![]() However, you can also use it to mount the VMDK files as new partitions. It’s a professional tool that’s primarily designed to access Linux file systems (ext2, ext3, and ext4) on Windows. And, after you’ve successfully transferred data from the partition, you can simply right-click it and tap “Disconnect Virtual Disk” to dismount the VMDK partition.Īnother way to mount VMDK files directly on a Windows system is to use Linux Reader. Keep in mind that it’ll only be in read-only format, which means you’ll only be able to copy the content. Step 4 - Finally, click “Ok” to complete the process.Īt this point, you’ll see a new partition within Windows explorer that’ll contain all the data of the VMDK file. Make sure to tick the checkbox next to the “Open Drive in Windows Explorer After Mapping”. Here use the drop-down menu to specify the drive letter for the new volume. ![]() Step 3 - A new dialog box will open your screen. Step 2 - Now, right-click the descriptor file and click “Map Virtual Disk”. ![]() Step 1 - First of all copy the “descriptor” and the “flat” files in the same folder. But, since Windows doesn’t support the Linux file system, you’ll need a third-party application to access it on your computer.įollow these steps to mount a VMDK file as an individual partition on your Windows system. ![]() Note: Keep in mind that you can open both Linux and Windows Server VMDK files using the VMware Workstation player. And, once the new partition is created, it’ll become way easier to copy all the content from the VMDK file to your Windows partitions. With VMware Workstation Player, you’ll be able to create dedicated volumes for the VMDK files and assign them individual letters as well. It’s a dedicated virtualization software that’ll allow you to directly mount the VMDK files as separate volumes on your Windows system. The easiest way to mount a VMDK file on a Windows system is to use the VMware Workstation Player. So, now that you’re familiar with the basic anatomy of a VMDK file, let’s take a look at how to mount them and retrieve data from them. In addition to the regular descriptor files, these virtual machines use virtual disk extent (instead of the flat files) to store RAW data. It’s also worth noting that the Virtual Machines on an ESXi server use a slightly different anatomy. Unlike the descriptor file, you can’t open a flat file with your traditional text editors. The VMDK flat file, on the other hand, contains all the data of the Virtual Machine. This text file contains nothing but the basic disk information including the disk IDs, Virtual Machine hardware version, and the disk geometry. The descriptor is basically a text file that you can open using any text editor such as Notepad. As of now, the VMDK files are compatible with both VMware and VirtualBox virtual machines.Ī VMDK file on a VMware Workstation contains two different parts, i.e., the descriptor and the flat file. The files are saved with the ‘.vmdk’ extensions and they were first developed by VMware. These are basically disk files that contain all the information about the Virtual Machine you’re running. So, in this guide, we are going to take a look at the most effective ways to open a Virtual Machine Disk file on your PC. You’ll have to follow a dedicated process to mount the VMDK files and retrieve its content. In saying that, however, opening a VMDK file isn’t as straightforward as you may think. For instance, if your VM has crashed and is not booting properly, you can open the VMDK file to retrieve the Virtual Machine content easily. Even though it’s quite rare for a user to access the content of a VMDK file, there are many situations when you might need to open it. These are Virtual Machine DIsk files that contain all the information of a virtual machine. If you run a Virtual Machine on your computer, you may already be familiar with the VMDK files.
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