Virtual disks on ESX Server take up the full amount of disk space indicated by the virtual disk’s size. In other words, the .dsk file for a 4GB virtual disk occupies 4GB of disk space.
GSX Server works differently. Under GSX Server, virtual disk files start small — only as big as needed to hold the data stored on the virtual disk — and grow as needed up to the designated maximum size.
The Shrink tab lets you prepare to export a virtual disk to VMware GSX Server using the smallest possible disk files. This virtual disk must be in persistent mode.
Note: When you export the virtual disk (using the vmkfstools program), a single virtual disk may be exported to multiple .dsk files.
To shrink a virtual disk on a Windows guest operating system:
Double-click the VMware Tools icon (generally in the system tray at the end of the taskbar). Otherwise, choose Start > Settings > Control Panel, then double-click VMware Tools.
Click the Shrink tab.
Select the virtual disks you want to wipe, then click Prepare to Shrink.
Note: If you deselect some of the partitions to wipe, the whole disk is still shrunk. However, those partitions are not prepared for shrinking, and the shrink does not reduce the size of the virtual disk as much as it could otherwise.
When VMware Tools finishes wiping the selected disk partitions, you are prompted to begin shrinking the disks.
To shrink a virtual disk on a Linux guest operating system:
In a Linux guest operating system, to shrink virtual disks, you should run VMware Tools as the root user. This way, you ensure the whole virtual disk is shrunk. Otherwise, if you shrink disks as a non-root user you cannot shrink the parts of the virtual disk that require root-level permissions.
To launch the control panel in a Linux guest, become root (su -),
then run
vmware-toolbox &.
Click the Shrink tab.
Select the mount point for the disk you want to wipe and click Prepare to shrink.
Note: If you deselect some of the partitions to wipe, the whole disk is still shrunk. However, those partitions are not prepared for shrinking, and the shrink does not reduce the size of the virtual disk as much as it could otherwise.
When VMware Tools finishes wiping the selected disk partitions, you are prompted to begin shrinking the disks.
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