VMware Disk Mount Users Guide

Virtual Disk Development Kit

VMware Disk Mount Users Guide

VMware Disk Mount Users Guide

Item: EN-000055-01

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Contents

AboutThisBook

UsingVMwareDiskMount

LimitationsonMountingVirtualDisks 7
RunningVMwareDiskMountonaWindowsHost 8
LogFiles 8
ExamplesUsingVMwareDiskMountonaWindowsHost 9
RunningVMwareDiskMountonaLinuxHost 10
LogFile 10
ExamplesUsingVMwareDiskMountonaLinuxHost 11
InstallingtheFusePackage 12

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VMware Disk Mount Users Guide

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About This Book

ThisVMwaremanual,theVMwareDiskMountUsersGuide,providesanintroductiontousingthe
vmware-mountcommandlineutility.

Revision History
Thisbookisrevisedwitheachreleaseoftheproductorwhennecessary.Arevisedversioncancontainminor
ormajorchanges.Table P1summarizesthesignificantchangesineachversionofthisguide.
Table P-1. Revision History
Revision

Description

20050408

FirstversionoftheVMwareDiskMountUsersGuide.

20070607

UpdatewithsupportforLinuxhostsandremotevirtualdisks.

20080122

Newoptionforinventorypathofthevirtualmachine.

20080625

UpdatedsupportinformationandFusemount.

20080717

Correctedinformationaboutsnapshotsand/poption.

20080915

AddedinformationaboutWindowsandLinuxlogfiles.

Intended Audience
ThisbookisintendedforanyonewhousesVMwareDiskMount.Userstypicallyincludepeoplewhodo
softwaredevelopmentandtestingorworkwithmultipleoperatingsystemsorcomputingenvironments:
systemadministrators,applicationdevelopers,QAengineers,andanyonewhowantstocreate,manage,and
modifyvirtualdiskfilesfromscriptsoratthecommandline.

Documentation Resources
ToaccessthecurrentversionsofVMwareAPIandSDKdocumentation,goto:
http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/sdk_pubs.html
ToaccessthecurrentversionsofotherVMwaremanuals,goto:
http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs

Documentation Feedback
VMwarewelcomesyoursuggestionsforimprovingourdocumentation.Sendyourfeedbackto:
docfeedback@vmware.com

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VMware Disk Mount Users Guide

Technical Support and Education Resources

Thefollowingsectionsdescribethetechnicalsupportandeducationalresourcesavailabletoyou.

Online Support
YoucansubmitquestionsorpostcommentstotheDeveloperCommunitySDKsandAPIsforum,whichis
monitoredbyVMwaretechnicalsupportandproductteams.Toaccesstheforum,goto:
http://communities.vmware.com/community/developer

Support Offerings
TofindouthowVMwaresupportofferingscanhelpmeetyourbusinessneeds,goto:
http://www.vmware.com/support/services

VMware Professional Services

VMwareEducationServicescoursesofferextensivehandsonlabs,casestudyexamples,andcoursematerials
designedtobeusedasonthejobreferencetools.Coursesareavailableonsite,intheclassroom,andlive
online.Foronsitepilotprograms andimplementationbestpractices,VMwareConsultingServicesprovides
offeringstohelpyouassess,plan,build,andmanageyourvirtualenvironment.Toaccessinformationabout
educationclasses,certificationprograms,andconsultingservices,goto:
http://www.vmware.com/services/

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Using VMware Disk Mount

VMwareDiskMountisautilityforWindowsandLinuxhoststhatallowsyoutomountanunusedvirtualdisk
asaseparatedriveorpartitionwithoutneedingtoconnecttothevirtualdiskfromwithinavirtualmachine.
Youcanmountspecificvolumesofavirtualdiskifthevirtualdiskispartitioned.
Afteryoumountavirtualdisk,youcanreadfromandwritetothemountedvirtualdiskasifitwereaseparate
filesystemwithitsowndriveletterormountpointonyourcomputer.Forexample,youcouldscanthedisk
forvirusesortransferfilesbetweenthehostsystemandapoweredoffvirtualmachine.Whenyouarefinished
usingamountedvirtualdisk,youshouldunmountitsothevirtualmachinecanuseitsvirtualdiskagain.
Thischaptercontainsthefollowingsections:

LimitationsonMountingVirtualDisksonpage 7.

