensivehandsonlabs,casestudyexamples,andcoursematerials designedtobeusedasonthejobreferencetools.Coursesareavailableonsite,intheclassroom,andlive online.Foronsitepilotprograms andimplementationbestpractices,VMwareConsultingServicesprovides offeringstohelpyouassess,plan,build,andmanageyourvirtualenvironment.Toaccessinformationabout educationclasses,certificationprograms,andconsultingservices,goto: http://www.vmware.com/services/
Using VMware Virtual Disk Manager
VMwareVirtualDiskManager(vmware-vdiskmanager)isautilitythatallowsyoutocreate,manage,and modifyvirtualdiskfilesfromwithinscriptsoratthecommandline.ItrunsonWindowsandLinuxsystems, andhasthesamecommandlineoptionsonboth. Thischaptercontainsthefollowingsections: AboutVirtualDiskManageronpage 7 RunningVirtualDiskManageronpage 8 ExamplesUsingVirtualDiskManageronpage 10
About Virtual Disk Manager
VirtualDiskManagermanipulatesvirtualmachinedisk(VMDK)files,whichinVMwaresystemssubstitute forphysicaldisk.OneofVirtualDiskManagerskeyfeaturesistheabilitytocloneandconvertvirtualdisks fromthelocalsystemtoaremotesystem,orfromaremotesystemtothelocalsystem. Anotherfeatureallowsyoutoenlargeavirtualdisksothatitsmaximumcapacityislargerthanwhenyou createdit.Ifyouneedmorediskspaceonagivenvirtualdiskbutdonotwanttoaddanothervirtualdiskor useghostingsoftwaretotransferthedataonavirtualdisktoalargervirtualdisk,youcanalterthemaximum sizeofthedisk.Thisisnotpossiblewithphysicalharddrives. Anotherfeatureallowsyoutochangedisktypes.Whenyoucreateavirtualmachine,youspecifyhowdisk spaceisallocated.Youhavetwochoicesforatotaloffouroptions: PreallocatedorgrowableAllspaceforthevirtualdiskisallocatedinadvance(flat),orallocatedspace beginssmallbutgrowsasneededforthevirtualdisk(sparse). SingleormultiplefilesVirtualdiskisstoredinonebigfile(monolithic),orstoredasaseriesofsmaller virtualdiskfiles(split). WithVirtualDiskManageryoucanchangewhetherthevirtualdisktypeisflatorsparse,monolithicorsplit. Youcanchangepreallocateddiskintogrowablediskasneeded,andchangewhetherthevirtualdiskisstored inasinglefileorsplitintomultiple2GBfiles. Forexample,youmightallocateallthediskspaceforavirtualdisk,butlateryoumightneedtoreclaimhard diskspaceonthehost.Youcanconvertthepreallocatedvirtualdiskintoagrowabledisk,andremovethe originalvirtualdiskfile.Thenewgrowablevirtualdiskislargeenoughtocontainallthedataintheoriginal virtualdisk,andmoreoverisabletogrowwhenyouadddatatoit. Asanotherexample,youcouldmoveavirtualmachinefromanoldVMwareserverthatcouldnothandlefiles largerthan2GB,convertingthesplitvirtualdiskintoasinglegrowablefile. Asathirdexample,youcanconverthosteddisktomanageddiskinaVMFSfilesystemonanESXhost. NOTEVirtualdiskmustbeoffline,withthevirtualmachinepoweredoff,formostoperations.

