Specifications

Administration Guide
260 VMware, Inc.
You!can!address!the!file!system!by!using!the!name!of!its!head!partition,!for!example,!
vmhba1:3:0:1.
Names a VMFS volume
vmkfstools -S mydisk vmhba1:3:0:1
This!example!illustrates!assigning!the!name!of!mydisk!to!the!new!file!system.!
Creates a new VMFS virtual disk file
vmkfstools -c 2000m mydisk:rh6.2.vmdk
This!example!illustrates!creating!a!2GB!VMFS!file!with!the!name!of!rh6.2.vmdk!on!the!
VMFS!volume!named!mydisk.!The!rh6.2.vmdk!file!represents!an!empty!disk!that!can!
be!accessed!by!a!virtual!machine.!
Imports the contents of a virtual disk to the specified file on a SCSI device
vmkfstools -i ~/vms/nt4.vmdk vmhba0:2:0:0:nt4.vmdk
The!example!illustrates!importing!the!contents!of!a!virtual!disk!(which!contains!
Windows!NT!4.0)!from!the!service!console’s!file!system!to!a!file!named!nt4.vmdk!on!
target!2!of!SCSI!adapter!0.!
Configure!a!virtual!machine!to!use!this!virtual!disk!by!adding!the!following!lines!to!its!
configuration!
file:!
scsi0.virtualDev = vmxbuslogic
scsi0:0.present = TRUE
scsi0:0.name = vmhba0:2:0:0:nt4.vmdk
Migrate virtual machines to VMware GSX Server or VMware Workstation,
then back to VMware ESX Server
This!example!illustrates!migrating!a!virtual!machine’s!virtual!disk!file!from!ESX!Server!
to!VMware!GSX!Server!or!VMware!Workstation,!and!migrating!the!virtual!disk!back!to!
ESX!Server.
vmkfstools -e winXP.vmdk vmhba0:6:0:1:winXP.vmdk
The!command!exports!the!winXP.vmdk!virtual!disk!file!to!one!or!more!.vmdk!files,!
maximum!size!2GB,!that!you!can!use!as!a!virtual!disk!in!a!virtual!machine!on!GSX!
Server!or!Workstation.!The!resultant!winXP.vmdk!file(s)!can!reside!on!a!VMFS!volume,!
or!an!/ext2,!/ext3,!or!NFS
!file!system.
NOTE The!examples,!illustrating!the!-e!and!-i!options,!result!in!the!export!or!import!of!a!
virtual!disk.!