Accepted Solutions
"vmkfstools -i VMname.vmdk -d thin thin-VMname.vmdk"
Your executed command is not wrong but before that, you can choose to safety migrate VM storage (storage vMotion) in GUI methods (vSphere Client or Web Client) so there is an option to change virtual disk format... Please try it first
That did it. Downloaded the non flat file. Opened it with a text editor and modified the name directly. Uploaded back to the datastore replacing the original and it's good to go.
Thank you for the help 
.
Hi
dont do it like that !!!
I recommend to use WinSCP for a single very good reason : get used to it and you will significantly reduce your error-rate !!!!
Use the embedded editor for edits of vmx-files, vmdk-descriptor.vmdk-files and all other small ESXi config-files.
Advantage: faster ! - it does not need to download files before you can fix small problems like mispelled filenames , missing quotes ... stuff like that.
Advantage: where did I store the downloaded vmdk- descriptor ? -is it this or the one on the Desktop ...??? -.this will not happen again once you consistently switched to WinSCP.
Major advantage: who never messed up a downloaded Linux-Unix style textfile by opening it in an editor that autoconverted the files to DOS-format.
sh-scripts that have been autoconverted like that are a major pain if you re-upload them without knowing about the DOS-format.
Damn - why did the script worked before and now does not even find the next line ....
Once you get used to doing edits with the WinSCP embedded editor you will soon regard using standard Windows-texteditors plus download plus reupload as a super silly procedure.
One more important advantage: WinSCP does NOT assume that you user are to dumb to realize that ESXi-compatible VMDKs are always a combination of descriptor-vmdk plus binary-vmdk.
So I highly recommend to ALWAYS use WinSCP when troubleshooting VMDK-related issues.
Regular Datastorebrowser was created with the assumption in mind that YOU ARE TOO STUPID to handle the concept of " a virtual disk is created by 2 files. "
Instead Datastorebrowser is designed to make it look as simple as possible in sunny wether. So you start to learn basic operations and think: a virtual disk equals one vmdk-file.
To make matters worse Datastorebrowser is not at all consistent: do you know which rules it uses to decide wether to display descriptor.vmdk + plus flat.vmdk as a single disk or as 2 separate files ???
I dont even think that that logic is documented somewhere ....
The result is that user run into super silly mistakes when Datastorebrowser changes the display mode from "dumbed down idiot view" to "show reality view mode"
Who has not seen those posts were Datastorebrowser userswent into panic mode just because Datastorebrowser showed a vmdk with the -flat.vmdk extension he has never seen before.
In my experience with recovery this is one of the most frequent reasons that users destroyed their own VMs without any need.
Same scenario used with cars would tell you: a regular car with working wheels has 2 tyres like a motorbike.
Only in cases where something is wrong with the tyres it has 4 wheels.
Guess what happens when something goes wrong ... the users will make super silly mistakes ....
The fact that this has never been reviewed in the enire VMware documentation history is shocking if you understand what problems it causes in real life ....
Not sure wether I should call the fact that using WinSCP is probably "unsupported" careless, lazy or just mean.
Ask your colleagues - I dont think that more than 2 or 3 % of the ESXi ysers are even aware of the rules Datastorebrowser uses internally when deciding if he should diplay "dumbed down mode" or "reality mode"
No wonder that users like me recommend to NOT READ THE MANUAL AT ALL before you understood what really happens in the directory of a VM using common sense and a no-nonsense filebrowser / editor like WinSCP.
Use the right click option to launch the embedded editor.
Make your edits and save.
One last major advantage: explaing someone on the phone will produce significantly less errors if you insist on using WinSCP.
Ulli