Can I move a folder into a .vmwarevm file

[ianhakes]

Hi,

I am on a Mac (10.15 - Mojave) using Fusion 11.5.3. I have a Windows 10 Guest that was created on a Windows system. It works fine on my Mac. Here are the files in that folder:

Applications/
Windows 10.nvram*
Windows 10.plist
Windows 10.vmdk*
Windows 10.vmsd*
Windows 10.vmx*
Windows 10.vmxf*
appListCache/
caches/
log2vmx.cmd*
startMenu.plist
vmware-0.log
vmware-1.log
vmware-2.log
vmware.log

My questions are:

1. Can I roll this folder up into a nice .vmwarevm file like the rest of my Mac-created guests?

2. Is that just simply a matter of a zip command or is there a utility to do this with?

3. Are there any files I can safely leave out?

Thanks for your help!

- Ian

[RDPetruska · Accepted solution]

1. Can I roll this folder up into a nice .vmwarevm file like the rest of my Mac-created guests?

The .vmwarevm "file" is not a file, it is a folder with the extension of .vmwarevm to make it appear as a single file.

2. Is that just simply a matter of a zip command or is there a utility to do this with?

Just add the extension to the name of the folder in Finder.

3. Are there any files I can safely leave out?

The log2vmx.cmd file is a utility unrelated to that VM.

The vm*.log files can be deleted, but they will just get recreated again, and are small.

[ianhakes]

I've changed the folder name to add the extension. Thanks for your suggestion.

When I started the .vmwarevm file, it asked if I had moved or copied the VM. I said "I moved it"

Now in the Windows VM, it won't detect my network. The adapter is there and has the correct MAC address, but is not connecting to a network. The troubleshooter says I need to connect an ethernet cable to it. Any ideas on what might be the cause here?

[ianhakes]

Rebooted the Mac host and things seem back to normal.

Thanks for the advice!