Extend my VM Harddisk space

[macboy76]

How can I increase my harddisk space. I have done under Edit Settings virtual disk 60 to 80 gb. It is showing as provisioned disk space under VM 80 but when I log in to server it still says 60 GB.

[taylorb]

Vmware manages the size of the hard disk, but the operating system of the Virtual Machine manages the size of the partition.   You'll need to extend the partition in the OS as well.

If it is windows 2008 or later, it's super easy.   Just go into disk management, rescan disks so the new hard drive space shows up, right click on partition and hit extend.  Wizard walks you through it and it can be done on the fly with no downtime.

Older windows or other OS you'll probably need to use a bootable cd ISO with partition management tool, like diskparted or acronis.

[a_p_]

After expanding the disk, you need to expand the partition within the guest OS itself. Which guest OS do you run? With newer Windows version you can resize the partition in the Disk Management on the fly.

André

[macboy76]

Thanks André

I am using Windows 2003. Does it effect os. because I want to extend C drive

[a_p_]

In case of Windows 2003 you can't expand the system disk online. You either need to boot the VM from e.g. a Windows 2008 DVD/ISO into a Command Prompt - i.e. press F10 at the language selection - and use diskpart to expand the partition (assuming this is the only partition on the disk) or use a 3rd party tool to do the job. I usually use the gParted live CD/ISO in such a case. Consider to create a snapshot of the powered off VM prior to modifying the partition!

André

[RBanse]

Follow this article to expand a C:\ partition on Windows 2003 with no down time. I have used this previously with no issues.

Expand virtual machine boot volumes with no downtime