7.0

What to do next
Reinstall VMware Tools.
Virtual Machine Files
When you create a virtual machine, Player creates a set of files for that specific virtual machine. Virtual
machine files are stored in either the virtual machines directory or the working directory. Both directories
are typically on the host system.
Table 3‑5. Virtual Machine Files
Extension File Name Description
.vmx vmname.vmx
The primary configuration file, which stores virtual machine
settings. If you created the virtual machine with an earlier version of
Player on a Linux host, this file might have a .cfg extension.
.log vmname.log
or
vmware.log
The main log file. If you need to troubleshoot a problem, refer to this
file. This file is stored in the same directory as the .vmx file.
.nvram vmname.nvram
or
nvram
The NVRAM file, which stores the state of the virtual machine BIOS.
This file is stored in the same directory as the .vmx file.
.vmdk vmname.vmdk
Virtual disk files, which store the contents of the virtual machine
hard disk drive. These files are stored in the same directory as
the .vmx file.
A virtual disk is made up of one or more virtual disk files. The
virtual machine settings show the name of the first file in the set.
This file contains pointers to the other files in the set.
If you specify that all disk space should be allocated when the
virtual disk is created, these files start at the maximum size and do
not grow. Almost all of the file content is virtual machine data. A
small portion of the file is allotted to virtual machine overhead.
If the virtual machine is connected directly to a physical disk, the
virtual disk file stores information about the partitions that the
virtual machine is allowed to access.
NOTE Earlier VMware products use the .dsk extension for virtual
disk files.
vmname-s###.vmdk If you specified that the files can increase, filenames include an s in
the file number, for example, Windows 7-s001.vmdk.
If you specified that the virtual disk is divided into 2GB sections, the
number of files depends on the size of the virtual disk. As data is
added to a virtual disk, the files increase to a maximum of 2GB each.
vmname-f###.vmdk
If all disk space was allocated when the disk was created, filenames
include an f, for example, Windows 7-f001.vmdk.
vmname-disk-###.vmdk
If the virtual machine has one or more snapshots, some files are redo
log files. These files store changes made to a virtual disk while the
virtual machine is running. The ### indicates a unique suffix that
Player adds to avoid duplicate file names.
.vmem uuid.vmem
The virtual machine paging file, which backs up the guest main
memory on the host file system. This file exists only when the virtual
machine is running or if the virtual machine fails. It is stored in the
working directory.
snapshot_name_number.vmem
Each snapshot of a virtual machine that is powered on has an
associated .vmem file, which contains the guest operating system
main memory, saved as part of the snapshot.
.vmsd vmname.vmsd
A centralized file for storing information and metadata about
snapshots. It is stored in the working directory.
Getting Started with VMware Player
38 VMware, Inc.