I chose 'thin' hoping to use the least amount of disk space. There are several formats and I don't claim any expertise on which format to use. Once there you will use the vmkfstools command to convert the drive. Ssh into your ESX server and locate your uploaded VM files. You need to convert this disk using server-side tools. Unsupported and /or invalid disk type 7ĭ'oh. Now your files are up on the server but if you attempt to add that hard drive to a new ESX VM and start it you'll get an error similar to:įailed to open disk scsi: 0: 0. Hit ok and depending on the size of your VM files and the network speed, prepare to wait a while or go get something to eat. It gives you the option of 'File or Folder', I just selected my local folder with all my VM Workstation files. It looks like a database cylinder with a green arrow pointing up. With the root folder selected on the left, choose the 'Upload files to datastore' button. Right-click on the datastore you want to upload to and choose 'Browse Datastore'. Choose the 'Summary' tab and look over at the right column of stuff and locate the 'Datastore' area.

So I needed to use the vSphere interface. If this is possible, I could not find out how. As a side note I tried to use a USB drive to move over the VMs. You'll need to migrate this to your ESX box. First I'll assume you have a Workstation VM on your local machine.

Vmware converter 4.0.1 esxi 5.5