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axl1971
Contributor
Contributor

want to expand virtual disk on Windows 2008 R2 but it has snapshots

I have a Windows 2008 R2 virtual server with a C drive of 50 GB, I need to expand this to about 80 GB but I have snapshots - from what I have read I can not expand a virtual disk that has snapshots. So my option is to delete redundant snapshots

The snapshot tree is as follows

Virtual Server

  ----> Vanilla Install of Windows

       ----. Application Installed

            ----> Service Pack of Application

               ------> I am here

I want to remove the above 2 snapshots (vanilla install of Windows and Applicaton Installed) and leave me with no snapshot. Whats best approach for this, which order do I delete snapshots.

All help much appreciated

5 Replies
a_p_
Leadership
Leadership

You can use the "Delete All" button in Snapshot Manager, which will merge all delta data into the base disk. Please make sure you have sufficient free disk space on the datastore if the VM's virtual disk has been thin provisioned.

André

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axl1971
Contributor
Contributor

thanks .. so using the delete all will remove all previous snapshots and leave me with my current state of the virtual machine.

So I ensure I select the "I am here" in the tree and click Delete All.

As for disk, I have around 400GB free but all disks are thick provisioned.

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john23
Commander
Commander

Delete all operation will commit all changes in base disk.,..

400 GB disk space is sufficient for 50 GB base disk

Thanks -A Read my blogs: www.openwriteup.com
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admin
Immortal
Immortal

Remove the snapshots from that particular VM and following the procedure:

Extending a vSphere VM Virtual Disk

To got started, open the vSphere Client and click on the VM that you want to extend. Click to Edit Properties on the VM to be extended. On the Hardware tab and then on the virtual disk you want to extend (such as “Hard Disk” 1 (shown in figure 2).


Figure 2

On the right side of the window, you’ll see the current size and, assuming you have met the requirements, you’ll be able to resize this up to the maximum size that the datastore has available. You can make this change with the virtual machine up and running, causing no harm to the OS or the running applications. In fact, the OS doesn’t immediately recognize the larger (virtual) disk until you tell it about it (which we are about to do, below).

Using the Extended vSphere VM Virtual Disk in the Windows OS

With the virtual disk expanded now you need to tell Windows about it and make use of it. To do this, first go into Computer Management, under Start -> Administrative Tools. Here, under Storage, click on Disk Management.


Figure 3

Assuming you just have 1 disk, click on that disk (likely “Disk 0”) and you should see that there is now “unallocated” disk space.

Right-click on the allocated piece of the disk and click Extend Volume, as you see in Figure 4.


Figure 4

This will bring up the “Extend Volume Wizard”, shown in Figure 5.


Figure 5

You’ll use the Extend Volume Wizard to first select the disk that you want to extend (on the left) and then clicking Add to move it to the right (the selected side). Click Next.



Figure 6

Likely it should only take a few seconds and you’ll see that the disk has been extended to the full size of the vSphere virtual machine disk, shown in Figure 7.


Figure 7

Now if you go to My Computer, you should also see there that the C:\ disk (the root drive) has now been extended to the maximum size of the virtual disk. Keep in mind that this disk may still be a thinly provisioned disk (as it was in the example above) and may not be filling up the full amount of space in the VMware VMFS file system as is shown in the Windows OS.


Figure 8

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a_p_
Leadership
Leadership

@

Please provide links to articles rather than to copy and paste complete blog posts.

If you decide to copy such content anyway, ensure you at least mention the source to give credit to the person who has done the work and created the blog post.

André

Note: The above reply was copied from How to Extend a vSphere Windows VM Disk Volume