How to Reduce a VMDK File Size

VMware software uses the VDMK file format to store users' virtual machines.

VMware software uses the VDMK file format for creation of virtual machines allocated on the host operating system. It is possible to reduce the size of a virtual disk by removing unused space inside of the virtual machine and deleting unnecessary files. To reduce the size of an existing virtual disk, it must be converted to the growable type of virtual disk. You can reduce the VDMK file size of your virtual machine using the command line vmware-vdiskmanager program.

Instructions

1. Click the "Start" button in Windows and select the "Run" option from the menu.

2. Enter "cmd" and click the "OK" button to open the command line window.

3. Type in "vmware-vdiskmanager -r win2009.vmdk -t 0 win2009G.vmdk"

   at the prompt and press the "Enter" key to convert the "win2009" virtual disk image file to the growable virtual disk.

4. Type in "vmware-mount H: C:\VirtualMachines\Win2009\Win2009.vmdk" and press the "Enter" key to mount the "win2009" disk as the "H" drive.

5. Type in "vmware-vdiskmanager -p H:" and press the "Enter" key to prepare the vitual disk for size reduction.

6. Type in "vmware-vdiskmanager -k new.vmdk" and press the "Enter" key to reduce the VDMK file size.

References

• Virtuatopia: How to Reduce the Size of a VMware Server 2.0 Virtual Disk
• Forge: How To Shrink VMware Virtual Disk Files (.vmdk)
• VMware: Workstation 5.5