6.0.1

Prerequisites
n
Make sure that you are familiar with controller and virtual device node behavior for different virtual
hard disk configurations. See “Add a Hard Disk to a Virtual Machine,” on page 117.
n
Before you add disks greater than 2TB to a virtual machine, see “Large Capacity Virtual Disk
Conditions and Limitations,” on page 116.
n
Verify that you have the Virtual machine.Configuration.Add existing disk privilege on the destination
folder or datastore.
Procedure
1 Right-click a virtual machine in the inventory and select Edit Settings.
2 (Optional) To delete the existing hard disk, move your cursor over the disk and click the Remove icon.
The disk is removed from the virtual machine. If other virtual machines share the disk, the disk files are
not deleted.
3 On the Virtual Hardware tab, select Existing Hard Disk from the New device drop-down menu and
click Add.
4 In the Datastores column, expand a datastore, select a virtual machine folder, and select the disk to add.
The disk file appears in the Contents column. The File Type drop-down menu shows the compatibility
file types for this disk.
5 Click OK.
What to do next
n
(Optional) Change the virtual disk configuration. See “Change the Virtual Disk Configuration,” on
page 117.
n
(Optional) Use disk shares to prioritize virtual machine access to this disk. See “Use Disk Shares to
Prioritize Virtual Machines,” on page 123.
Add an RDM Disk to a Virtual Machine
You can use a raw device mapping (RDM) to store virtual machine data directly on a SAN LUN, instead of
storing it in a virtual disk file. You can add an RDM disk to an existing virtual machine, or you can add the
disk when you customize the virtual machine hardware during the virtual machine creation process.
When you give a virtual machine direct access to an RDM disk, you create a mapping file that resides on a
VMFS datastore and points to the LUN. Although the mapping file has the same .vmdk extension as a
regular virtual disk file, the mapping file contains only mapping information. The virtual disk data is stored
directly on the LUN.
During virtual machine creation, a hard disk and a SCSI or SATA controller are added to the virtual
machine by default, based on the guest operating system that you select. If this disk does not meet your
needs, you can remove it and add an RDM disk at the end of the creation process.
Prerequisites
n
Ensure that you are familiar with SCSI controller and virtual device node behavior for different virtual
hard disk configurations. See “Add a Hard Disk to a Virtual Machine,” on page 117.
n
Before you add disks greater than 2TB to a virtual machine, see “Large Capacity Virtual Disk
Conditions and Limitations,” on page 116.
n
Required privilege: Virtual machine.Configuration.Raw device
Chapter 6 Configuring Virtual Machine Hardware
VMware, Inc. 121