snapshots in a different location

[russ79]

on esxi 5, is it still possible to allow VMs to create snapshots in a different location other than where they are stored or has that option been removed in 5?

[vmroyale]

Hello.

The VMware kb that describes how to do this states not to do it in ESXi 5. Possible yes, but consistent results will be a maybe?

Good Luck!

[Virtualinfra]

As a best practise snapshot has to be in the same datastore where the base disk is there( parent disk is there).

refer the below kb of  how to set separate location for snapshot.. its not mentioned for esxi5, but still it can be used but for testing purpose and not on production machine.

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=100292...

Note: In ESXi 5.0 and later versions, virtual disk redolog (-delta.vmdk) files for snapshots are placed in the same directory as the parent virtual disk (.vmdk) file. Do not apply this method to virtual machines running on ESXi 5.0 and higher. If present, the snapshot directory settings are removed during a disk migration.

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[russ79]

yeah, ive seen the KB and it states that vmx file settings for this will be ignored in vsphere 5, i was curious if maybe it is not allowed at all anymore or there was a newer, less "manual" way to set this up in 5

[Virtualinfra]

It might be because to avoid more load on esxi5,VM and datastore to give a better performance to virtual machines by keeping the snapdisk with parent disk.

this is not taken in esxi5.

[russ79]

the issue im having is backups creating snapshots on VMs and spontaneously filling the drive... obviously there are workarounds with adding more disk space or changing the backups but the underlying cause would be solved if  there was a way to allocate one LUN specifically for snapshots.

[Virtualinfra]

But VMware has stated the below for ESXI 5 clearly that it has to stay with the parent disk

Note: In ESXi 5.0 and later versions, virtual disk redolog (-delta.vmdk) files for snapshots are placed in the same directory as the parent virtual disk (.vmdk) file. Do not apply this method to virtual machines running on ESXi 5.0 and higher. If present, the snapshot directory settings are removed during a disk migration.

Better go with the recommendation.. still you can use, but remember the point "If present, the snapshot directory settings are removed during a disk migration." It means if you apply also make sure that you dont move the VM from on datastore to another datastore.. make this point clear you can try..

but incase of issue and you open case with VMware they will point to this and wash their hands..

[continuum]

behaviour has changed - you may need to make use of
snapshot.redoNotWithParent = "true" or "false"

[a_p_ · Accepted solution]

The setting continuum mentioned takes precedence over the workingdir. Please make sure you are aware of the consequences before adding/configuring this setting (see http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2007563 as well as the links in the article)

André

[russ79]

thanks... thats what i was looking for