Vmkfstools
Command for directly working with the (virtual) disk at host level.
With this command you can destroy whole virtual machines if you do not take the right precautions (hint: BACKUPS) and are not familiar with the command.
Usage
vmkfstools [options] target
Whereby target can be either a physical disk, a virtual disk or a device.
The command is mostly known for using it to manipulate virtual disks. Beware that if you are working with a virtual disk that in most cases the virtual machine itself should be shut down.
Options
from the help page of the command.
OPTIONS FOR FILE SYSTEMS
vmkfstools -C --createfs [vmfs3|vmfs5]
-b --blocksize #[mMkK]
-S --setfsname fsName
-Z --spanfs span-partition
-G --growfs grown-partition
deviceName
-P --queryfs -h --humanreadable
-T --upgradevmfs
vmfsPath
OPTIONS FOR VIRTUAL DISKS
vmkfstools -c --createvirtualdisk #[gGmMkK]
-d --diskformat [zeroedthick|
thin|
eagerzeroedthick]
-a --adaptertype [buslogic|lsilogic|ide|
lsisas|pvscsi]
-w --writezeros
-j --inflatedisk
-k --eagerzero
-K --punchzero
-U --deletevirtualdisk
-E --renamevirtualdisk srcDisk
-i --clonevirtualdisk srcDisk
-d --diskformat [zeroedthick|
thin|
eagerzeroedthick|
rdm:<device>|rdmp:<device>|
2gbsparse]
-X --extendvirtualdisk #[gGmMkK]
[-d --diskformat eagerzeroedthick]
-M --migratevirtualdisk
-r --createrdm /vmfs/devices/disks/...
-q --queryrdm
-z --createrdmpassthru /vmfs/devices/disks/...
-v --verbose #
-g --geometry
-x --fix [check|repair]
-e --chainConsistent
vmfsPath
OPTIONS FOR DEVICES
-L --lock [reserve|release|lunreset|targetreset|busreset|readkeys|rea dresv] /vmfs/devices/disks/...
-B --breaklock /vmfs/devices/disks/...
vmkfstools -H --help
Examples
Export a VM disk in 2GB chunks, note that since ESXi 5.1+ the 2GB sparse driver is disabled.
vmkfstools -i /vmfs/volumes/storagename/YourVM/YourVM.vmdk -d 2gbsparse /vmfs/volumes/storage2/YourVM/YourVM.vmdk
-x, --fix -[check|repair]
This option will check and/or repair the virtual disk in case of an unclean shutdown.
Example:
vmkfstools --fix check /vmfs/volumes/esx4-1-local-storage-1/dummy/dummy.vmdk Disk is error free
-J, --miscop [setuuid | getuuid]
'setuuid´ option creates a unique identifier (UUID) for the virtual disk and stores the UUID in the descriptor file of the
virtual disk. If the descriptor file already contains a UUID, it will be overwritten with a new one.
Please make sure that the virtual disk does not have a UUID before using this option.
´getuuid´ option displays the UUID of the virtual disk.
dumpfs can be used by specifying either "-D | --dumpfs" and specifying a VMFS volume, file or folder.
Example:
# vmkfstools -D /vmfs/volumes/esx4-1-local-storage-1/ Lock [type 10c00001 offset 4292608 v 33, hb offset 3440640 gen 11, mode 0, owner 00000000-00000000-0000-000000000000 mtime 2509] Addr <4, 0, 0>, gen 1, links 4, type dir, flags 0, uid 0, gid 0, mode 1755 len 1260, nb 1 tbz 0, cow 0, zla 1, bs 1048576
activehosts can be used by specifying "--activehosts" and specifying a VMFS volume
Example:
# vmkfstools --activehosts /vmfs/volumes/esx4-1-local-storage-1/ Found 1 actively heartbeating hosts on volume '/vmfs/volumes/esx4-1-local-storage-1/' (1): MAC address 00:50:56:92:3f:86
Reclaim disk space by returning unused blocks of data in the virtual disk to the host OS. This will only work if your virtual disk is of type thin.
Example:
# vmkfstools --punchzero myvm.vmdk vmfsDisk: 1, rdmDisk: 0, blockSize: 1048576 Hole Punching: 3% done.
