vSphere 5 orphaned vmdk files not in .vmx or .vmsd files

[ac427]

Hi All, I am trying to reclaim some disk space on a datastore.  One particular VM has a few vmdk files that are not mentioned in the VM's .vmx or .vmsd files.

Only vm-000005.vmdk is in the .vmx file and vm-000003.vmdk is in the .vmsd file.

The VM is thick provisioned and these is only one snaphot in the snapshot manager.

Can i assume the remaining vmdk files are not in use anymore and delete them?

How may these files have become orphaned in the first place?

[a_p_]

Can i assume the remaining vmdk files are not in use anymore and delete them?

No, never delete vmdk files in the datastore browser window!

There could be several reasons why snapshots don't show up in the snapshot manager. If you delete any of these snapshot files manually you will most likely "kill" your VM. VMware added a new "Snapshot" -> "Consolidate" entry in the popup menu when you right click the VM in the inventory with vSphere 5 (see http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2003638) This function will consolidate all snapshots whether listed in the snapshot manager or not.

If this function leaves and snapshot vmdk behind, use the latest vmware.log to find out whether this file is still needed.

André

[ac427]

Thanks Andre, i was not aware of this new functionality in vSphere 5.

Is it not enough to check the content of the .vmx and .vmsd files to see what vmdk files are in use by a vm?

Must i also check the vmware.log for the vm for vmdk references?

[a_p_]

Is it not enough to check the content of the .vmx and .vmsd files to see what vmdk files are in use by a vm?

No, the .vmx only lists the active snapshot as the current virtual disk and the .vmsd might not be up to date due to different reasons.

Must i also check the vmware.log for the vm for vmdk references?

The vmware.log is a good place to see which vmdk files are used. Snapshots in VMware are used like a chain. Each snapshot file is needed.. Please take a look at http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1015180 to see how snapshots work.

André