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Asked: 2011-10-12 11:59:16 +0800 CST

How to get the latest version of a disk from a snapshoted vmware virtual disk when I have only the disk files?

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I have a virtual disk with one snapshot. I want to acces the latest data after the snapshot.

One way would be to merge the delta into the disk.

But the rest of the vm does not exist any more. How can I do this, e.g. delete the snapshot?

I am quite sure all the disk files are complete an in consistent state, I made a backup:

enter image description here

I wonder if this would be possible:

If I add the disk to a working VM in vSphere it offers 2 possible vmdks, the normal disk, and a ...-000003 file.

If I add the -000003 file, can I access the latest version then?

Edit: following the accepted answer, I found it is easy from the command line:

vmkfstools -i xxxx-nnnn.vmdk  newdisk.vmdk

xxxx-nnnn.vmdk is a snapshot file and newdisk woll contain a disk where this snapshot has been removed (this means the changes from the snapshot have been merge into the newdisk file).

But it is necessary that the parent snapshot(s), if existing, are present. And all disk files have still to be in consistent shape.

virtualization snapshot vmware-esxi

1 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    It looks like you're able to do this from the Tech Support Mode CLI using vmkfstools:

    http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1007849

    The information you're looking for is underneath the "Additional Information" heading about halfway down the page.

    Here's a related VMware Communities thread that might help:

    http://communities.vmware.com/thread/81123

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