VMware ESXi – Move VM to New Datastore and Preserve Thin-Provisioning

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I'm looking for a good solution to a VMware ESXi environment issue where there's no vCenter available.

What's the best way to move a VM from one datastore to another on a single ESXi host, while maintaining the VMDK thin-provisioning?

This is a standalone server that's been expanded with another drive array/datastore. I'd like to move the data contained in the old array to the new.

Edit: The destination datastore size is actually smaller than the source. I do not have enough room to copy the thick file.

Best Answer

You can also use File -> Export -> Export OVF template

and then import it. Last time I tried it, i think this does preserve the vmdk format. Not so sure now as it has been quite some time.

Related Solutions

How to copy a Virtual Machine on VMWare ESXi 4 while maintaining Thin Provisioning

I get around this by making copies with the OVFtool from a command line. It isn't perfect, but it does the trick for me (note: ovftool is an app that runs on a linux system somewhere, which then connects to the ESXi host):

#Copy a VM to an OVF (must be turned off, but you can hotclone it to a new VM first if you have vCenter):
ovftool vi://USER:PASSWORD@ESXIHOSTIP/VMNAME TARGETDIR/TARGET.ovf

#Deploy an OVF to an ESX[i] server with thin disks:
ovftool --name="Name of new VM" -dm=thin -ds=TARGET-DATASTORE SOURCEFILE.ovf vi://USER:PASSWORD@ESXIHOSTIP/

You could also try ghettoCloneVM.pl, which is a tool to clone a VM on an ESX or ESXi server without vCenter (but the page says you have to have the "licensed" version of ESXi, not sure if that means the free version won't work). It looks like it has the ability to clone to a thin disk, so it might work for you. I haven't used this tool myself, but it is something to try.

Moving thin provisioned vmdk ESXi 5

You de-thinprovision, so to say, the machine, when you copy it off datastore using VMware GUI. Take a look at this VMware Communities thread for a solution.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

How to copy a Virtual Machine on VMWare ESXi 4 while maintaining Thin Provisioning

Moving thin provisioned vmdk ESXi 5

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