Uses of Virtual Disk Manager
YoucanuseVirtualDiskManagerto: Automatethemanagementofvirtualdiskswithscripts. Createvirtualdisksthatarenotyetassociatedwithaparticularvirtualmachine.Thisisusefulformaking templatestospeedcreationofvirtualmachine. ConvertanexistinglocalvirtualdisktoaremoteESXvirtualdisk. Createacompresseddiskoptimizedforstreaming. Switchthevirtualdisktypefrompreallocatedtogrowable,orfromgrowabletopreallocated.Whenyou changethedisktypetogrowable,youreclaimsomediskspace.Youcanshrinkthevirtualdisktoreclaim evenmorediskspace. Expandthesizeofavirtualdisksoitislargerthanthesizespecifiedwhenyoucreatedit. Defragmentvirtualdisks. Prepareandshrinkvirtualdiskswithoutpoweringonthevirtualmachine. Renameandmovevirtualdisks. NOTEYoucannotuseVirtualDiskManagertocreateortoshrinkphysicalharddrives. YoucanuseVirtualDiskManagerwithvirtualdiskscreatedunderVMwareServer,VMwareWorkstation5 orhigher,VMwareFusion,VMwarePlayer,VMwareGSXServer,VMwareACE(unencrypteddisksonly),and VMwareESX/ESXiserver(onlypreallocateddisksoftype4).

VMware Disk Mount

SomediskmanagementactivitiesrequireyoutomountaVMDKasavolumeorfilesystemavailabletothe hostorguestoperatingsystem.SeetherelatedmanualVMwareDiskMountUsersGuideformoreinformation.
Running Virtual Disk Manager
BackupyourvirtualdiskfilesbycopyingthemelsewherebeforemakingchangeswithVirtualDiskManager. To run Virtual Disk Manager 1 Openacommandpromptorterminalonthehost. PathisprobablysetcorrectlybytheVMwareinstallation,butyoumighthavetochangetothedirectory whereyouinstalledVMwareVirtualDiskManager. 2 Typethevmware-vdiskmanagercommandtodisplayusageinformation.

Thecommandsyntaxisoneof:

vmware-vdiskmanager <options> <diskname> vmware-vdiskmanager <options> <drive|mountpoint>
Use<diskname>tospecifythenameofavirtualdiskfile(VMDK)thatyouwanttocreate,manage,ormodify. Thevirtualdiskfilemusthavea.vmdkextension.Youmayspecifyapathinfrontofthefilename.Forexample: C:\DocumentsandSettings\<user>\My Documents\MyVirtualMachines\VMname\newvmdisk.vmdk (onaWindowshost)or/path/to/disk/newvmdisk.vmdk(onaLinuxhost).Ifyoumappedanetworkshare onthehost,youcancreatethevirtualdiskonthatsharebyprovidingpathinformationwiththediskname. Use<drive|mountpoint>tospecifythedriveletterormountpointassociatedwithavirtualdiskthatwas mountedusingVMwareDiskMount.Youmustmountavirtualdisktoprepareitforshrinking. SeeTable 1,VMwareVirtualDiskManagerOptions,onpage 9foradescriptionofcommandlineoptions. SeeExamplesUsingVirtualDiskManageronpage 10forsamplecommandstoperformvarioustasks.

