To rename the files:
- Log in to the VMware vSphere Client.
- Locate the virtual machine in your host inventory.
- Right-click the virtual machine and click Rename.
- Change the virtual machine name as required.
- Perform Cold migration to a new datastore of the virtual machine. For more information, see: For ESXi/ESX 4.
Configure 100% memory reservation for the VMs. This removes the VM memory swap files and releases a decent amout of disk space. Remove ISO files from the datastore. Remove VMs (if you have a backup and they are not necessary for the business)
When a datastore runs out of space, thin-provisioned virtual disks can no longer dynamically grow to accommodate additional storage demand. When VMware ESX detects this condition, virtual machines in need of additional storage are instantly paused to prevent guest operating systems from failing.
Yes, it is possible to reclaim .
- Ensure that the disk has no Snapshots.
- In a Windows virtual machine, run the SDelete command (or a tool with similar functionality) to zero out all unused space.
- Shut down the virtual machine or temporarily remove the virtual disk from the virtual machine to ensure that it is not in use.
Select the virtual machine you want to compact in the main window and click VM > Manage > Clean Up Disks. The tool will analyze the selected virtual machine's disk and show you how much space you can reclaim. To reclaim the space, click “Clean up now”.
Remove vmkdump-filesExecute following commands on locking host: To un-configure dump-file, execute: esxcli system coredump file set -u . To remove previous configured dump-file, execute: esxcli system coredump file remove -f /vmfs/volumes/volume/vmkdump/11111111-2222-3333-4444-555555555555. dumpfile.
Checking disk space usage on the ESX/ESXi service console partitions
- Open a console to the ESX/ESXi host.
- Type df -h .
- Review the Use% for each of the listed items.
- When you have finished reviewing the output, type logout and press Enter to exit the system.
The simple fix, simple if the VM's VMDK are small. All you have to do is run a Storage vMotion of the VM over to another LUN. Once the move is complete, whatever is left over in the original source LUN can be deleted if you know you don't need those VMDK files.
You should not delete these files as you will break your virtual machine. The reason you have so many vmdk files is because they are being split up into 2GB files.
Run the command vmkfstools -D <vmdk name> to see if there is Host holding a lock on the vmdk, if there is then the vmdk might be in use by a VM.
Manage orphan VMDK files
- Click My Dashboard > Virtualization > Sprawl.
- Locate the Orphaned VMDKs resource. This resource lists the orphaned VMDKs per VM, including all associated VM datastore info, the size, and an option to delete the datastore.
- To delete the orphans, click Delete datastore file for rio-vcenter.
- Click Delete.
This is a virtual disk file, which stores the contents of the virtual machine's hard disk drive. A virtual disk is made up of one or more . vmdk files. vmdk file stores information about the partitions the virtual machine is allowed to access. Earlier VMware products used the extension .
Confirm that they are selected for use by reviewing the virtual machine's configuration in the VMware vSphere or Infrastructure Client. If they are not referenced, and only the base disk is selected, the delta disk files can be removed.
Using vmkfstools
- In an ESXi host shell, navigate to the volumes folder.
- Create a folder in the iSCSI datastore in which to copy the backup.
- Use vmkfstools to make a clone of the vSAN volume store disk in the folder that you just created in the iSCSI datastore.
- Copy the volume store metadata into the backup folder.
Orphaned VMDK files are actually virtual hard disks which are not connected to some virtual machine. They are left there and they are taking valuable disk space. Sometimes people when removing the virtual machine from the inventory they simply forget to delete the vmdk file afterwards.
VMDK File Location. On ESX/ESXi hosts, virtual machine disk (VMDK) files are located under one of the /vmfs/volumes, perhaps on shared storage. Storage volumes are visible from the vSphere Client, in the inventory for hosts and clusters. Typical names are datastore1 and datastore2.
ESXi will require at least 1 GB in size.
Up at the top of your vSphere client you can click “Home” and then find the “Datastores” icon. Then you simply click the datastore you want to check and look to the right. It shows you the amount of free space (space that hasn't been used by a VM when it has grown), and also the amount of “provisioned” space.
Datastores in VMware vSphere are storage containers for files. They could be located on a local server hard drive or across the network on a SAN. Datastores hide the specifics of each storage device and provide a uniform model for storing virtual machine files.
VMware® VMFS Volume ManagementThe VMware Virtual Machine File System (VMFS) is a powerful automated file system that simplifies storage management for virtual machines. VMFS also serves as a cluster volume manager to ease the management of shared storage resources within a cluster of VMware ESX hosts.