RunningVMwareDiskMountonaWindowsHostonpage 8.

RunningVMwareDiskMountonaLinuxHostonpage 10.

Limitations on Mounting Virtual Disks

Considerthefollowingwhenyoumountvirtualdisks:

Youcannotmountavirtualdiskthatiscurrentlybeingusedbyarunningorsuspendedvirtualmachine.
Youcanonlymountdisksthatareinapoweredoffvirtualmachine,ordisksthatarenotarenotassociated
withavirtualmachine.

YoucanmountandreadWindowsvirtualdisksonWindowshosts(withatleastoneNTFSvolume)or
LinuxvirtualdisksonLinuxhosts.Crossmountingisrestrictedasdescribedbelow.

YoucanuseDiskMountwithvirtualdiskscreatedbyVMwareESXServer3.xand2.x(preallocateddisks
only),VMwareWorkstation6,5,or4,VMwarePlayer,VMwareACE,VMwareFusion,VMwareServer2
or1,andVMwareGSXServer3.xand2.5.Howeveryoucannotmountencryptedvirtualdisks.

Youcannotmountavirtualdiskifanyofits.vmdkfilesarecompressedorhavereadonlypermissions.
Changetheseattributesbeforemountingthevirtualdisk.

OnWindowshosts,youmustmountvirtualdisksasdriveD:orgreater.Youcannotspecifyadriveletter
alreadyinuseonthehost.

OnWindowshosts,youcanmountvolumesformattedwithFAT(12/16/32)orNTFSonly.Ifthevirtual
diskhasamixofpartitionsorvolumeswhere,forexample,apartitionisunformattedorisformattedwith
aLinuxoperatingsystemandanotherpartitionisformattedwithaWindowsoperatingsystem,youcan
mounttheWindowspartitionwithDiskMount.

Ifyouspecifyavirtualdiskwithsnapshots,thiscommandlocatesandmountsthelastsnapshot.On
Windowsyoucanmountprevioussnapshotsreadonly.OnLinuxyoucannotmountprevioussnapshots.

CAUTIONWhenyouhaveasnapshotmountedwithvmware-mount,donotreverttoaprevioussnapshot
usinganyotherVMwareinterface.Doingsomakesitimpossibletounmountthepartition.

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VMware Disk Mount Users Guide

DiskMountrunsfromthecommandlineonanyversionofWindows2000,WindowsXP,WindowsServer
2003,orWindowsVista,aswellasanyversionofLinuxthatissupportedasahostforVMwareWorkstation.
DiskMountonLinuxrequirestheFusepackage.SeeInstallingtheFusePackageonpage 12.

Running VMware Disk Mount on a Windows Host

TorunVMwareDiskMount,openacommandpromptonaWindowshost.TheDiskMountutilityinstallsin
C:\Program Files\VMware\VMwareVirtualDiskDevelopmentKit\bin bydefault,whichtheinstaller
addstoyoursearchpath,soyoucanprobablytypejustvmware-mounttoruntheutility.
TheDiskMountcommandsyntaxis:
vmware-mount [driveletter:] [path-to-vmdk] [options]

Usedriveletter:tospecifythedriveletterwhereyouwanttomountorunmountavirtualdisk.Examples
inthissectionusetheJ:driveandnearbyletters.
Thepath-to-vmdkspecifiesthelocationofavirtualdiskthatyouwanttomountorqueryforinformation,
C:\DocumentsandSettings\<user>\MyDocuments\MyVirtualMachines\<VMname>\<VMname>.vmdk
forexample,where<VMname>isthenameofavirtualmachine.
Withnoarguments,vmware-mountdisplaysmounteddrivemappings,ifany.Thisissimilartothe/Loption.
Possibleoptionsare:
Option

Definition

/v:N

MountsvolumeNofavirtualdisk.Ndefaultsto1.

/d

Givenadriveletter,deletesthemappingtothevirtualdiskdrivevolume.

