Converting VM that is on physical partition to virtual disk

[perdrix]

I have a Virtual Machine whose vmdk file reads:

# Disk DescriptorFile
version=1
encoding="windows-1252"
CID=a7100aec
parentCID=ffffffff
createType="fullDevice"

# Extent description
RW 879097968 FLAT "\\.\PhysicalDrive0" 0 partitionUUID \\?\scsi#disk&ven_hitachi&prod_hus156045vls600#5&23b3f7f1&0&000b00#{53f56307-b6bf-11d0-94f2-00a0c91efb8b}

# The Disk Data Base 
#DDB

ddb.adapterType = "ide"
ddb.geometry.biosCylinders = "54721"
ddb.geometry.biosHeads = "255"
ddb.geometry.biosSectors = "63"
ddb.geometry.cylinders = "54721"
ddb.geometry.heads = "255"
ddb.geometry.sectors = "63"
ddb.longContentID = "3a8c8a9e5d4ac01916ad0332a7100aec"
ddb.toolsInstallType = "1"
ddb.toolsVersion = "10252"
ddb.uuid = "60 00 C2 90 64 b7 53 12-a7 6e 43 ce 01 b6 66 68"
ddb.virtualHWVersion = "16"

I want to convert this to a regular flat disk file with a single extent of (say) 100GB (the partition in question is 200GB but is less than 50% used).

Whats' the correct incantation to achieve this (either using RDPSoftware Virtual Disk Factory or vmware-vdiskmanager)

Thanks, David

[RDPetruska]

Merely changing the type of virtual disk will not help in this case...  What you have is merely a descriptor file which lets VMware Workstation know how to access the physical disk in your host.  You need to not only create a virtual disk file, but then copy the contents of the physical disk into that new virtual disk.  Unfortunately the VMware Converter has been pulled due to a security concern, so you can no longer download it.  Search the forum for some alternatives.

And, FYI - My Virtual Disk Factory and Virtual Disk Manager are merely Windows wrapper applications around the command-line utility vmware-vdiskmanager.  Nothing special, just don't need to remember all the appropriate syntax.  😉

[perdrix]

So what's the problem here - I'm sure vmware-vdiskmanager can convert between the different types of vmdk setup?

[RDPetruska]

Yes, it can convert between the different kinds of *virtual* disks... but what you are using is NOT a virtual disk, but rather a physical one.

You may be able to create a new virtual disk, add it to the existing VM as a second disk.  Boot it with a rescue disk, and clone the physical one into the virtual one.  Then remove the physical disk from the VM settings.  Reboot and set the new virtual disk to be primary disk.  Make sure it has a valid MBR and is bootable.  Cross your fingers and start it up.  Might be more complicated than that, though.

[continuum]

>but what you are using is NOT a virtual disk, but rather a physical one.

Rob - that does not matter. vmware-vdiskmanager  is supposed to do it.
Used that approach to create vmdks during a p2v-operation a lot in the past.

I am a bit worried though wether  that feature  has been overlooked by the developers.
Workstation engineers apparently use only a subset of the features that we do.
Just think about the defects in diskmounting, non-persistance and missing repair functionality.

Anyway - in the past vmware-vdiskmanagers convert function could be used like a smart dd binary, to convert physical disks into sparse virtual disks.

Ulli

[RDPetruska]

---

@continuum wrote:

>but what you are using is NOT a virtual disk, but rather a physical one.

Rob - that does not matter. vmware-vdiskmanager  is supposed to do it.
Used that approach to create vmdks during a p2v-operation a lot in the past.

I am a bit worried though wether  that feature  has been overlooked by the developers.
Workstation engineers apparently use only a subset of the features that we do.
Just think about the defects in diskmounting, non-persistance and missing repair functionality.

Anyway - in the past vmware-vdiskmanagers convert function could be used like a smart dd binary, to convert physical disks into sparse virtual disks.

---

Ahh, I was not aware of that... I assumed that since the "virtual disk" for a physical disk or partition was merely a pointer/placeholder, much like Fusion's BootCamp descriptor, that it would not be able to 'convert' it to a true virtual disk.  Learn something new every day!  Although as you said, the devs and/or qa have been very slack lately in their regression testing.