How can I move the Vmware virtual Hard Drive files?

Question

I have limited space on my C: drive and lots on my V: drive. I'd like to move the VMware Player's virtual HD files (and any large supporting files) to my V: drive.

Any pointers to how I do that?

(I'm afraid to just move the file. Tried that once w/ Virtual PC and it was a mess because the program was expecting it to be in the old location.)

Answer 1

VMWare is a company not a product, presumably you mean a client-based product such as VMWare Server or Workstation? if so can you update your question?

Probably the most fool-proof way of doing this would be to remove the server from your list of VMs but don't choose the 'remove from disk' option. Then move the VM directory/files from C: to V:, then browse to the new directory and double-click the appropriate .vmx file. This should then either add the VM back into your list or start a wizard to do the same. Worst case scenario just choose 'add new VM' and choose the 'use existing virtual disk' option.

Answer 2

I'm presuming you're talking about VMware Workstation -- just move the files where you want them, remove the virtual disks from the VM configuration (don't delete them), then add virtual disks, select the option to add existing virtual disks, then locate your .vmdk files.

Note that your virtual disk actually consists of the .vmdk, which is a metadata descriptor, and the -flat.vmdk, which actually contains the data. You'll want to move both of these to the same location.

Answer 3

Here's what I use. You'll need to change the env vars for your setup:

@Echo Off
SetLocal EnableExtensions EnableDelayedExpansion

Set VdskMgr=C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware Workstation\vmware-vdiskmanager.exe

Set VMDK=B:\Virtual Machines\VM3\*.vmdk
Set DestDir=C:\VMWare\Workstation\Virtual Machines\VM3


For %%A In ("%VMDK%") Do (
   Echo "%VdskMgr%" -n "%%A" "%DestDir%\%%~nxA"
   "%VdskMgr%" -n "%%A" "%DestDir%\%%~nxA"
)    

Echo.
Echo Manually edit the VMX file and change all "*:*.filename" entries to reflect the new location.
Echo For example, change:
Echo     scsi0:0.fileName = "XYZ.vmdk"
Echo to
Echo     scsi0:0.fileName = "%DestDir%\XYZ.vmdk"

Answer 4

You can directly edit the vmx file which is just a text file that contains the virtual machine basic settings. For me, on Windows 10, this file is located at:

C:\Users\<UserName>\Documents\Virtual Machines\<Virtual Machine Name>\<Virtual Machine Name>.vmx

This particular setting would be something like:

sata0:2.fileName = "C:\Users\<UserName>\Data\VirtualHardDisk.vmdk"

Then, of course, actually move the file.