We had a client who accidentally expanded the volume size on a VMware disk and then wanted to undo that change. Specifically the client had used vmware cloud director to expand the size of a disk but caught their mistake right away and had not expanded the volume in Windows Disk Manager yet.
Reducing the size of a virtual disk in VMware Cloud Director after it has been expanded can be quite risky, especially if the partition has not yet been expanded in Windows. Here are a few key points to consider:
- Data Integrity: Reducing the size of a virtual disk can lead to data loss if not done correctly. The data within the partition might be located in the space that you are trying to remove
- Unsupported Operation: VMware does not natively support reducing the size of a virtual disk directly. You would typically need to use third-party tools or VMware Converter to achieve this
- Backup: Always ensure you have a complete backup of your virtual machine before attempting any disk size modifications
If you still need to proceed, the recommended approach would be to use VMware Converter to create a new virtual disk with the desired size and migrate the data over to it.
VMware Converter, also known as VMware vCenter Converter Standalone, is a powerful FREE tool that allows you to convert physical machines (both Windows and Linux) and other virtual machine formats into VMware virtual machines. Here are some key features:
- P2V and V2V Conversions: It supports both Physical-to-Virtual (P2V) and Virtual-to-Virtual (V2V) conversions, making it versatile for various migration needs
- Non-Disruptive Conversions: The tool allows for hot cloning, which means you can convert machines without any downtime
- Wide Compatibility: It supports a range of source physical machines and third-party virtual machines, including Hyper-V and Amazon EC2 instances
- Centralized Management: VMware Converter provides a centralized management console that allows you to queue up and monitor multiple simultaneous conversions
We hope that helps answer the question.