Multi Architect

Steps for cloning VM using SSH: SSH to the ESXi host Identify the path of the source (say,  /vmfs/volumes/datastore1/SourceVM/ where  sourceVM is the name of the source VM) Create a new folder in the desired datastore  mkdir  /vmfs/volumes/datastore1/DesintationVM   where DestinationVM is the name of the new VM Clone the sourceVM vmdk to the newly created folder DestinationVM vmkfstools -i /vmfs/volumes/datastore1/SourceVM/sourceVM.vmdk /vmfs/volumes/datastore1/DesintationVM/DesintationVM.vmdk Once cloning is completed, proceed with the creation of the new VM using vSphere client In the option where you need to provision the harddisk for the new VM, choose 'Use an existing virtual disk' Browse and point the newly cloned vmdk file

Issue When you Power On a VM, you will be greeted with the below error message: ' Failed to start the virtual machine. Module DevicePowerOn power on failed. Unable to create virtual SCSI device for scsi0:0, '/vmfs/volumes/...........vmdk' Failed to open disk scsi0:0: Unsupported or invalid disk type 7. Ensure that the disk has been imported.' Cause This will occur when you

Scenario When we try to reduce or shrink the size of an existing vmdk file, the operation fails. Resolution   There is no option to reduce the size using vSphere client. For this you may need to use putty or cli. Please remember to delete unwanted data from the OS and to shrink the partition internally using the diskmgmt.msc tool. After shrinking , perform the below:

Scenario When we use thin provisioned vmdk, the size of the vmdk expands as we pile up data in the OS. But if we delete some data from OS, the reclaimed space in the OS will not be reclaimed from the vmdk. It will continue to occupy the maximum space it have ever used after creation. Resolution  

Remove the IDE vmdk from the VM Edit the “vmdk” file (can be found under cd /vmfs/volumes/<datastore_name>/<vm_name>/) Change ddb.adapterType from “ide” to “lsilogic” Add the IDE vmdk to the VM Change the size of the disk Remove the IDE vmdk from the VM Edit the “vmdk” file  Change ddb.adapterType from “lsilogic” to “ide” Add the IDE vmdk to the VM Power on the VM and “extend” the partition within Windows 7 Thanks for Duncan Epping's blog.

Issue:- -With the vSphere Client, if you edit a VM's settings and then select one of its virtual disks, the option to resize the disk is greyed out. -When trying to extend the disk using vmkftools for resizing, you will receive the below error: Failed to extend the disk. Failed to lock the file. -When you extend the disk using vsphere client, the change is not getting reflected. Root cause:- The VM will be having a snapshot. Because when a snaphot is taken the actual VMDK file will be locked and the changes will be written to a new delta file. Due to this reason, the actual VMDK file could not be resized.  Another possible reason: If the disk is IDE, the change may not get reflected. The resolution step for this issue is mentioned here  Resolution:- Remove the snapshot file and then try to resize.