vSphere 5.x Tip To Toe: VMDK Management

Hello hello hello, its a new year..it’s a busy year…any my blog will miss me more :(… so I’ve been fiddling with VMDK and here are a couple of useful things that I logged (note that this post will be consequently updated as I discover new stuff :)).

Enable SSH on the ESXi host then connect to it and you’re set to go from there (PuTTy is by far the best SSH client usable).

Convert Workstation VMDK to suite ESXi:

1. vmkload_mod multiextent
2. vmkfstools -i workstation.vmdk esxi.vmdk (time is calculated with respect to the size of the VMDK).
3. unload vmkload_mod -u multiextent

Rename a VMDK in ESXi:

1. vmkfstools -E oldvmdk.vmdk -d thin newvmdk.vmdk

Consolidate/merge VMware Workstation VMDK Files:

1. vmware-vdiskmanager.exe –r topvmdk.vmdk –t 0 consolidatedvmdk.vmdk
2. The executable is located in Program Files then VMware Workstation.