Can you be more specific? My datastore is just the local hard drives (4 SATA drives in a RAID 5) to be specific. How can I reformat the vmfs LUN /storage with a new block size? Will I lose my existing virtual machines?
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Convert existing virtual machine disk from thick to thin (Vmware 4)
I have a virtual machine (windows server 2003) running off a thick drive in vmware ESX 4. Ultimately this virtual machine will be a template so when I went to convert to template I elected to convert the disk file from thick to thin thinking that could save disk space.
When I attempt to "clone to template" however I get this error: File[Storage1] Wilson.vmdk is larger than the maximum size supported by datastore 'Storage1
Even though there is PLENTY of disk space (the original vmdk file is about 250GB and there is about 450gb available on the datastore. When I do the same convert to template but elect to keep the disk as thick, it works fine!
So how can I convert this drive from thick to thin?
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Answers
See this URL, which provides reference to my resoltuion.
http://vmetc.com/2008/05/2
You cant do it directly in vi client/on the fly, it is documented by vmware or you can check the online doc yourself
If you want to do thick-thin conversion, you have to use vmkstools to clone the vmdk
login to the esx console
shutdown the VM
cd /vmfs/volumes/your_datasto
vmkfstools -i your_vm.vmdk new_vmfile.vmdk -d thin
see my screenshot from a test vmdk below, as you can see, it is cloning from the source vmdk, not change it on the fly!
From here i'm sure you know what to do next...
Cheers!
- thindisk.jpg
- 20 KB
thick-thin conversion
Yes agree, due to max size 256GB of each file set by the limitation block size of 1MB for vmfs
cloning on the same datastore will have the same problem as well
but i believe cloning can be done to another datastore(if available & enough space)
vmkfstools -i your_vm.vmdk /vmfs/volumes/2nd_datastor
Go to the properties of your data store. Based on my URL and my screenshot, if you are trying to create a vmdk larger than 256GB This will cause the error you have mentioned.
- Picture-19.png
- 17 KB
Error
OK, so I have a few follow up questions. Sorry, just trying to grasp the concepts here.
1) Does this limit ( 256gb with a 1mb block size) ONLY apply to thin disks? Because clearly I was able to create my thick disk larger than 256 GB without a problem.
2) How are we able to circumvent the problem by using vmkfstools? Wouldn't that still create a thin disk file larger than 256gb on a datastore only formated with a 1mb block size (and therefore only able to support up to 256gb?)
3) Likewise, why does it help to choose a different datastore? Or do you mean to say you have to choose a different datastore with a larger block size?
1) Does this limit ( 256gb with a 1mb block size) ONLY apply to thin disks? Because clearly I was able to create my thick disk larger than 256 GB without a problem.
Apply to the datastore, nothing to do with disk
Are you sure? It cant be, must be having diffrent block size
2) How are we able to circumvent the problem by using vmkfstools? Wouldn't that still create a thin disk file larger than 256gb on a datastore only formated with a 1mb block size (and therefore only able to support up to 256gb?)
Another datastore with bigger block size ofcoz, but 250GB is still smaller than 256GB, should be ok with 1MB
3) Likewise, why does it help to choose a different datastore? Or do you mean to say you have to choose a different datastore with a larger block size?
You got it mate!
For question #1, thats not what I meant, let me rephrase. I'm sorry I don't remember the exact disk size or block size I have but its okay, let me explain. As I said, I created a THICK disk of size X on a Datastore of blocksize Y. Whatever that size of the disk is, clearly it was OK within the boundaries of the blocksize Y (otherwise it would have given me an error when I tried to create).
So what is the difference when I try to convert to a THIN disk? If the thick disk was able to be created within the boundaries of the block size of the data store, why not the thin disk?? They would be the same size!
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by: nappy_dPosted on 2009-09-03 at 17:40:23ID: 25256187
Your block size is too small. You will either need to reformat the VMFS LUN / storage with the new block size or make a new LUN and format it with the larger block size.