/f

Forciblydeletesthemappingtoavirtualdiskdrivevolume.Usethisoptionwhena
technicalerrororacorrectableconditionsuchasopenfilehandlespreventsDiskMount
fromunmountingthedrive.Otherwisestopaccessingthevolumeanduse/d.

/p

Givenpath-to-vmdk,displaysthepartitions(volumes)onthevirtualdisk.Localonly.

/L

Displaysallvirtualdisksmountedonthehostcomputer.Usewithoutotheroptions.

/m:w

Mountsdiskinreadandwritemode,thedefault.

/m:n

Mountsdiskinnonpersistentreadonlymode.Allowsmountingofsnapshotdisk.

/?

Displaysvmware-mountusageinformation.

Theoptionsforremotevirtualdisksare:
Option

Definition

/i:InventoryPath

SpecifiesinventorypathontheVirtualCenterthatmanagesthisvirtualdisk.

/h:HostName

SpecifiesthenameorIPaddressoftheESXServertoaccessthemanagedvirtualdisk.

/u:UserName

SpecifiesusernamefortheESXServer.

/s:Password

SpecifiesthepasswordfortheESXServer.

/P:Port

SpecifiesthePortnumberusedtocommunicatewiththeserver.Thisisoptionaland
defaultsto902.

Log Files
OnWindowsthediagnosticlogfilesforeach<user>whoranvmware-mountarelocatedhere:
C:\Documents and Settings\<user>\Local Settings\Temp\vmware-<user>-<nnnn>/vmount.log
C:\Documents and Settings\<user>\Local Settings\Temp\vmware-<user>-<nnnn>/vmount-client.log

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Using VMware Disk Mount

Examples Using VMware Disk Mount on a Windows Host

FollowingaresomeexamplesthatillustratehowtouseDiskMountonaWindowshost.
To mount a local virtual disk
AssumingshortcutC:\MyVirtualMachinesandvirtualmachineWindows98,typethiscommand:
vmware-mount J: "C:\My Virtual Machines\Windows98\Windows98.vmdk"

To mount a remote virtual disk

Typeacommandinthisform,where<VMname>istheguestOSname,<inv>istheinventorypath,<server>
isanESXserverorVirtualCenter,<user>isaprivilegeduser,and<password>istheaccountpassword:
vmware-mount K: "[storage1] <VMname>/<VMname>.vmdk" /i:<inv> /h:<server> /u:<user> /s:<password>

Herearetwoexamples,connectingthroughESXServerandVirtualCenter:
vmware-mount K: [storage1] WinXP/WinXP.vmdk /i:ha-datacenter/vm/WinXP /h:esx3 /u:root /s:secret
vmware-mount K: [storage1] WinXP/WinXP.vmdk /i:Datacenter/vm/WinXP /h:vc2 /u:admin /s:secretv

NOTEESXpathnamesarecasesensitive.
To unmount the J: drive, if not in use
Usethe/doption:
vmware-mount J: /d

To mount a specific volume from a virtual disk

Listthevolumepartitions,thendecidewhichtomount:
vmware-mount "C:\My Virtual Machines\Windows98\Windows98.vmdk" /p
vmware-mount J: "C:\My Virtual Machines\Windows98\Windows98.vmdk" /v:2

To list the currently mounted virtual disks

Usethe/Loption,withsampleoutputshownbelow:
vmware-mount /L
Currently mounted volumes:
J:\ => C:\My Virtual Machines\Windows98\Windows98.vmdk
K:\ => [storage1]WindowsXP2/WindowsXP2.vmdk

To unmount a virtual disk so virtual machines can access it again

Usingdrivelettersfromtheexamplesabove,type:
vmware-mount J: /d
vmware-mount K: /d

Inventory Path
OnanESXserverwiththe/ioption,specifyInventoryPathas:
/i:ha-datacenter/vm/<VMpathname as read from inventory tree in VC client UI>

OnVirtualCenterwiththe/ioption,specifyInventoryPathas:
/i:<Path to your datacenter>/vm/<VMpathname as read from inventory tree in VC client UI>

ThepathtoyourdatacenterisasreadfromthetreedisplayintheVirtualCenterUI.

