![]() ![]() So I’m currently going through all the notes I’ve ever written on VMware VI and vSphere in preparation for my VCP5 exam and thought I’d share them with you, many of you will know big chunks already, but for those who are new to VMware, looking to round out their knowledge or looking for revision for exams may find them useful. This post will go through the basic anatomy of a Virtual Machine, including the files it’s made up of, and the options available. This will not go into the detail of advanced parameters at this time. Some of this information was created some time ago, I have tried to update wherever possible but if you notice something incorrect please let me know and I will do my best to update it promptly. Files that make up a VM These are the files that make up a VM, below will be a detailed description of each • VMX file – Configuration • VMXF file – Supplementational Configuration • VMDK Files – Disk related files, includes.VMDK, -delta.vmdk, -rdm.vmds • VSWP File – Memory overflow (SWAP) file • VMSD File – Snapshot details • VMSS File – Memory contents of suspended VM • VMSN File – Snapshot Files • NVRAM File – BIOS file • Log files VMX file The VMX file is the primary configuration file a virtual machine. Every aspect of your virtual machine is detailed in the VMX file. Any virtual hardware assigned to your virtual machine is present here. An example entry for a virtual floppy drive is outlined below: floppy0.startConnected = “false” floppy0.clientDevice = “true” Each time you create a new virtual machine using the New Virtual Machine Wizard, the VMX file is appended to with each question you answer regarding the guest operating system, disk sizes, and networking. Whenever you edit the settings of a virtual machine, this file is updated to reflect those changes. Keeps a log of key VMware Workstation activity. This file is useful in troubleshooting. This file is stored in the directory that holds the configuration (.vmx) file of the virtual machine. .VMX File Extension File Type 1 VMware. If the virtual machine was created with an earlier Linux version of VMware Workstation, the configuration file may use. You define the hot key used to switch to a virtual machine by adding a line to the target virtual machine's configuration (.vmx) file. Things that are included in this file • Hardware configuration (incl. RAM, NICs, Hard drive and serial/parallel port info), • Advanced power and resource settings • VMware tools options • Power management options Warning making direct changes to this file should be done with care, and either creating a backup or updating your resume should be undertaken before directly editing this file especially on production VMs. VMFX File This file is a supplemental configuration file that is only retained for compatibility purposes with VM teaming in Workstation. VMDK Files All virtual disks are made up of two files, a large data file equal to the size of the virtual disk and a small text disk descriptor file • The –.vmdk file Th descriptor file describes the size and geometry of the virtual disk file. The descriptor file also contains a pointer to the large data file as well as information on the virtual disks drive sectors, heads, cylinders and disk adapter type. • The –flat.vmdk file This is the virtual disk data file that is created when you add a virtual hard drive to your VM that is not an RDM. One of these files is created for each virtual hard drive that a VM has configured. The size will vary based on the maximum size of the disk, and the type of provisioning used (i.e. Thick or thin) • The –delta.vmdk file These virtual disk data files are only used when snapshots are created of a virtual machine. When a snapshot is created, all writes to the original –flat.vmdk are halted and it becomes read-only; changes to the virtual disk are then written to these –delta files instead. A delta file will be created for each snapshot that you create for a VM and their file names will be incremented numerically (i.e., myvm01-delta.vmdk, myvm-02-delta.vmdk). These files are automatically deleted when the snapshot is deleted after they are merged back into the original –flat.vmdk file. • The -rdm.vmdk file This is the mapping file for the RDM that manages mapping data for the RDM device. The mapping file is presented to the ESXi host as an ordinary disk file, available for the usual file system operations. However, to the virtual machine the storage virtualization layer presents the mapped device as a virtual SCSI device. The metadata in the mapping file includes the location of the mapped device (name resolution) and the locking state of the mapped device. If you do a directory listing you will see that these files will appear to take up the same amount of disk space on the VMFS volume as the actual size of the LUN that it is mapped to, but in reality they just appear that way and their size is very small. One of these files is created for each RDM that is created on a VM. VSWP file At VM power on, a memory swap file is created, it is equal to the memory designated to the VM in its VM settings.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
December 2018
Categories |