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increase the disk capacity of c: drive of ESXi guess OS

A
Userlevel 4

Hi Team,

Got a VM running on a ESXi host. Need to add additional disk space to C: drive. However, couldn’t increase it any further using the VM properties under storage. The provisioned disk capacity is 230GB and the total disk utilization is closer to 230GB as well. The machine is thin provisioned. The connected SAN storage got free available space too. Just wondering the best option to add more disk capacity to C: drive please?

Appreciate your feedback.

kind regards,

Andrew

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Best answer by coolsport00 20 February 2024, 00:42

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27 comments

coolsport00
Userlevel 7
Badge +17

Hi Andrew -

Though the Community Hub is more for Veeam questions (just FYI), we can still assist. You should be able to still add storage space to the VM. Power down the VM if possible (not needed, but recommended), change the disk space amount (increase) to the amount you want, power the VM back on, go into Disk Managment, rt-click and Rescan the disks. Then rt-click the Volume and select Extend and finish the increase Volume wizard.

Shane Williford - Veeam VMCA/VMCE | Veeam Legend | VUG Leader | VCP-DCV | Twitter: @coolsport00
coolsport00
Userlevel 7
Badge +17

This is the proper way if you do indeed have enough space on the underlying datastore/storage the VM virtual disk resides on.

Shane Williford - Veeam VMCA/VMCE | Veeam Legend | VUG Leader | VCP-DCV | Twitter: @coolsport00
Chris.Childerhose
Userlevel 7
Badge +20

When you try to expand the OS drive in VMware what does the max size show you?  It might be that the datastore your VM is on does not have enough space to expand it. Otherwise as noted you should be able to expand it.  If the datastore then you need to expand that first.

Chris Childerhose - VMCA2022 | VMCE2023 | Veeam Vanguard 7* | Veeam Legend 3* | vExpert 5* | VCAP-DCV/VCP-DCV | Object First Ace | Cisco Champion | Twitter: @cchilderhose | Blog Site – https://just-virtualization.tech
wesmrt
Userlevel 7
Badge +4

Or maybe the VM has a snapshot? If you have a snashot you can’t increase the disks.

Wesley Martins @ Specialist Enginner at Veeam Technical Support | My blog: https://itproland.com.br (PT-BR)
coolsport00
Userlevel 7
Badge +17

Or maybe the VM has a snapshot? If you have a snashot you can increase the disks.

Good call here Wesley (I think you meant “can’t” increase the disk with a snap? 🙂). This is true, Andrew. If you have a snapshot on the VM, before you can increase the disk size, you need to consolidate the snaphot (select ‘Delete All’ in VMware snapshot manager to save the data, then delete the delta snapshot disk).

Shane Williford - Veeam VMCA/VMCE | Veeam Legend | VUG Leader | VCP-DCV | Twitter: @coolsport00
Chris.Childerhose
Userlevel 7
Badge +20

Or maybe the VM has a snapshot? If you have a snashot you can’t increase the disks.

Ah yes the one thing we always forget is snapshots. 😂

Chris Childerhose - VMCA2022 | VMCE2023 | Veeam Vanguard 7* | Veeam Legend 3* | vExpert 5* | VCAP-DCV/VCP-DCV | Object First Ace | Cisco Champion | Twitter: @cchilderhose | Blog Site – https://just-virtualization.tech
A
Userlevel 4

Hi Andrew -

Though the Community Hub is more for Veeam questions (just FYI), we can still assist. You should be able to still add storage space to the VM. Power down the VM if possible (not needed, but recommended), change the disk space amount (increase) to the amount you want, power the VM back on, go into Disk Managment, rt-click and Rescan the disks. Then rt-click the Volume and select Extend and finish the increase Volume wizard.

Hi, tried this option. But it didn’t allow me to alter the allocated disk space under the properties for VM disk storage. Thank you

coolsport00
Userlevel 7
Badge +17

Do you have permissions in vCenter to do so? Do you have a snapshot on your VM? 