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VMware Disk Mount Users Guide

Running VMware Disk Mount on a Linux Host

TorunDiskMount,openacommandterminalonaLinuxhost.DiskMountinstallsin/usr/binbydefault,
soyoucantypejustvmware-mounttodisplayusageinformation.Manymountoperationsrequireroot(su -)
orsuperuser(sudo)permission.
VMwareDiskMountforLinuxofferstwomodesformountingdisks:
1

Youcanmountaspecificpartitionofavirtualdisk,eitherlocalorremote.
Thecommandsyntaxformountingaspecificpartitionisasfollows(defaultpartitionNumberis1):
vmware-mount /path/to/disk [partitionNumber] /mount/point

Youcanmountaflatfilerepresentationofanentirevirtualdisk.
Thecommandsyntaxformountingaflatfilerepresentationis:
vmware-mount -f /path/to/disk /mount/point

DiskMountincludesanumberofotheroptionstousewithvirtualdisksandmountpoints.Thecommand
syntaxformostoptionsiseitherofthefollowing:
vmware-mount [option] [/path/to/disk]
vmware-mount [option] [/mount/point]

Inthefollowinglistofoptions,<diskID>isanidentifieroftheformusername@hostname:/path/to/disk
forremotedisks,orjustthe/path/to/diskforlocaldisks.Optionsthatmountaremotediskalsorequirethe
-h,-u,-F,andpossibly-voptions.The-voptionisrequiredwhenconnectingtoaVirtualCenter.
Option

Definition

<diskID> <mountPoint>

Mounts

-p <diskID>

Displaysthepartitionsonavirtualdisk.

-l <diskID>

Displaysallmountedpartitionsavirtualdisk.

-L

Displaysallvirtualdisksmountedonthehostcomputer.

-d <mountPoint>

Cleanlyunmountsthispartition,closingdiskifitisthelastpartition.

-f <diskID> <mountPoint>

Mountsaflatfilerepresentationofanentirevirtualdiskatthespecifiedmountpoint.

-k <diskID>

Unmountsallpartitionsonavirtualdiskandclosesthevirtualdisk.

-K <diskID>

Forciblyunmountsallpartitionsonavirtualdiskandclosesallvirtualdisks.

-x

Unmountsallpartitionsandclosesallvirtualdisks.

-X

Forciblyunmountsallpartitionsandclosesallvirtualdisks.

Theoptionsforremotevirtualdisksare:
Option

Definition

-v InventoryPath

SpecifiesinventorypathontheVirtualCenterthatmanagesthisvirtualdisk

-h HostName

SpecifiesthenameorIPaddressoftheESXServertoaccessthemanagedvirtualdisk.

-u UserName

SpecifiesusernamefortheESXServer.

-F PasswordFile

SpecifiesthepathnametoaplaintextfilecontainingthepasswordfortheESXServer.

-P Port

SpecifiesthePortnumberusedtocommunicatewiththeserver.Thisisoptionaland
defaultsto902.

Log File
OnLinuxthediagnosticlogfilesforeach<user>whoranvmware-mountarelocatedhere:
/tmp/vmware-<user>/fuseMount.log

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Using VMware Disk Mount

Examples Using VMware Disk Mount on a Linux Host

FollowingaresomeexamplesthatillustratehowtouseDiskMountonaLinuxhost.
To show the partitions on a local virtual disk
Assumingdirectory/vmware/guestandvirtualmachineRHEL4,typethiscommand,whichproducesthe
followingoutput:
vmware-mount -p /vmware/guest/RHEL4/RHEL4.vmdk
Volume 1 :
102 MB, Linux
Volume 2 :
19862 MB, Linux
Volume 3 :
510 MB, Linux swap

To mount a partition from a local virtual disk

Tomountthesecondpartitionfromabove,typethiscommand:
vmware-mount /vmware/guest/RHEL4/RHEL4.vmdk 2 /mnt/rhel4

