Different vm files after downloading

[Sofix]

Hello

Today i was downloading vm files from esx 5.5 server to USB HDD connected to my dekstop and after comparing orginal vmdk files form datastore browser with the one form USB i found big differences in their sizes:

1) vmdk file was 91 GB size ( 153 provisioned) - now its 0.53 KB

2)00001.vmdk on datastore - 21GB size ( 153 provisioned ) - copy - 336KB

3)snapshot1.vmsn -12 GB , copy - 12 GB

additionaly it generated files :

0000001-delta.vmdk -21 GB

flat.vmdk -146 GB ( 153 GB)

The process was long but not corrupted , and i didn't get any errors
Can somebody explain it for me plz ? will i be able to rebuild virtual machine from this files ?

Thanks

[a_p_]

That's ok. Each virtual disk on an ESXi host consists of two .vmdk files. A descriptor file and a data (flat or delta) file. The Datastore Browser however, shows the two files as one file, using the name of the header file and the size of the data file.

So in your case you do have a base virtual disk consisting of:

<vmname>.vmdk + <vmname>-flat.vmdk

and a snapshot (delta) virtual disk:

<vmname>-000001.vmdk + <vmname>-000001-delta.vmdk

In case you want to attach the virtual disk to a VM, make sure you reference the snapshot's descriptor file!

André

[Sofix]

hello

Thanks Andre and Tomtom for such a fast answer,

Andre I'm sure i won't attach a virtual disk to a VM instead of it, in case of problem with upgreading VM guest OS i will need to recovery it. And still i reference .vmx file, am i right ?

Tomtom901 Unfortunately the snapshot was important because it was the only recovery point i got ... till now :smileywink:

[a_p_]

I'm not sure whether I understand you question correctly. Anyway, if you did backup the .vmx along with the .vmdk files, there's no need to change anything in case you need to recover the VM. With that said, it's never a mistake to take a look at the .vmx file to verify that it contains the correct .vmdk file reference.

André

[tomtom901]

You currently have a snapshot on this VM, to provide the best recovery method, remove the snapshot, if it is not necessary. Right click the VM, select Snapshot -> Snapshot Manager and select Delete all.