Shane Williford - Veeam VMCA/VMCE | Veeam Legend | VUG Leader | VCP-DCV | Twitter: @coolsport00
A
Userlevel 4

When you try to expand the OS drive in VMware what does the max size show you?  It might be that the datastore your VM is on does not have enough space to expand it. Otherwise as noted you should be able to expand it.  If the datastore then you need to expand that first.

Hi Chris,

Checked the datastore and it got adequate freespace to be used. Thanks

coolsport00
Userlevel 7
Badge +17

Can you please share a screenshot of the VM properties? 

Shane Williford - Veeam VMCA/VMCE | Veeam Legend | VUG Leader | VCP-DCV | Twitter: @coolsport00
Chris.Childerhose
Userlevel 7
Badge +20

When you try to expand the OS drive in VMware what does the max size show you?  It might be that the datastore your VM is on does not have enough space to expand it. Otherwise as noted you should be able to expand it.  If the datastore then you need to expand that first.

Hi Chris,

Checked the datastore and it got adequate freespace to be used. Thanks

Ok then it must be a snapshot on the VM then only explanation or permissions but if you are admin it is good.

Chris Childerhose - VMCA2022 | VMCE2023 | Veeam Vanguard 7* | Veeam Legend 3* | vExpert 5* | VCAP-DCV/VCP-DCV | Object First Ace | Cisco Champion | Twitter: @cchilderhose | Blog Site – https://just-virtualization.tech
A
Userlevel 4

Or maybe the VM has a snapshot? If you have a snashot you can’t increase the disks.

Hi Wesmrt,
Thanks for your feedback.

I checked, it got a snapshot. However, I tried increasing the size of the disk space which connected to a datastore with adequate free disk space, it still doesn’t allow me to increase the size. May be as mentioned by ‘Coolsport00’, I may need to check the permissions of the vCenter to performt the task. If I come across an issue, will post it on this thread. Thanks a lot for all of your invaluable coomments.

Regards,

Andrew

coolsport00
Userlevel 7
Badge +17

Andrew - all you have to do is remove the snap as I shared above & you should then be able to increase the disk size. 

Shane Williford - Veeam VMCA/VMCE | Veeam Legend | VUG Leader | VCP-DCV | Twitter: @coolsport00
Chris.Childerhose
Userlevel 7
Badge +20

Or maybe the VM has a snapshot? If you have a snashot you can’t increase the disks.

Hi Wesmrt,
Thanks for your feedback.

I checked, it got a snapshot. However, I tried increasing the size of the disk space which connected to a datastore with adequate free disk space, it still doesn’t allow me to increase the size. May be as mentioned by ‘Coolsport00’, I may need to check the permissions of the vCenter to performt the task. If I come across an issue, will post it on this thread. Thanks a lot for all of your invaluable coomments.

Regards,

Andrew

As noted you cannot extend a disk with a snapshot present. Remove it and it will work.

Chris Childerhose - VMCA2022 | VMCE2023 | Veeam Vanguard 7* | Veeam Legend 3* | vExpert 5* | VCAP-DCV/VCP-DCV | Object First Ace | Cisco Champion | Twitter: @cchilderhose | Blog Site – https://just-virtualization.tech
coolsport00
Userlevel 7
Badge +17

Hi Andrew - I just wanted to provide you with some visuals of a test VM and what a snap does to VM properties. See below:

This is the snap on a test VM I have:

VM Snapshot


With the above snapshot, the VM’s disk properties to increase it is greyed out:

VM Properties - With Snapshot


With the snapshot removed, as shown below:

VM Snapshot Removed


You can then modify the VM disk size:

VM Properties - No Snapshot

Hope that helps. Let us know.

Shane Williford - Veeam VMCA/VMCE | Veeam Legend | VUG Leader | VCP-DCV | Twitter: @coolsport00
A
Userlevel 4

Hi Team,

I suspect it could be something to do with the permissions from the vCentre server.

Just wondering whether there is a document (or even a blog) or any steps that needs to be taken to check the said permissions which may potentially not allowing me to expand the current disk capacity?

Thank you in advance.

