VMware file type description

I have been developing VMware recently. I will describe the types of VMware files for easy reference.

File Type	Description	Format
. Vmx	Configuration File	ASCII
. Vmxf	Attachment configuration file	ASCII
. Vmdk	Disk Files	ASCII
. Flat. vmdk	Pre-allocated Disk Files in binary format	Binary
. Vswp	Swap files
. NVRAM	Saves the BIOS information of a virtual machine.
. VMSs	Suspend file (generated only when the VM is suspended)
. Log	Log Files	ASCII
#. Log	Outdated log files. # An integer starting from 1	ASCII

If the VM still has snapshots, other files will be generated.

File Type	Description	Format
. Vmsd	Store the metadata and other information of snapshots.
. Vmsn	Snapshot data file
**. Delta. vmdk	Snapshot files can also be understood as redo-log files.
**. Vmdk	Disk Files
-Snapshot #. vmsn	Snapshot status file to save the status of the VM when a snapshot is created

The following is an article on the official website, which provides more details:

Web: http://www.vmware.com/support/ws5/doc/ws_learning_files_in_a_vm.html

What files make up a virtual machine?

You may never need to know the file names or locations for your virtual machine files. virtual Machine file management is saved med by VMware Workstation. if the behind the scenes file structure is not interesting to you, skip this section.

A Virtual Machine typically is stored on the host computer in a set of files, usually in a directory created by workstation for that specific virtual machine.

The key files are listed here by extension. In these examples, <vmname> is the name of your virtual machine

Extension	File Name	Description
. Log	<Vmname>. Log Or VMware. Log	This is the file that keeps a log of key vmware workstation activity. this file can be useful in troubleshooting if you encounter problems. this file is stored in the directory that holds the configuration (. vmx) File Of the virtual machine.
. NVRAM	<Vmname>. NVRAM Or NVRAM	This is the file that stores the state of the virtual machine's BIOS.
. Vmdk	<Vmname>. vmdk	This is a virtual disk file, which stores the contents of the virtual machine's hard disk drive. A virtual disk is made up of one or more. vmdk files. If you have specified that the Virtual Disk shocould be split into 2 GB chunks, the number . Vmdk files depends on the size of the virtual disk. As data is added to a virtual disk, . Vmdk files grow in size, to a maximum of 2 GB each. (If you specify that all space shoshould be allocated when you create the disk, these files start at the maximum size and do not grow .) almost all of . Vmdk file's content is the virtual machine's data, with a small portion allotted to virtual machine overhead. If the virtual machine is connected directly to a physical disk, rather than to a virtual disk, . Vmdk file stores information about the partitions the virtual machine is allowed to access. Earlier VMware products used the extension. DSK for Virtual Disk Files.
	<Diskname>-<###>. vmdk	This is a redo-log file, created automatically when a virtual machine has one or more snapshots. this file stores changes made to a virtual disk while the virtual machine is running. there may be more than one such file. the ### Indicates a unique suffix added automatically by VMware workstation to avoid duplicate file names.
. Vmsd	<Vmname>. vmsd	This is a centralized file for storing information and metadata about snapshots.
. Vmsn	<Vmname>-snapshot. vmsn	This is the snapshot state file, which stores the running state of a virtual machine at the time you take that snapshot
	<Vmname>-Snapshot <###>. vmsn	This is the file which stores the state of a snapshot
. VMSs	<Vmname>. VMSs	This is the sushortded state file, which stores the state of a sushortded Virtual Machine . Some earlier VMware products used the extension. STDFor susponded state files
. Vmtm	<Vmname>. vmtm	This is the configuration file containing team data.
. Vmx	<Vmname>. vmx	This is the primary configuration file, which stores settings chosen in the new Virtual Machine wizard or virtual machine settings editor. if you created the virtual machine under an earlier version of VMware Workstation on a Linux host, this file may have A. cfg Extension
. Vmxf	<Vmname>. vmxf	This is a supplemental configuration file for virtual machines that are in a team. Note that. Vmxf File remains if a virtual machine is removed from the team.

There can be other files in the directory, some of which are present only while a virtual machine is running.