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Worskstation VM disk Type 2 - Need to convert to Disk Type 6 for ESXi

I have a test VM given to me with a single .vmdk and provisioned as "Thick provisioned, lazily zeroed".

I can open it in Workstation but I need it to run in ESXi but it fails with the below error....

Unsupported or invalid disk type 2 for 'nvme0:0'. Ensure that the disk has been imported.

ESXi host is 6.7 so the nvme controller is supported. Just the disk type needs to be thin provisioned disk type 6.

I tried the vmware-vdiskmanager.exe using the examples given and ran the below command....

"C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware Workstation\vmware-vdiskmanager.exe" -r C:\temp\sourcedisk.vmdk -t 6 C:\Temp\newdisk.vmdk

But it gives me the error...

"VMware Virtual Disk Manager can only convert to ESX thin disks if the destination is remote."

So then I try with the -h switch like I found in google searches/examples...

"C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware Workstation\vmware-vdiskmanager.exe" -r C:\temp\sourcedisk.vmdk -t 6 C:\Temp\newdisk.vmdk -h 192.168.x.x -u root -p doofushead

But get the error below.....

C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware Workstation\vmware-vdiskmanager.exe: unrecognized option 'h'

Can someone shed some light into this?

How can I get the VM's disk converted to a supported disk for an esxi server?

Thanks

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continuum
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Probably you want to use this command:
"C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware Workstation\vmware-vdiskmanager.exe" -r C:\temp\sourcedisk.vmdk -t 4 C:\Temp\newdisk.vmdk
This will create a thickprosioned ESXi compatible vmdk in C:\Temp

You can then use WinSCP or Datastorebrowser to upload that vmdk to your target ESXi


________________________________________________
Do you need support with a VMFS recovery problem ? - send a message via skype "sanbarrow"
I do not support Workstation 16 at this time ...

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a_p_
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The vmware-vdiskmanager command line utility contains an example for how the syntax for this has to look like.

ex 6: vmware-vdiskmanager.exe -r sourceDisk.vmdk -t 4 -h esx-name.mycompany.com -u username -f passwordfile "[storage1]/path/to/targetDisk.vmdk"

Also note that thin provisioning is a VMFS file system feature, i.e. you need to specify a VMFS datastore as the target.


André

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COS
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Your commandline example uses the -h but my example used the -h as well but mine had issues with the -h. I sthere a version difference? I tried it on workstation 15 trial and 14.

Also you use a -f that points to a password file? Does it not take the password in the command?

I'll give it a try in a bit.

thanks

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continuum
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Probably you want to use this command:
"C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware Workstation\vmware-vdiskmanager.exe" -r C:\temp\sourcedisk.vmdk -t 4 C:\Temp\newdisk.vmdk
This will create a thickprosioned ESXi compatible vmdk in C:\Temp

You can then use WinSCP or Datastorebrowser to upload that vmdk to your target ESXi


________________________________________________
Do you need support with a VMFS recovery problem ? - send a message via skype "sanbarrow"
I do not support Workstation 16 at this time ...

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COS
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That worked.

Thanks

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