To mount a remote virtual disk

Typeacommandinthisform,where<VMname>istheguestOSname,<inv>istheinventorypath,<srv>is
anESXserverorVirtualCenter,<user>isaprivilegeduser,and<pfile>isafilecontainingthepassword:
vmware-mount -v <inv> -h <srv> -u <user> -F <pfile> "[storage1] <VMname>/<VMname>.vmdk" /mount/pt

Herearetwoexamples,connectingthroughESXServerandVirtualCenter:
vmware-mount -i ha-datacenter/vm/RH5 -h esx3 -u root -F pwf "[storage1] RH5/RH5.vmdk" /mnt/rh5
vmware-mount -i Datacenter/vm/RH5 -h vc2 -u admin -F pwf "[storage1] RH5/RH5.vmdk" /mnt/rh5

NOTEESXpathnamesarecasesensitive.
To mount a flat representation of a virtual disk
Usethe-foption:
vmware-mount -f /vmware/guest/SUSE10/SUSE10.vmdk /mnt/suse10

To list the currently mounted virtual disks

Usethe-Loption,withsampleoutputshownbelow:
vmware-mount -L
Disks with mounted partitions:
/vmware/guest/RHEL4/RHEL4.vmdk
partition2
/mnt/rhel4
root@esx3.example.com:[storage1]RHEL5/RHEL5.vmdk /mnt/rhel5
/vmware/guest/SUSE10/SUSE10.vmdk
/mnt/suse10/flat

To unmount a virtual disk so virtual machines can access it again

Youcanusethe-doptionandsupplyamountpoint:
vmware-mount -d /mnt/rhel4

Youcanalsousethe-koptionandsupplyadiskID:
vmware-mount -k root@esx3.example.com:[storage1]RHEL5/RHEL5.vmdk

Youmayalsousethe-xor -Xoptiontounmount,orforceunmount,allpartitions.
Inventory Path
OnanESXserverwiththe/ioption,specifyInventoryPathas:
/i:ha-datacenter/vm/<VMpathname as read from inventory tree in VC client UI>

OnVirtualCenterwiththe/ioption,specifyInventoryPathas:
/i:<Path to your datacenter>/vm/<VMpathname as read from inventory tree in VC client UI>

ThepathtoyourdatacenterisasreadfromthetreedisplayintheVirtualCenterUI.
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VMware Disk Mount Users Guide

Installing the Fuse Package

Fuse(filesysteminuserspace)isaloadablekernelmoduleforUNIXoperatingsystems.Itallowsregular
(nonroot)userstocreateandaccesstheirownfilesystems.Thefilesystemcoderunsinuserspace,whilethe
Fusemoduleprovidesabridgetotheactualkernelmountinterfaces.FusewasmergedintomainstreamLinux
inkernelversion2.6.14.ForearlierversionsofLinux,youmightneedtoinstallit.
To check if your system has Fuse
Runthemodprobe-lcommand:
modprobe -l fuse
/lib/modules/2.6.22-14-generic/kernel/fs/fuse/fuse.ko

Ifthesecondlineshowingfuse.koappears,stop.
Ifnooutputappears,proceedtooneofthesectionsbelow.
To install Fuse with APT
ObtaintheFusepackageonLinuxsystemsthatuseAPTinstallerasfollows:
sudo apt-get install fuse-utils

Nowyoucanrunthevmware-mountcommandasdescribedinthismanual.
To install Fuse from the Web
1

DownloadFusesoftwarefromthehttp://fuse.sourceforge.netWebsite.

Unpackthesoftwareandchangetotheunpackeddirectory:
tar -zxf <FusePackage>.tar.gz
cd <FusePackage>

Configurethemakefileforyoursystemandrunmaketocompileit:
./configure
make

Assuperuser,installthepackage(thisputsitin/usr/local/lib):
sudo make install

If/usr/local/libisnotlistedin/etc/ld.so.conforanincludedfile,insertalineforitandrunthe
ldconfigcommand.Alternatively,modifyyourLD_LIBRARY_PATHenvironment.
sudo edit /etc/ld.so.conf
sudo ldconfig

RunthemodprobecommandtoinsertFusemoduleintothekernel:
sudo modprobe fuse

Nowyoucanrunthevmware-mountcommandasdescribedinthismanual.

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