Deleting snapshot failed, can I delete the snapshot vmdk files?

[PJ84]

We have a 2TB datastore which was getting close to completely full. I tried to delete the one snapshot which got to 95% and then filled up the datastore completely and pretty much killed the server.

On the one Datastore there are 2 disks. The system disk (Server.vmdk) is 50GB and the second disk (Server_1.vmdk) is 1.95GB

I managed to get the server back up and running by converting the system disk to a new VM (Server_New.vmdk) on a different datastore, deleting the original vmdk from the full datastore and then adding a second disk that points to Server_1.vmdk

As far as I can tell everything is all working fine and it doesn't look like there are any files missing so I'm happy with that. One thing I haven't been able confirm is if I can delete the snapshot files. I'm pretty confident that I can delete them without causing any issues but I'd love to get confirmation from someone who knows what they're doing.

I've looked through the vmware.log files and see no mention of server_1-000001.vmdk or server_1-000002.vmdk. Also in the datastore browser, the modification date and time is about 20 minutes before server_new.vmdk and server_1.vmdk and those times match up pretty well with when I converted the VM.

If anyone can confirm that these snapshot files can be safely deleted, it would be greatly appreciated.

[idle-jam · Accepted solution]

if the snapshot is attached to a power up VM you will not be able to delete from the file lock in datastore browser. if you ca delete it then it is not being attached and i guess it's safe. another way is i would rename it and then see if there is any impact if not then it's then safe to delete

[athlon_crazy]

If the 000001.vmdk or 0000002.vmdk are not mentioned in your .vmx, you are safe to just give a go(delete).

[bulletprooffool]

I agree with idle-jam here - rename the files and see if you have any issues. If not - go ahead and delete the files.

[PJ84]

Thanks guys. Your suggestions were what I was thinking, which is exactly what I wanted to hear.
Renaming the vmdk files and then moving them worked like a charm.

[niv201110141]

@PJ84 Before deleting the snapshot I will suggest you to clone the VM and place it to the diffetent datastore:Power on the VM and check if VM is up and running then delete the old VM from the disk(Choose delete from disk).The reason behind is once we clone the Virtual machine snapshots will be automatically commited.

Let me know if it helps