Specifications

Administration Guide
252 VMware, Inc.
Create a file with the specified size on the file system of the specified
SCSI device
-c --createfile #[gGmMkK]
The!size!is!specified!in!bytes!by!default,!but!you!can!specify!the!size!in!kilobytes,!
megabytes,!or!gigabytes!by!adding!a!suffix!of!k!(kilobytes),!m!(megabytes),!g
(gigabytes)!respectively.!
Export the contents of the specified file on the specified SCSI device to
a virtual disk on the file system of the service console
-e --exportfile <dstFile>
After!the!export,!you!may!transfer!the!virtual!disk!to!another!server!machine!and!
import!it!to!a!SCSI!device!on!the!remote!machine.!
If!your!virtual!disk!has!redo!logs,!you!have!the!following!options:
! To!use!the!exportfile!option!on!the!base!virtual!disk,!only!the!base!virtual!disk!
is!exported.!Any!uncommitted!redo!logs!are!not!exported,!but!can!be!copied!
separately.
! To!use!the!exportfile!option!on!a!ESX!Server!redo!log,!the!exported!virtual!disk!
contains!the!redo!log,!any!previously!created!redo!logs,!and!the!base!virtual!disk.!
That!is,!the!newly!created!exported!virtual!disk!appears!as!if!the!redo!log(s)!was!
committed!to!its!base!virtual!disk.!
Your
!original!source!redo!log(s)!and!base!virtual!disk!remain!unchanged.
! To!export!your!redo!logs!and!base!virtual!disk!separately,!use!the!exportfile!
option!to!export!the!base!virtual!disk,!and!the!cp!command!to!export!each!redo!log!
separately.
Use!the!combination!of!exportfile!and!importfile!together!to!copy!VMFS!files!to!
remote!machines.!The!virtual!disk!should!take!less!
space!than!the!full!size!of!the!VMFS!
file,!because!the!virtual!disk!does!not!include!zeroed!sectors!of!the!VMFS!file.!
Import the contents of a VMware virtual, plain, or raw disk on the service
console to the specified file on the specified SCSI device
-i --importfile <srcFile>
This!command!is!often!used!to!import!the!contents!of!a!VMware!Workstation!or!
VMware!GSX!Server!virtual!disk!onto!a!SCSI!device.!Run!this!command!to!import!a!
virtual!disk!that!was!created!by!exporting!the!contents!of!a!disk!from!another!SCSI!
device.!