Table 1. VMware Virtual Disk Manager Options
Option Parameters -c -d -k Description Createsalocalvirtualdisk.The-a,-s,and-toptions,andavirtualdiskname specifiedby<diskname>,arerequiredwhencreatingavirtualdisk. Defragmentsthevirtualdiskspecifiedby<diskname>.Youcandefragmentonly growablevirtualdisks,notpreallocatedorremotevirtualdisks. Shrinksthevirtualdiskspecifiedby<diskname>.Beforeyoucanshrinkavirtual disk,youmustprepareallitsvolumesforshrinkingusingthe-poption.Youcan shrinkonlygrowablevirtualdisks,notpreallocatedorremotevirtualdisks. Renamesthevirtualdisknamedby<sourcedisk>tothevirtualdisknamedby <targetdisk>.Byspecifyingdirectorypaths,youcanplacetherenamedvirtual diskinadifferentdirectory,eitherwithitsoriginalnameorwithanewname. Preparesthevirtualdiskmountedat<drive>(Windows)orat<mountpoint> (Linux)forshrinking.Ifthevirtualdiskispartitionedintodifferentvolumesorfile systems,youmustseparatelymountandprepareeachoneforshrinking. Converts(clones)thevirtualdisknamedby<sourcedisk>,creatinganewvirtual disknamedby<targetdisk>. Forlocal<targetdisk>the-toptionisrequiredtospecifytype. Forremote<targetdisk>onanESXhost,usethe-h,-u,and-foptions. Forthevirtualmachinetorecognizetheconvertedvirtualdisk,editthevirtual machinesettingstoremovetheexistingvirtualdiskfromthevirtualmachine,then addtheconverteddisktothevirtualmachine. -x <n>[GB|MB|KB] Expands(grows)thevirtualdiskspecifiedby<diskname>tothegivencapacity <n>,whichyoucanspecifyingigabytes(GB),megabytes(MB),orkilobytes(KB). Thenewcapacitymustbegreaterthantheoriginalcapacity.Youcanexpandlocal virtualdisksonly.Youcannotchangethesizeofaphysicalharddrive. DisablesVirtualDiskManagerlogging. Otherwise,messagesthatVirtualDiskManagergeneratesarerecordedinalogfile vdiskmanager.logstoredinatemporarydirectory. -a [ide|buslogic|lsilogic] Specifiesthediskadaptertype.Thisoptionisrequiredwhenyoucreateavirtual disk.Chooseoneofthefollowingadaptertypes: ideanIDEadapter,forcompatibilitywitholdsoftware. buslogicaBusLogicSCSIadapter,forhighperformance. lsilogicLSILogicSCSIadapter,forhighperformanceonnewsystems. -s <n>[GB|MB|KB] Specifiesthesizeofthevirtualdisk.Thisoptionisrequiredwhenyoucreatea virtualdisk.Youcanspecifydisksize<n>ingigabytes(GB),megabytes(MB),or kilobytes(KB).Sizemustbe1MB(2000sectors)orgreater. Donotusethe-soptionwhenyouexpandavirtualdisk;specifydisksizeusing the-xoptioninstead. -t [0|1|2|3|4|5] Specifiesthevirtualdisktype.Thisoptionisrequiredwhenyoucreateorconvert avirtualdisk.Chooseoneofthefollowingtypes: 0createagrowablevirtualdiskcontainedinasinglefile(monolithicsparse). 1createagrowablevirtualdisksplitinto2GBfiles(splitsparse). 2createapreallocatedvirtualdiskcontainedinasinglefile(monolithicflat). 3createapreallocatedvirtualdisksplitinto2GBfiles(splitflat). 4createapreallocatedvirtualdiskcompatiblewithESXserver(VMFSflat). 5createacompresseddiskoptimizedforstreaming. -h <hostname> -u <username> -f <passwordfile> -P <portNumber> -S SpecifiesthehostnameorIPaddressofaremoteESXhost. SpecifiestheusernameforconnectingtoaremoteESXhost. Specifiesthenameandlocationofaplaintextfilethatcontainsthepasswordfor connectingtoaremoteESXhost. SpecifiesaTCPportnumberforcommunicatingwiththeremoteESXhost.Thisis optionalanddefaultsto902. Switchestomakethesourcevirtualdiskremote,insteadofthetargetdiskremote.

-n <sourcedisk> <targetdisk>
-r <sourcedisk> <targetdisk>
Examples Using Virtual Disk Manager
ThefollowingexamplesillustratehowtouseVirtualDiskManager. NOTEAlwaysbackup(copy)yourvirtualdiskfilesbeforechangingsize,defragmenting,orrenamingthem.

