NetApp and VMware vSphere Storage Best Practices

Figure 53) Expanding a VMFS partition.
For more information about adding VMFS extents, see the VMware ESX and ESXi Server Configuration
Guide.
GROWING A VIRTUAL DISK (VMDK)
Virtual disks can be extended; however, this process requires the virtual machine to be powered off.
Growing the virtual disk is only half of the equation for increasing available storage; you still need to grow
the file system after the VM boots. Root volumes such as C:\ in Windows and/in Linux cannot be grown
dynamically or while the system is running. For these volumes, see “Growing Bootable Volumes,” later in
this report. For all other volumes, you can use native operating system tools to grow the volume. To grow a
virtual disk, follow these steps.
1 Open vCenter Server.
2 Select a VM and shut it down.
3 Right-click the VM and select Properties.
4 Select a virtual disk and increase its size (see Figure 54)
5 Start the VM.
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