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Merge snapshot on esxi 4.0 with low diskspace

I have a virtual machine with 3 large snapshots. I only have 10 GB free on the hard disk. There are three snapshots presence 152 GB / 134 GB and 53 GB. How can I merge these snapshots.

Paul

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coolsport00

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Danny McDaniel

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coolsport00

"danm66"...do you have any references as the % amt of datastore free space is required to merge snaps? I was looking for it the other day and couldn't find it. I thought it was in 1 of 2 KBs, but didn't see it listed (thought it was 10% of the VMDK size).

~coolsport00

markzz

coolsport00.
I can't show you documented evidence but can talk about the disasters we have had.
I have seen a snapshot consolidation utilise the equivalent disk space as the snapshot size.
danm66 is correct, shutting down the guest before consolidating will ensure the consolidation process does not require significant additional disk space to complete.
VDN_Bizzcom
It is best that you follow this advise. If you run out of disk space while consolidating the snapshots things get very ugly often requireing a restore from backup..
Shut it down, start the consolidation, be very patient. 152 GB / 134 GB and 53 GB in snapshot is terrible and indicates more management is required.
Look at SnapHunter..

coolsport00

That has been my experience as well. The Consolidation KB I posted states to shut down the VM and says it takes "minimal space" to commit when doing so, but doesn't provide a referenceable percentage. I thought I read it somewhere...maybe in a legacy VM Adm Guide (3.5 or 4.0 maybe?), but can't recall.

~coolsport00

Danny McDaniel

@coolsport00 - when the VM is live, it's not really a percentage that determines the snapshot size, but the result of IO activity over the time period that the consolidation is happening. http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1034364 Understanding iterative redolog consolidations during online snapshot deletion in VMware ESX. If you're asking about what is needed for offline consolidation...I don't know, but it's very minimal. Usually, the .vswp space reclaimed from having the VM powered off is more than enough to allow offline deletes to occur.

coolsport00

Thanks "danm66"...

~coolsport00

VDN_Bizzcom

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I've requested that this question be deleted for the following reason:

solved<br />

coolsport00

How was this "solved" @VDN_Bizzcom? Proper EE etiquette is to close & reward points to the appropriate 'expert' that assisted you. If there was some other solution that resolved your issue other than what was posted, make a comment of what you did to resolve then close (not delete) the post and make your comment the 'answer'.

Regards,
~coolsport00

coolsport00

More than likely 1 (or both) of the first 2 posts (#35183318 , #35183751) resolved this issue. Recommend split.

~coolsport00