Creating a Virtual Disk

To create a new virtual disk ChangedirectorytothelocationwhereyouwantthenewVMDKandtypethiscommand:
vmware-vdiskmanager -c -a lsilogic -s 40GB -t 0 mydisk.vmdk
Thiscreatesa40GBSCSIvirtualdisknamedmydisk.vmdk.Typezeromeansthatthespaceiscontainedina singlevirtualdiskfile,andthatdiskspaceisgrowable,notpreallocated.
Converting a Virtual Disk
To convert a virtual disk from preallocated to growable AssumingsourceDisk.vmdkexistsastype2or3,typethiscommandtoconvertit:
vmware-vdiskmanager -r sourceDisk.vmdk -t 0 targetDisk.vmdk
ThisconvertsthediskfromitsoriginalpreallocatedtypetoagrowablevirtualdiskconsistingofoneVMDK file.VirtualDiskManagerreclaimssomespaceinthevirtualdisk,sotheVMDKneedstobeonlyaboutaslarge asthedataitcontainedatconversiontime. To convert a local virtual disk to a remote ESX virtual disk Forthisconversion,specifytype4forVMFSvirtualdisk,withremotediskoptions:
vmware-vdiskmanager -r sourceDisk.vmdk -t 4 -h esx3.example.com -u admin -f password.txt "[storage1] <VMname>/targetDisk.vmdk"
ThisconvertsthelocalvirtualdisktoremotevirtualdisklocatedonthespecifiedESXhost.Afterconversion iscompleteandyouhavetestedtheconvertedvirtualdisktomakesureitworksasexpected,youmaydelete theoriginalvirtualdiskfile.Ifyoudeletetheoriginalfile,alsoremoveitfromanyvirtualmachinethatusesit. Toremoveit,chooseVM>Settings>Hardware,selectthevirtualdisk,andclickRemove. FortheESXhosttorecognizetheconvertedvirtualdisk,youmustaddthedisktothevirtualmachine.Choose Inventory>VirtualMachine>EditSettings,clickAdd,andfollowthewizardpromptstoaddtheconverted virtualdiskfile. CAUTIONWhencloningtoaremoteESXhost,VirtualDiskManageroverwritesanypreexistingVMDKfile. Thiscouldresultinlossofdata.Whencloningtolocaldisk,thedestinationVMDKisnotoverwritten.
Increasing the Size of an Existing Virtual Disk
To expand (grow) a virtual disk SpecifysizeandgivethefullpathtotheVMDK,orchangedirectorytoitslocation:
vmware-vdiskmanager -x 80GB mydisk.vmdk
Thisincreasesthemaximumcapacityofthevirtualdiskto80GB.Unlikedefragmentingandshrinking,you mayincreasethesizeofpreallocatedvirtualdisks(flattype2or3). VirtualDiskManagerexpandsthevirtualdiskbutdoesnotmodifyitscontents,sothepartitioninformation remainsthesame.Manyoperatingsystemscannotalterpartitionsizeaftercreation,soyoumighthaveto obtainthirdpartysoftware,suchasPartitionMagicorGNUParted,todothis.Suchsoftwareallowsyouto alterdiskpartitionssoavirtualmachinecanaccesstheadditionaldiskspace. Anothermethodofincreasingpartitionsize,easierinsomecases,wouldbetouseVMwareConverter.

Renaming or Relocating a Virtual Disk
To rename or relocate a virtual disk 1 Removethevirtualdiskfromanyvirtualmachinethatcontainsthedisk. ChooseVM>Settings>Hardware,selectthevirtualdisk,andclickRemove. 2 Typeoneofthefollowingcommands: Torenamethevirtualdiskandkeepitinthesamelocation,type:
vmware-vdiskmanager -n mydisk.vmdk myNewDisk.vmdk
Torenamethevirtualdiskandlocateitinadifferentdirectory,type:
vmware-vdiskmanager -n mydisk.vmdk ".\<Another Path>\myNewDisk.vmdk"

OnLinuxhosts,type:

