Datastore - VMName-flat.vmdk keeps on expanding

[benji798]

Hi team, Recenlty I was doing a backup for my VM >2TB in size, since trying to export and export w/images failed miserably after 2 hours in ESXi7.0. I used Veeam to backup the machine from my vsphere. Everything was going smooth until when Veam completed its backup the backup file tend to be only around 700gb. So as a secondary method, I tried to download all the files of VM in datastore to my external HDD. When, I reached like 62% (1.4TB) in Veeam, i notice there is some file sync happening in my ESXi machine with a file name <VMname-flat.vmdk>. creating inside new folder insidfe my VM folder(file1.png) Now since there was not enough size allocated in my datastore for the VM, I terminated the operation in Veeam but the task kept going in ESXi. I gave it some time s Veeam does create a proxy server for the file transfers but even after 7 hours the task was still going  (task.png) and it had created a file of size more than 1.07TB and consume like 96% of my datastore space.

Now my question is, since there is no -cancel indicator next to task only indicator, I couldn't cancel it. Therefore my VM couldn't be powered on becasue of this! I checked inside monitor section in VM and host, there is no task happening there! I also cancelled the operation from Veeam but that didn't make any differnece to ESXi, sadly.

Any recommendations, what might be happening inside ESXi host?

ANother question is what happens if the file keeps on expanding and I run out of datastore space? I have read multiple KB documents, some of them mentioned the VM will suspend, some mentioned the VM will run slow but still work. So need to confirm this?

[a_p_]

Your virtual machine has 4 active snapshots, from which the current one will grow as data is modified within the guest OS.
As you can see, the flat file did not get modified since April, 19th.
To find out what can be done, run the following two commands from the ESXi host's command line (within the VM's folder) to get the current datastore disk usage, as well as a complete file listing. Then attach the resulting filelist.txt to your next reply.
df -h > filelist.txt

ls -lisa >> filelist.txt

André

[Gregory Chavez]

Hello, @benji798

You're encountering a complex issue with your ESXi host during a backup operation. Here are some recommendations and information based on your situation:

Snapshot Files: If snapshot files are consuming high datastore space, VMware recommends consolidating them to the virtual disk when they are no longer needed. This could help free up space on your datastore.
Datastore Space: Veeam Backup & Replication will terminate jobs if the amount of free space on the datastore is below 2 GB, even if the "Skip VMs when free disk is below" option is disabled. You might need to check if this threshold limit has been reached.
VM Operation: If your VM cannot be powered on due to insufficient datastore space, you may need to provision more space to the datastore or consider using shared datastores.
Datastore Space Exhaustion: If you run out of datastore space, it could lead to VMs suspending or running slowly. It's crucial to monitor and manage space utilization effectively to prevent such issues.

I hope this is helpful to you.

Best Regard,
Gregory Chavez

[Gregory Chavez]

Can you tell me my suggestion is helpful to you.

Best Regard,
Gregory Chavez
McDonalds Survey

------------------------------
https://www.mcdvoice.site
------------------------------

[Sravan_k]

1. Examine snapshots
2. Investigate application logs or temporary files that may be consuming disk space. This includes database logs, web server logs, etc.
3. Ensure latest VMware Tools are installed. It can help optimize disk performance and management.