hot mounting a VMDK ?

[iawelch]

Is it possible to hot mount a VMDK file?

a standard hard disk does not work, even by using a dummy symbolic link in the host.

a USB drive does not work, because the external drive is mounted differently and I do not want the full filesystem but just the VMDK file on it.

a CD-ROM drive does not work, because it wants a read-only ISO file, not a VMDK file.

[Alex_Romeo]

Hi,

It is not possible. If you add an existing disk (vmdk), the virtual machine must be turned off.

Import a VMDK File

If you're using VMware and want to attach a VMDK file to a virtual machine so that the virtual machine can see the emulated disk, open the machine in VMware. Then, with the virtual machine powered down, click the "VM" button and click "Settings."

Click the "Hardware" tab and click "Add." Select "Hard disk" and then "Next." Click "Use an existing virtual disk" and then "Next." Browse to the file and click "OK" to import it and attach it to your virtual machine.

https://www.techwalla.com/articles/how-to-import-vmdk-files-into-vmware

ARomeo