> What is the difference between a flat file and a normal .vmdk file?
A normal vmdk ? - to answer this question first forget Datastorebrowser for a minute.
A normal virtual disk consists of 2 files: one small textfile and one large binary file.
The small textfile is a configuration file that uses a ini-like format.
The most important info in that config-file is one line that specifies the path to the binary file , the type of the binaryfile, the size of the binary and the read-mode that should be used to read the binary file.
Here is an example:
RW 16777216 VMFS ""My VM-flat.vmdk"
If any of the parameters in this description is invalid or if a syntax error is in the file - the virtual disk can not be used by a VM.
The engineers created "virtual disk" as 2 files because that makes it easier to work with virtualdisk-files.
The part that has to be edited occasionally all goes into a small - easy to edit - textfile and the actual data - the diskimage - goes into a large binary-file which should not be edited by users.
The creators of the Datastorebrowser thought that 2 files would be to confusing for the users - so they decided to display those 2 files as 1.
The creators of Workstation thought the same and so they created a special type of vmdks that embedded the descriptor in the binary file.
The result is even more confusing:
Now Datastorebrowser displays the virtual disk that consists of the description in text and the actual data in binary as a single entity.
So most of the times the virtual disk, that you created when ordering a new VM named "My VM", will be displayed in Datastorebrowser as "My VM.vmdk"
Datastorebrowser says that "My VM.vmdk" has a size of 20Gb.
In reality you have ""My VM.vmdk" with a size of 500 bytes and "My VM-flat.vmdk" with a size of 8 GB.
Sometimes Datastorebrowser seems to have forgotten the rule to simplify the display and it displays really the actual content of the directory.
Then it shows "My VM.vmdk" with a size of 500 bytes and "My VM-flat.vmdk" with a size of 8 GB.
Have a look at the screenshot ...
http://sanbarrow.com/img/datastorebrowser-logic.png
1. display in winscp - displaying the directory as it really is
2. display in Datastorebrowser of a "normal" VM - hiding the flat.vmdk
3. display in Datastorebrowser when the flat.vmdk has no correct description
4.display in Datastorebrowser when the flat.vmdk has no correct description and the vmx-file has a syntax error
To come back to your question: when you see a flat.vmdk in Datastorebrowser it just means that a correct descriptorfile is missing.
When ever you are asked to specify a path to a vmdk - you must assign the path by giving the location of the descriptorfile - not of the binary file.
You should have a descriptorfile using the same name as the -flat.vmdk - just without the -flat.
If that descriptor exists but you get a message like "the file is not a virtual disk" on ESXi then you probably still have a Workstation-descriptorfile.
The ESXi-compatible descriptor for a -flat.vmdk is slightly different.
createType="vmfs"
RW 16777216 VMFS "My VM-flat.vmdk"
createType="monolithicFlat"
RW 16777216 FLAT "My VM-flat.vmdk" 0
The red version is for ESXi - the blue one for Workstation. The referenced flat.vmdk can be used in both platforms.RW 16777216 VMFS "My VM-flat.vmdk"
If you get an error "cant find the file" but you are sure that the path to the vmdk as specified in the vmx is correct - then check wether the path specified in the vmdk-descriptorfile is also valid.
vmx:
scsi0:0.filename = "My VM.vmdk"
vmdk:
RW 16777216 VMFS "My VM-flat.vmdk"