vmware-vdiskmanager -n mydisk.vmdk./<anotherPath>/myNewDisk.vmdk
Tokeepthesamenamebutlocatethediskinadifferentdirectory,type:
vmware-vdiskmanager -n mydisk.vmdk ".\<Another Path>\mydisk.vmdk"
vmware-vdiskmanager -n mydisk.vmdk./<anotherPath>/
Addthevirtualdiskbacktoanyvirtualmachinesthatuseit. ChooseVM>Settings>Hardware,clickAdd,andfollowtheinstructionsinthewizard.
Defragmenting a Virtual Disk
To defragment a virtual disk Todefragmentalocalvirtualdisk,typethiscommand.
vmware-vdiskmanager -d myDisk.vmdk
Defragmentconsolidatessparsedisk,movingdatatolowernumberedsectors.Thisisindependentofany defragmentationtoolsintheguestoperatingsystem,whichworkonvolumesstoredinsidetheVMDK. Defragmentingdoesnotreclaimunusedspaceonavirtualdisk;todothis,youmustshrinkthedisk. Youcannotdefragment: Preallocatedvirtualdisks(flattype2or3) Physicalharddrives Virtualdisksthatareassociatedwithsnapshots. Followthisorderofstepswhendefragmentingandshrinkingvirtualdisk: 1 Runadiskfragmentationtoolinsidethevirtualmachine.Forexample,withaWindows98guestoperating system,runtheWindows98defragmentationtool. VMwarerecommendsthatyoudefragmentaguestsvirtualdiskbeforetakingthefirstsnapshotofa guest,orafterdeletingsnapshots.Otherwiseyoulosetheabilitytodefragmenttheguestsvirtualdisk, becauseafterasnapshot,changesaremadetotheredolog,nottheoriginalvirtualdisk.Moreover, defragmentationcanheavilymodifythevirtualdiskimage,resultinginaverylargeredolog. 4 Powerdownthevirtualmachineandusevmware-vdiskmanager-dtodefragmentitsvirtualdisk.This isthesameasclickingHardDisk>Utilities>Defragmentintheuserinterface. Runadiskfragmentationtoolonthehostcomputer,ifneeded.ModernfilesystemssuchasNTFSand Linuxext2andespeciallyext3arerelativelyresistanttodefragmentation. ShrinkthevirtualdiskasdescribedinShrinkingaVirtualDiskonpage 12.

Shrinking a Virtual Disk

Ifyouhaveavirtualdiskthatgrowsasyouadddata,youcanshrinkthediskinordertoreclaimunusedspace. Ifthereisemptyspaceinthevirtualdisk,shrinkingreducestheamountofspacethattheVMDKfileoccupies onthehost.Shrinkingavirtualdiskdoesnotchangethemaximumcapacityofthevirtualdiskitself. PoweroffthevirtualmachinebeforeusingVirtualDiskManagertoprepareandshrinkgrowablevirtualdisks. Youcannotshrink: Preallocatedvirtualdisks(flattype2or3) Physicalharddrives Virtualdisksthatareassociatedwithsnapshots. Toprepareandshrinkthevirtualdiskinitscurrentstate,firstusethesnapshotmanagertodeleteexisting snapshots.Todiscardchangesmadesinceyoutookasnapshot,reverttothesnapshot. To shrink a virtual disk 1 UsetheVMwareDiskMountutilitytomountavolumeofthevirtualdisk.TheVMwareDiskMount utilityandtheVMwareDiskMountUsersManualareavailableontheVMwareWebsite. Changedirectorytothelocationofthevirtualmachine,forexampleWindows98,andrunvmware-mount:

cd C:\Documents and Settings\user\My Documents\My Virtual Machines\Windows98 vmware-mount M: Windows98.vmdk
vmware-mount /path/to/vmware/guest/Windows98.vmdk /mnt/win98
UseVirtualDiskManagertopreparethevolumeforshrinking. OnWindowstypethiscommand,whereM:isthedriveletterwiththemountedvolume:
vmware-vdiskmanager -p M:
OnLinuxhosts,specifythemountpointinsteadofthedrive:
vmware-vdiskmanager -p /mnt/win98
Theprepareoperationzeroesoutunusedsectorssothatshrinkrecognizesthesesectorsasunusedspace. 3 UnmountthevolumeusingtheVMwareDiskMountutility:

vmware-mount /d M:

vmware-mount -d /mnt/win98
Repeatthemounting,preparing,andunmountingstepsforeachvolumeofthevirtualdisk. NowuseVirtualDiskManagertoshrinkthevirtualdisk:
vmware-vdiskmanager -k Windows98.vmdk