Do I need old versions of VMDK file-running out of disk space

[jimmartin705]

Can I safely delete the older versions of VMDK files(screen print attached of some of the files)? I am running out of space. 

Also, I cannot run disk clean up. When I try and run it in "General Settings" I get a message that I do not have enough disk space to run it (see below).

"Hard disk settings cannot be changed while disk clean up is recommended. To make these changes, first shut down the virtual machine, and then use the Clean Up option in General settings."

I would really appreciate any thoughts.

Thanks,

Jim Martin

[scott28tt]

Are you out of space on your Mac, in the Windows VM, or both?

Looks like the VM might have snapshots. If so, do you need to keep them?

Do not start trying to delete files til things are more clear - you could destroy the chain of files that make up a virtual disk...

[jimmartin705]

Thanks for the fast reply.

I am out of space in the Windows VM, I believe. Sorry for my ignorance about it but I'm not real literate on all the computer stuff. When I go into the drives via Windows File Explorer it shows that Drive C has used 152 GB and has 446 GB of free space. The Z Drive (shared folders (||vmware-host) shows 908 GB used and 23 GB free.

I have deleted all the snapshot that appeared the VMware drop down tool bar but it appears that might not have deleted the files from the hard drive but again I apologize for my ignorance.

Once again, I appreciate the fast reply.

[scott28tt]

If your C drive has 446GB free then you are not running out of space in the Windows VM.

The Z drive is showing you the files on your Mac, via the shared folder feature of Fusion, and with only 23GB free it’s your Mac disk which is low on space.

I don’t think this has anything to do with VMware Fusion, other than the fact that your Windows VM is using up 152GB of your Mac space (all those VMDK files from your screenshot)

This article from Apple should help: How to free up storage space on your Mac – Apple Support

[jimmartin705]

Thanks once again for the fast reply.

I think my problem might be is that I have 599 GB allocated to VMWare and I assume that would not be available to the Mac side. When I shut down the VM and go to the settings and then "general" and try to "clean up" the VM I get the error message on the screen print attached. Not sure how to fix that.

When I go into the VM and delete all the snapshots I also get an error message as indicated in the other attachment. Again, not sure how to fix that.

I really do appreciate your help!

[scott28tt]

Do you have any additional storage available, even an external hard drive (that is big enough to temporarily store the VM?

The first thing I would be doing is turning off AutoProtect: Set Up Automatic Snapshots with AutoProtect

Did you make the VM disk preallocated or sparse? VMware Knowledge Base

You may be able to create a new version of the VM with a smaller disk size, since most of the space is unused - but you would need additional space to do that.

[jimmartin705]

I do have an external hard drive that is large enough.

I will now turn off AutoProtect.

I did make the VM disk preallocated to the 599GB size.

Is there a written procedure that will allow me to create a new smaller sized VM?

If I could manage to delete items from the Mac would that allow me to adjust the VM size without using an external hard drive? If so, about how much space would I need to free up?

Thank you!

[scott28tt]

My suggestion was going to be to use Converter Standalone to create a new VM with a smaller C drive.

Move the current VM to the external disk as a temporary measure:

Move virtual machine to an external hd

Then use Converter Standalone to create a smaller instance back onto your main drive:

vCenter Converter: P2V Virtual Machine Converter | VMware

Perhaps another user would have another suggestion, but that’s what I would do.

[jimmartin705]

HI,I don't know if it makes any difference but as I started digging deeper into the setting of the VM, the disk is NOT preallocated.

Thanks.

[scott28tt]

How does the combined size of all the VMDK files in your original screenshot compare to what Windows tells you it has used on the C drive?

[jimmartin705]

Windows File Explorer is showing:

C: 152 GB used and 446 GB free for a total of 598 GB

Z: (shared folders (\\vmware-host)) 405 GB used and 26.1 GB free for a total of 931 GB

I can not resize the size of the virtual drive as indicated above.

Thanks for the help!

[wila · Accepted solution]

Hi,

The steps to reclaim your disk space are as follows:

- shut down your VM

- copy (not move) your VM to an external disk

- select delete in your virtual machine Library, but when asked to move the VM to the bin select (keep) - it is always good to keep something behind

- now use file open to select the VM on the external disk

- if you happen to start the VM, VMware Fusion will ask to select either copy or move, select MOVE (this is important if you don't want to have to fiddle with Windows activation)

Note however that there's no need to actually start the VM, we just want it to shrink.

- if you have any snapshots open then I suggest to get rid of them now and delete the snapshots

- go to menu -> Virtual Machine -> select "Clean up virtual machine" disk

- your VM is much smaller now

- Now you can start your VM and see that it works as normal (you want to test before the next step...) again .. it is still important to select "move" if you get the copy or move question on boot

- shut down the VM

- delete it from the Virtual machine Library (again select keep)

- MAKE SURE that the VM is still there on the external disk and that the size is somewhat larger then the used space of your windows VM (what was that 150GB?)

- Now go and delete your original VM

- copy the smaller VM in its place (keep the VM on your external disk - hurray you now have a proper backup!

- use menu File Open to open the new -much smaller- VM

- start the VM

- select MOVE when you get the "open or move" question (yep still the same answer)

Next is considering to make regular backups (and not with Time Machine as that isn't a reliable way to create backups for VMs)

edit for clarity:

The above steps are for moving your VM to an external disk and then running the disk reclaim space function from the external disk, followed by copying the VM back to the mac.

The removal from the virtual machine library is to not get confused about which VM to clean up and boot as otherwise you would have two identically named VMs in your VM library.

Good luck!

--

Wil

[jimmartin705]

Wow! Thanks for the detailed information. I will give it a try.

Any recommendations for a back-up program? I'm using Super Duper for the Mac.

Thanks again for the detail help. I sure hope I execute per your instructions as rebuilding the machine take a lot of time.

Best regards,

Jim Marin

[wila]

Hi Jim,

If you want to take a backup of your whole Mac then Super Duper and CCC are great.

For backups of VMs alone, I'm a tad biased (see my footer) as I am the author of Vimalin.

There's others you can use, but AFAIK all of them would require you to run software in the guest and have no special integration with VMware Fusion.

That's also the problem with Time Machine, it just backs up the VM as it would any other file(s) and that isn't good enough for VMs.

Note that there's also nothing wrong with making backups of VMs manually. If you shut down the VM and then make a copy to an external disk you have a sound backup.

Managing that and not forgetting about making it can become an issue though as well as having the down time (Vimalin can make a backup while your VM is running)

I'm happy whatever solution you select as long as there's backups

-

Wil

[jimmartin705]

Wil,

You recommendation worked perfectly. Thank you again, I really appreciate the help.

I'll be buying a copy of your VM back-up program. If I have this problem in the future I want to make sure the back-up is ready to go.

Thanks again!

Jim Martin

[wila]

Jim,

Don't feel obliged to buy.

You can use Vimalin for free too - with a few less features -  and there's a 60 day trial to see if it works for you.

Having said that, of course I like paying customers, but that is not my motivation for helping here, I would help anyways.

The main thing right now is that your problem is resolved.

--

Wil