Backup & Recovery

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  • 1.  How do I delete -ctk.vmdk files left behind by VMDR?

    Posted Apr 07, 2011 07:35 AM

    I had some issues and need to start over with VMware Disaster Recovery . At the moment I don't have a VMDR appliance but some of my VMs have -ctk.vmdk files. How do I get rid of them?

    I found this article and followed the instructions. It "fixed" the VMs in question but the -ctk files didn't get removed by the delete all snapshot function.

    Thanks.



  • 2.  RE: How do I delete -ctk.vmdk files left behind by VMDR?

    Posted Apr 07, 2011 07:51 AM

    The CTK files are used for changed block tracking and will be rebuilt if they are missing. Therefore you can just delete them anytime you want. The only impact after deleting these files would be that the first differential backup will take a longer time.

    André



  • 3.  RE: How do I delete -ctk.vmdk files left behind by VMDR?

    Posted Apr 07, 2011 07:55 AM

    2am - 3am seems like a prime time to post questions and get answers! ;-)

    So just to confirm, I can delete these files without shutting down the VMs?



  • 4.  RE: How do I delete -ctk.vmdk files left behind by VMDR?

    Posted Apr 07, 2011 08:05 AM

    You can delete the files in the datastore browser. In some cases this is even necessary to prevent from wrong backups.

    see http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1021607

    André



  • 5.  RE: How do I delete -ctk.vmdk files left behind by VMDR?

    Posted Jan 21, 2015 05:44 PM

    Hi Piggy,

    No worries,

    I faced same issue, just few days back.

    Just make one directory as #mk dir ctkfolder

    and then #mv xxxx.ctk ctkfolder

    and then it is almost will not affect anything.

    Note:

    If you found this Helpful Or correct please. consider the use of

    buttons to award points.

    Regards

    Basavaraj .R Navalgund



  • 6.  RE: How do I delete -ctk.vmdk files left behind by VMDR?

    Posted Jan 22, 2015 05:05 PM

    Hi Piggy,

    Just  getting rid of .ctk files may not 100% resolve the issue, so what is the tool or third party tool you use to take a backup.

    that may also cause the snap shot not to consolidate.

    Regards

    Basavaraj.R Navalgund



  • 7.  RE: How do I delete -ctk.vmdk files left behind by VMDR?

    Posted Jul 11, 2019 06:40 AM

    Deleting .ctk files will not impact the VM



  • 8.  RE: How do I delete -ctk.vmdk files left behind by VMDR?

    Posted Dec 24, 2019 03:17 PM

    Can the file -ctk.vmdk be deleted with the VM on, or does it have to be turned off?

    please confirm.



  • 9.  RE: How do I delete -ctk.vmdk files left behind by VMDR?

    Posted Dec 25, 2019 10:08 AM

    It depends on how you do this. If you want to manually delete the file, the VM has to be powered off. However, you can use e.g. PowerCLI to reset CBT for powered on VMs. See e.g. https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2139574​ (which contains an attached PowerCLI script) for details.

    André