Kind regards,

Andrew

 

 

Chris.Childerhose
Userlevel 7
Badge +20

You can find permissions documents here - https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/7.0/com.vmware.vsphere.security.doc/GUID-5372F580-5C23-4E9C-8A4E-EF1B4DD9033E.html

 

Chris Childerhose - VMCA2022 | VMCE2023 | Veeam Vanguard 7* | Veeam Legend 3* | vExpert 5* | VCAP-DCV/VCP-DCV | Object First Ace | Cisco Champion | Twitter: @cchilderhose | Blog Site – https://just-virtualization.tech
coolsport00
Userlevel 7
Badge +17

Hi Andrew -

The only way we can give you the best answer is to understand your role in vCenter. If you know what group or role you’re a part of, then you can determne what permissions you have within vCenter, by viewing the Permissions tab. If you click on the vCenter object, or Datacenter object, or Cluster object, or even VM or folders in vCenter, you can then look over to the right and see a Permissions tab and view permissions at that given vCenter object level. 

Shane Williford - Veeam VMCA/VMCE | Veeam Legend | VUG Leader | VCP-DCV | Twitter: @coolsport00
Chris.Childerhose
Userlevel 7
Badge +20

Hi Team,

I suspect it could be something to do with the permissions from the vCentre server.

Just wondering whether there is a document (or even a blog) or any steps that needs to be taken to check the said permissions which may potentially not allowing me to expand the current disk capacity?

Thank you in advance.

Kind regards,

Andrew

 

 

Have you even checked for a snapshot as noted above?

Chris Childerhose - VMCA2022 | VMCE2023 | Veeam Vanguard 7* | Veeam Legend 3* | vExpert 5* | VCAP-DCV/VCP-DCV | Object First Ace | Cisco Champion | Twitter: @cchilderhose | Blog Site – https://just-virtualization.tech
A
Userlevel 4

Hi Andrew - I just wanted to provide you with some visuals of a test VM and what a snap does to VM properties. See below:

This is the snap on a test VM I have:

VM Snapshot


With the above snapshot, the VM’s disk properties to increase it is greyed out:

VM Properties - With Snapshot


With the snapshot removed, as shown below:

VM Snapshot Removed


You can then modify the VM disk size:

VM Properties - No Snapshot

Hope that helps. Let us know.

Hi Coolsport00,

Thanks a lot for your effort and for the prompt reply.

I witness similar conditions when I access the VM machine from the vCenter server. I am in the process of deleting the snapshot created a few days ago (the only snapshot) and will try to increase the disk space as specified from the vCenter server.

I believe there will be no permissions set on the vCenter for the VM machines (Guest OSs running on the ESXi host).

Will update shortly.

Thank you in advance.

Kind regards,

Andrew

 

coolsport00
Userlevel 7
Badge +17

Ok Andrew..glad to hear. I think you’ll be good to go once you remove the snapshot. Keep us updated on the progress.

Shane Williford - Veeam VMCA/VMCE | Veeam Legend | VUG Leader | VCP-DCV | Twitter: @coolsport00
A
Userlevel 4

Hi Coolsport00,

Thanks a lot. You are a gem.

Yes, after deleting the snapshot, was able to increase the disk capacity from the vCenter server.

Thank you once again.

Have a great day.

Kind regards,

Andrew

 

coolsport00
Userlevel 7
Badge +17

Glad to hear you were able to get it sorted Andrew. Glad to assist. 

Shane Williford - Veeam VMCA/VMCE | Veeam Legend | VUG Leader | VCP-DCV | Twitter: @coolsport00
Chris.Childerhose
Userlevel 7
Badge +20

Great to hear you resolved the issue.

Chris Childerhose - VMCA2022 | VMCE2023 | Veeam Vanguard 7* | Veeam Legend 3* | vExpert 5* | VCAP-DCV/VCP-DCV | Object First Ace | Cisco Champion | Twitter: @cchilderhose | Blog Site – https://just-virtualization.tech
A
Userlevel 4

Great to hear you resolved the issue.

Thank you Chris and all of you who guided me in the right direction.

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