there is no more space for virtual disk vmdk

[ktlim86]

Hi all,

I am new to VMwave Vsphere Client. This morning I have encountered a problem in one of the VM. The error message is shown in the screenshot.

I have managed to solve it by increasing the LUN size. However, I find it quite puzzling is that my affected VM has a lot of empty space as shown in screenshot.

Hence, I do not know what is the cause of this problem.

I google it for this problem and I have managed to find this thread.

https://communities.vmware.com/thread/409042

The thread basically mentioned something about the snapshot. I am not sure if it is referring to this screenshot as shown. If it is, then I find it quite puzzling as I do not have snapshot in this VM.

What could be the other cause? Thanks.

[schepp]

Hey,

what disk type to you use? Thin- or Thick-provisioned?

If you use Thick-Provisioned, your VM will use the about 300GB (looking at your partition sizes) on the VMware datastore, not matter if the filesystem inside the guest OS is empty.

With thin provisioning, the VMDKs on the VMware datastore would grow, as the usage inside the guest OS rises.

Do you have mutliple VMs in this datastore or just this one?

Your datastore needs space to hold the VMs disks (vmdk files), the size of the RAM of the VM, some configs and log files.

[DavoudTeimouri]

If you are using Thick Provisioning, your VM take all assigned space during VM creation process and VM free space is not matter at this regard.

You should extend your LUN on your server.

[ktlim86]

I am not sure if this is the correct place to check. I check it under the Edit Settings in the affected VM.

I am using Thick Provisioning as shown in the screenshot.

Does that means that I can only keep increasing the LUN space should the VM runs out of space? Is there a way to keep the size in check or prevent it from increasing?

Thanks.

[pettergu]

Is the vmdk stored on your F: drive? Your F: is 147GB, and the vmdk you're creating is 148GB. A file of 148GB will not fit in a 147GB drive. You'll need a larger disk/lun or a smaller virtual disk (vmdk).

(I assume you got this error soon after creating the VM.)

[a_p_]

Do the VM's virtual disk names contain s.th. like "...-00000x.vmdk"? In this case the VM runs on active snapshot(s). The Snapshot Manager may not necessarily show all snapshots. Another reliable way to check for existing snapshots is use the Datastore Browser.

In case there are snapshot files, please provide the size and free disk space of the datsatore as well as a screenshot of the Datastore Browser Window, which shows all the files with their sizes and time stamps (you may gray out the VM's name in the screenshot, but please make sure the -00000x.vmdk part remains visible).

André

[MBrownWFP]

Depending on your needs, you can either:

- Leave the VM on thick-provisioned disks and extend the LUN (VM consumes all allocated datastore space)

- Convert the VM to thin-provisioned disks using SVMotion (VM consumes "used" space only)

In response to Pettergu: virtual machine files (VMX, VMDK, logs, etc) are not stored on the machine's local OS storage volumes, they are stored inside the VMFS datastore. Also it is normal for the disk size inside the OS to appear slightly smaller than in the VMware settings.

[ktlim86]

@petergu I am a bit confused by your statement. The screenshot that I provided above shows that my F drive has a huge amount of free space and I don't see vmdk files stored in F drive. I have encountered this error after running this VM for a few months.

@a.p Do you mean this?

The current size of the datastore that affects the VM is now 160GB up from 150GB.

@MBrownWFP Thanks for your input! I think extending LUN is not a possible option as I am running on a limited hard disk space. If I convert it to Thin Provisioned, will that help to prevent the data store size from growing?

[a_p_]

That's what I thought, the VM has an active snapshot. In order to consolidate (i.e. merge the delta data into the base virtual disk), create a new snapshot (this will activate the Delete buttons) and the click "Delete All" from the Snapshot Manager. Make sure you have a few GB free disk space on the datastore(s) used by this VM, or delete the snapshots with the VM powered off.

André