Using Vmware Converter to increase Hard Drive Size

[defrogger]

Hi, I just want to confirm something

I have some VM's running with ESXi 4.  Some are Windows 2003 Server and some are 2008 Server

Some of the Servers I will need to increase the Hard Drive space soon.

I was going to use Vmware Converter to increase the size, this way I have my old copy of the VM just in case.

My understanding is that if I use Converter to resize the drive, then Windows will automatically be able to use the space, even the C Drive.  So there is no need to use a third Party util like Partition magic.

Is that correct?

Thanks

Mike

[AndreTheGiant · Accepted solution]

Correct.

But you will have a new vNIC with a new MAC address.

So remember to fix your network configuration after the conversion.

Andre

[Nikhil_Patwa]

absolutely no probs in using VMware Standalone Converter to resize your VM harddrives (vmdk) - increase/decrease hard drive sizes. Just go ahead and once you have converted your VM with resized hard drive you can discard your old VM if everything is working fine so as not to create conflicts.

Nikhil

[defrogger]

Thanks for confirming, will be trying it out in a week

Mike

[malaysiavm]

you can also extend the disk size using diskpart command, gpart utility from linux or partition magic after the virtual machine up.

[HalfMuffin]

Defrogger,

Assuming that you took the defaults and made your Virtual Disks SCSI attached, You can skip all of that effort of using Converter to increase disk size and just do it on the fly. This can be done with both Server 2003 and 2008

The steps would be along these lines (and this can be done on the fly):

1) Right Click VM > Edit Settings

2) Increase Size of HDD by hitting the up arrow (or typing in the new size you want)

3) If Server 2008 (or 2008 R2), connect to VM and open Windows Server Manager > Storage > Disk Management. Select the disk (partition) you want to make larger, right click, hit extend. Go through the wizard next next next and the drive will be extended on the fly. This could have also been done with the diskpart cli utility.

3) If Server 2003, download "Extpart" from Dell. This is a very reliable command line utility that will help you extend the disk on the fly. This blog (see below) has the very simple process mapped out for you: http://h0bbel.p0ggel.org/howto-using-extpart-to-expand-windows-server-2003-vm-boot-volume

I would recommend only using converter to modify disk size when you are dealing with IDE attached disks or you want to decrease the size of a volume.

Jonathan Kohler

VCAP4-DCA / DCD

[partitionsaver]

Hi, there, you should notice that when you increase the VMware hard drive,  the extended space is just at the end of the hard disk and showed as unalloaced space, if you want to add the space into your system partition or other partition, you still need some other partition software, BTW, if you use the VMware converter I heard that        there’s a disadvantage that VMware Converter will create a new (many GB) copy of your VM,

Therefore, I think you could consider to this article about "The Solution to Expand/Extend VMware Disk Size without Resetting the Machine"