How to extend VMware virtual disk VMDK without recreating disk?

VMware is the most popular Virtual Machine software for now. It is easy to use and works like a physical computer. The most common problem of VMware is related to disk partition space. The typical example is that the VMware virtual disk originally created is too small, or the system C drive of the virtual disk too small, how to solve this problem with ease?

In this article, I'll introduce how to extend VMware virtual disk (VMDK) to increase its size.

Steps to extend VMware virtual disk

Before you begin, make sure that you do not have an active snapshot on the VM, extending a virtual disk with a snapshot will cause corrpution

Step1: Turn off the virtual machine, Open up Run dialogue from the start menu (Start -> Run) or hold down the Windows key and press R. Type "cmd" and hit enter to open up the Command Prompt.

Step2: Run VMware disk manager tool, the format is like this: "AA\vmware-vdiskmanager.exe" –x BB.GB(MB) "CC\DD.VMDK".

AA: The absolute path of vmware-vdiskmanager.exe (for example C:\Program files\Vmware Workstation or C:\Program files\Vmware Server)
BB: What size you want to extend the VMware virtual disk to
CC: The absolute path of the virtual disk you want to extend
DD: The name of the virtual disk want to extend

Input the command and press enter to proceed, after that, the VMware virtual disk will be extended and there will be "BB.GB(MB) Unallocated space at the end of the virtual disk.

 

The Unallocated space can be used to create new partition or extend system C drive or any other data partition.