Hi securitythreat,

ESX 3.5 do not have shrink command unlike older version.

One of the simplest methods to either increase or decrease the size of an existing virtual disk is to use the free VMware Converter utility. When you run the utility it gives you the option to re-size the existing disks so they are either larger or smaller than the original disks. Converter doesn't modify the original disk files; rather it creates a new VM with virtual disks that are the size you specified and copies the data from the original VM to the newly created VM. After you verify that the new VM is working, you can delete the original VM.

Follow these steps to use VMware Converter to re-size your disks:

    * Download and install Converter on the VM you wish to re-size. Also, you can run Converter remotely if you have the Enterprise version.

    * Select your Source Type, either "Physical machine," if you are running it directly on the VM or "ESX Server or VirtualCenter virtual machine," if you are running it remotely.

    * On the Source Login screen select either "This local machine" if you are running it directly on the VM, or your ESX/VC server login if you are running it remotely. In addition select the source VM if you are running it remotely.

    * When the Source Data screen appears it will display all the disks that the VM has assigned to it. Here is where you can resize your disks, choose to select volumes and re-size and then select one of the options, (i.e. 'Type Size in GB') and enter a new size. If you are decreasing the size of the disk you must enter a value larger then the total amount of disk space that is currently in use on the disk. For example if you had 8GB of data on a 24GB disk on your original server, you must enter a value greater then 8GB for the new size.


    * Next, select a Destination ESX host which will typically be the same host as the source the VM is on. Then assign a name for the VM (name must be different from the source, you can rename it afterwards once you delete the source server), then select a data store to put the VM on, a network for the VM and finally click Finish to begin the process.

    * The time it takes to complete will vary based on how much data is stored on the source server. Once it completes you can power off your source VM, power on the newly created VM and verify that it is working correctly. Afterwards you can delete the original source VM and rename the new VM to match the original name.

I hope this helps.

Hi,

I am just following up if this issue is resolved or you need any further assistance on this.