Linux in a Nutshell, 6th Edition

Name

vmkfstools

Synopsis

vmkfstools options [target]

Manipulate disk images and vmfs filesystems. As with other commands, you generally use VI Client to perform these tasks. But you must use the command line when importing a disk from another VMware product, such as VMware Workstation. Use this command to create or extend a VMFS system or to extend, rename, or remove a disk image. It can also set or query disk image properties. Use vmkfstools instead of mv and cp to move and copy virtual disks.

You generally do not want to perform virtual disk operations on disks currently in use by a virtual machine. Shut down virtual machines first. Changes in a virtual disk will often require changes in a virtual machine’s configuration or changes in the virtual machine’s operating system. One example is changing virtual machine partition information to take advantage of an extended disk.

Targets

The target will be a device, partition, or file, depending on what you intend to do.

device

A device target will begin with /vmfs/devices/, the mount point of the device filesystem. This will include SAN-based disks, logical volumes, and SCSI devices attached to the ESX server.

partition

A partition target begins with vmhba followed by numbers that signify adapter:target: LUN:partition[:filepath]. For example, vmhba0:1:14:2 would be the 2nd partition of LUN 14 on target 1 HBA 0. You can also target a file on a partition by appending the filepath.

path

A path target is simply a path to a .vmdk virtual disk file. ...