Virtual Machine Message: There is no more space for virtual disk xxx.vmdk

[Phaetos]

I started getting this message last night. The VM sits on a 1TB datastore that shows 82GB free.The message says to free disk space on the relevant volume and click "retry".

When I browse the datastore and look in the VM directory for the server, which it's the ONLY VM on this install, I see multiple Virtual Disk's by the same name with a few numbers differentiating them. Meaning  "Server_1.vmdk",  "Server.vmdk", and "Server-000002.vmdk", and "Server_1-000002.vmdk".  Does each of those relate to the drive partitions within the server?  Where do i free up disk space at, it's a little ambiguous with the message?

[a_p_]

The <vmname>-00000x.vmdk files are snapshots, i.e. the VM has active snapshots, and a snapshot can grow up to the provisioned size of  its base virtual disk.

Depending on whether the base virtual disk(s) have been thin, or thick provisioned, it might be possible to delete the snapshots from the VM's Snapshot Manager. To find out about this, please provide a complete list of files in the VM's folder, i.e. the output of ls -lisa from the command line. In case you are unfamiliar with command line tools, please post a screenshot of the Datastore Browser window, which shows all of the VM's files, including full names, extensions, sizes, time stamps, ...

André

[Phaetos]

Here is the requested screenshot from the Datastore Browser window.

[Phaetos]

My drives are Thin provisioned as 800GB, 60GB, and 930GB.

[a_p_ · Accepted solution]

Although the virtual disks have been thin provisioned (values in both size columns), you shouldn't run into issues with deleting the snapshot, because the "Movie Server.vmdk" is at its maximum size (almost). <-- Please see PS:

Anyway, to ensure that you don't run out of disk space while deleting the snapshot, I strongly recommend to cleanly shut down the VM (this will also free up 32GB, i.e. delete the .vswp file). Once shut down, open the Snapshot Manager and click the "Delete All" button. If no snapshot shows up in the Snapshot Manager, you may need to create a new snapshot to enable the "Delete All" button. Due to the size of the snapshot, deleting it may take some time, so please be patient.

André

PS: While I was writing this, I saw that you posted the disk sizes. Where's the 930 GB virtual disk? If it is stored on another datastore, please post a list of files, and the free disk sapce on that datastore, so I can check whether it's still save to delete the snapshot.

[Phaetos]

It is a seperate 1TB HD, provisioned as a datastore.

[a_p_]

Looks good to me. With almost 450GB free disk space on that datastore, I don't expect any issues with deleting the snapshot. Please remember to delete the snapshot while the VM is powered off.

André

[Phaetos]

Thank you AP, this seems to have done the trick.