I wish to to some work on a virtual server, work which requires there to be no snapshots on the virtual machine. At the moment I have one snapshot on the machine, taken yesterday.
If I use the option "Delete Snapshot", will it consolidate the snapshot data with the machine, making it up to date?
Will the "Delete Snapshot" option require space on the datastore? If so, how can I calculate how much space this will require?
As far as I understand, if I consolidate the snapshot when the machine is turned off, no extra space is required on the datastore for this operation. Is this correct?
Best Answer
Yes it will consolidate the snapshot back to the parent disk. To calculate the extra space follow this VMware KB article, you will have to go to the datastore and find the VM folder to view the snapshots. I will copy and paste some of it but if you have more questions read that whole thing.
When a snapshot is created, it is comprised of these files: -.vmdk and --delta.vmdk .vmsd Snapshot.vmsn
The space requirements of the child disk are in addition to the parent disk on which it depends. If a virtual machine has a 10 GB disk with a child disk, the space used can be 10 GB + the child disk size + .vmsn file size + overhead