ESXI 5.5 OS GPT DISK CHANGE

[VCGTechsupport]

Hi All,

We have a host running esxi 5.5 with local storage running vmfs5 we have a windows server 2008 which has to virtual hard disks c:\ 100gb d:\ 2tb we need to increase the D:\ as it is getting full however looking at the os view the disk is a MBR type disk which I believe cannot go over 2tb and needs to be changed to a GPT disk.

I have read numerous different forums which state on the OS side we will need to create a new disk and move the data over to it which we can do, however I have read other forums which state the VM will automatically change the disk type on the OS once we increase it past the 2tb

Looking for a concrete answer from the experts if possible.

For clarity this VM was a p2v not setup from scratch as a vm.

Thanks

Lee

[Mattallford]

‌Hi Lee,

You'll need to create a new VMDK and attach it to the VM and then format it with GPT within the guest, and then migrate your data across. The disk won't automatically (nor manually can be) change from MBR to GPT.

Cheers, Matt.

[VCGTechsupport]

Thought so just read forums somewhere where it converted automatically, perhaps they were talking about the vmdk itself becoming Gpt.

cheers

Lee