VMware

This Question is Possibly Answered

1 "correct" answer available (10 pts) 1 "helpful" answer available (6 pts)
10 Replies Last post: Nov 9, 2009 12:02 PM by sergio1228  

Virtual machine disk file is bigger after fastscp copy posted: Oct 21, 2009 11:01 AM

Click to view mackop's profile Novice
mackop
14 posts since
May 3, 2009
I have downloaded a virtual machine folder from ESXi4 server to my windows workstation.
I was surprised, because the size of vmdf file on the server was 2GB and after download have 10GB file on my workstation.
The vmdf file was setup in way to grow as necessary and 10GB is the maximum size it can reach.

How can I copy the file and maintain its original (smaller) size?
It is much faster to copy just 2GB :)

Thank you

Re: Virtual machine disk file is bigger after fastscp copy

1. Oct 21, 2009 11:04 AM in response to: mackop
Click to view sbeaver's profile Guru
sbeaver
7,719 posts since
Nov 1, 2004
You have what is called thin disks and as far as I know you can only have thin disk on VMFS partitions

Steve Beaver
VMware Communities User Moderator
VMware vExpert 2009
====
Co-Author of "VMware ESX Essentials in the Virtual Data Center"
(ISBN:1420070274) from Auerbach
Come check out my blog: www.theVirtualBlackHole.com
Come follow me on twitter http://www.twitter.com/sbeaver

**Virtualization is a journey, not a project.**

Re: Virtual machine disk file is bigger after fastscp copy

2. Oct 21, 2009 11:46 AM in response to: sbeaver
Click to view mackop's profile Novice
mackop
14 posts since
May 3, 2009
Thank you for the fast answer.

The ESXi server has local storage that I use to store VM files,
so I am looking for a way to backup these files.

If I formated a destination disk to VMFS,
would I be able to copy and maintaining smaller file size?

Re: Virtual machine disk file is bigger after fastscp copy

3. Oct 21, 2009 11:53 AM in response to: mackop
Click to view js-hacki's profile Novice
js-hacki
21 posts since
Sep 30, 2008

an ext3 filesystem also supports thin disk files. you could create a nfs storage and attach it to your esx server.

Re: Virtual machine disk file is bigger after fastscp copy

4. Oct 21, 2009 11:56 AM in response to: mackop
Click to view DSTAVERT's profile Virtuoso
DSTAVERT
2,388 posts since
Nov 30, 2003
You can use vmkfstools to clone a disk but you would need to do that from the unsupported console. You can have a look at trilead.com That can copy a VM and compress the file.You need to restore the file to make it useful though.

Re: Virtual machine disk file is bigger after fastscp copy

5. Oct 21, 2009 11:59 AM in response to: DSTAVERT
Click to view js-hacki's profile Novice
js-hacki
21 posts since
Sep 30, 2008
wether it helps or not, current unix 'cp' versions are able to copy thin vmdk files as vmkfstools do.

Re: Virtual machine disk file is bigger after fastscp copy

6. Oct 21, 2009 12:03 PM in response to: js-hacki
Click to view sbeaver's profile Guru
sbeaver
7,719 posts since
Nov 1, 2004
It is better to use vmkfstools to clone or copy vmdk files. Something about SCSI Resets when using CP

Re: Virtual machine disk file is bigger after fastscp copy

7. Oct 27, 2009 2:49 PM in response to: sbeaver
Click to view sergio1228's profile Enthusiast
sergio1228
27 posts since
Mar 14, 2009

Hope you don't mind me asking another question on your post but I am trying to do something very similar and I wanted to bounce it off of the community. I have a local ESXi server and I have about 3 VM's using the local datastore of my ESXi server. I wanted to copy the three vm's to our file server so I could back them up to tape in the event our ESXi server ever crashed. My thought is that I should be able to use FastSCP to copy the vm folder to my file server and backup to tape using Windows backup.

Is this a valid procedure. I was planning on shutting down my vm over the weekend and then copy file to server and then backing up on Tape. I'm not fluent with Linux/Unix or scripts so I'm just looking for a easy solution to create backups.

Thanks,

Re: Virtual machine disk file is bigger after fastscp copy

8. Oct 27, 2009 3:04 PM in response to: sergio1228
Click to view DSTAVERT's profile Virtuoso
DSTAVERT
2,388 posts since
Nov 30, 2003
sergio1228
You really should make a new post. If there is relevant information here by all means refer to it.

Re: Virtual machine disk file is bigger after fastscp copy

9. Nov 6, 2009 1:14 PM in response to: sergio1228
Click to view mackop's profile Novice
mackop
14 posts since
May 3, 2009
Hi Sergio,
I do not have enough experience to give any advice but I thik that your way of backing up VMs should work.
I have done something similar. I have coppied a VM to linux file server and then coppied the copy to another ESXi host.
I do not know if it is the best way to do backups, but it should work.

Re: Virtual machine disk file is bigger after fastscp copy

10. Nov 9, 2009 12:02 PM in response to: mackop
Click to view sergio1228's profile Enthusiast
sergio1228
27 posts since
Mar 14, 2009
Thanks for your information. I think the concept is sound, it just makes it more manual than I think most IT admins would care to do.

Actions

VMware Developer

SDKs, APIs, Videos, Learn and much more in the Developer community.

Learn More

Developer Sample Code

Increase your developer productivity with VMware API sample code.

Learn More

VMworld Sessions & Labs

Online access to the latest VMworld Sessions & Labs and online services.

Learn more

Purchase PSO Credits Online

Purchase credits to redeem training and consulting services online.

Buy Now

Community Hardware Software

View reported configurations or report your own.

Learn More

VMware vSphere

Come witness the next giant leap in virtualization.

Register Today

Communities