User`s manual

Workstation User’s Manual
254 VMware, Inc.
Using VMware Virtual Disk Manager
VMwareVirtualDiskManagerisaWorkstationutilitythatallowsyoutocreate,
manage,andmodifyvirtualdiskfilesfromthecommandlineorinscripts.
Youcanenlargeavirtualdisksothatitsmaximumcapacityislargerthanitwaswhen
youcreatedit.Thisisusefulifyouneedmoredi
skspac
einagivenvirtualmachine,but
donotwanttoaddanothervirtualdiskoruseghostingsoftwaretotransferthedataon
avirtualdisktoalargervirtualdisk.Youcannotdothiswithphysicalharddrives.
Youcanalsochangedisktypes.Whenyoucreateavi
rtualmach
ine,youspecifyhow
diskspaceisallocated,asfollows:
 Allspaceforthevirtualdiskisallocatedinadvance.Thiscorrespondstothe
preallocateddisktypeforVirtualDiskManager.
 Spaceallocatedforthevirtualdiskbeginssmallandgrowsasneeded.This
correspondstothegrowabledisktypeforVirtualDiskManager.
Ifyouallocateallthediskspaceforavirtualdiskbutlaterneedtoreclaimsomehard
diskspaceonthehost,youcanconvertthepreallocatedvirtualdi
skintoa
growable
disk.Thenewvirtualdiskisstilllargeenoughtocontainallthedataintheoriginal
virtualdisk.
Youcanalsochangewhetherthevirtualdiskisstoredinasinglefileorsplitinto2GB
files.
Thesefeaturesandtheabilitytousescriptingtoautomatemanagementofvi
rtualdisks
wereaddedtoWorkstationinversion5.0.SeetheVMwaretechnicalnoteaboutusing
VirtualDiskManager.
Using Dual-Boot Computers with Virtual Machines
SomeusersinstallWorkstationonadual‐bootormultiple‐bootcomputersothatthey
canrunoneormoreoftheexistingoperatingsystemsinavirtualmachine.Formore
informationaboutusingdual‐bootcomputerswithWorkstation,seetheVMware
Dual‐BootComputersandVirtualMachinestechnicalnoteontheVMw
areWebsi
te.
Legacy Virtual Disks
YouhaveseveraloptionsforusingWorkstation7.0inamixedenvironmentwithvirtual
machinesthatwerecreatedwithearlierversionsofWorkstationorcreatedwithother
VMwareproducts.
Forcompatibilityinformation,seetheVMwareVirtualMachineMobilityPlanningGuide.