Help With A FOG Server VM
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Background:
I have a 13" MacBook Pro with 8 GB of Ram and 256 GB SSD for work. I currently have a Ubuntu 13.10/Fog Server install on it that is taking up 150 GB on my. While the VM is really only using 86GB i am not able to get VMWare Fusion to resize the Virtual Machine because its linux. I need to get this resizable I build base VM’s for our site for currently 7 sites and thats just the PC side. I need help or even some direction how how I can get it to be resizable. AkA the cleanup button that VMWare fusion gives me for a windows VM that will strip out all the extra files (page/hibernation) and then size the vm down so its not taking any more space up on my SSD than it really needs.
Thanks,
James -
VMware tools maybe. or use thin provisioning
looks more like a VMware/Linux issue than a FOG specific issue.
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[quote=“VincentJ, post: 37035, member: 8935”]VMware tools maybe. or use thin provisioning
looks more like a VMware/Linux issue than a FOG specific issue.[/quote]
Its is strictly a VMWare/Linux issue fog has no bearing on it other than its whats using up the space causing the volume to expand. but i need to be able to shrink it back down because VMWare/OSX is not smart enough to realize that i’m not using extra space so my VM virtual disk keeps growing on the mac end but i’m not using anymore or less inside the VM itself
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then you have an issue you need to take up with Ubuntu or VMware. I don’t know how to help you with that. I’ve not had to run my FOG server on storage that was overprovisioned, and I’m very careful not to overprovision as it can cause problems.
Have you tried Ubuntu or VMware support sites?
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[quote=“VincentJ, post: 37245, member: 8935”]then you have an issue you need to take up with Ubuntu or VMware. I don’t know how to help you with that. I’ve not had to run my FOG server on storage that was overprovisioned, and I’m very careful not to overprovision as it can cause problems.
Have you tried Ubuntu or VMware support sites?[/quote]
So what your saying is don’t ask here, we won’t help? I mean thats what it sounds like, I asked here because and correct me if i’m wrong didn’t .32 come in a VM for testing. I made the leap that maybe someone here would be able to help as I have not had luck asking on other sites. I get, use the newest version or Fusion really isn’t good for that kind of stuff. No real answers and no real want to help.
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What, exactly do you need to happen?
You want to shrink a vmdk after it’s been used?
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[quote=“Timelord83, post: 37266, member: 10119”]So what your saying is don’t ask here, we won’t help? I mean thats what it sounds like, I asked here because and correct me if i’m wrong didn’t .32 come in a VM for testing. I made the leap that maybe someone here would be able to help as I have not had luck asking on other sites. I get, use the newest version or Fusion really isn’t good for that kind of stuff. No real answers and no real want to help.[/quote]
I just want to chime in here and say that I don’t believe this is what VincentJ was implying. But rather asking if you had gone down the route of asking on the vmware forums for help with the vmware product in question. Much like you would ask here on the FOG forum with anything relating to the FOG system. (as you have said and as we know it is not really a FOG question but rather fusion)
also to add to that I believe one of the best resources on the net for IT in the general and specific term is [url]http://community.spiceworks.com/[/url] and I guarantee you will have a worthy response.
now I have not used fusion but have you seen
[url]http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1001934[/url]
[url]http://timesinker.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/shrinking-linux-virtual-disks-on-osx.html[/url]are you using a thin provisioned disk, or pre-allocated? Once we know that you can than determine if it is some sort of issue with thin provisioning and your linux install or if it was built on a pre-allocated vmdk you will need to convert it i guess
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I didn’t mean to imply that there was no help here, but that VMware or Ubuntu forums may give you more luck considering fog is only the software you’ve installed on Ubuntu inside your VMware VM. Fog does not change the file system or the VM so it’s basically all stock Ubuntu and VMware hypervisor.
an idea might be to make a new VM and shove the data into it so that the VM only expands as far as you need at the moment… however that is a lot of work and probably not what you want.
I have never used VMware fusion, I stick with Virtualbox/ESXi/XenServer, so I can’t help with that other than to direct you to their support channels.
I run my fog server on a VM, but I’m very careful with my storage, and my server has quite a bit more storage than your mac. It is supported but if I wanted to do something to the VM I would be more likely to get help off XenServer (my main hypervisor) than here.
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[quote=“Tom Elliott, post: 37289, member: 7271”]What, exactly do you need to happen?
You want to shrink a vmdk after it’s been used?[/quote]
Yes that is exactly it.
I am not trying to sound ungreatful and the help here as always been better than other places. When I did bother to ask on the ubuntu forums I was told more than once that I should upgrade to 14.XX and I’d stand a better chance. When I asked on the VMWare forums it was Fusion is the VMWare LITE kinda thing if you want that functionality you should get workstation, last I was aware Workstation is a Windows thing. I am currently in the groveling stages with the boss for a 512 SSD but I don’t think its going my way.
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Last I used VMware to shrink a disk, it was done via a VMware supplied tool called “vmware tools” for a windows guest. This is a guest OS application that is installed from VMware from a CD ISO image (ESXi, accessed by selecting “install vmware tools” in the host manager).
As this is a program/tool supplied by VMware, and is Host dependant, as well using private (and hidden) vmware API’s, I am quite certain that there is no linux derivative of said tool. If you have access to the VMDK file from a linux system you can manage to squeeze vcli [url]https://www.vmware.com/support/developer/vcli/[/url] onto it, I would suggest thinking about creating a new (smaller) VMDK file, and then cloning to the new VMDK. Of course this requires a fair amount of room itself (as does the hot shrink that VMware supplies for windows guests)
TL;DR; Windows guests, you need to use vmware tools. Linux guests, you need to do a lot of research, and get some 3rd party tools and install VMware tools (which likely won’t work on macos) to possibly even try with enough spare disk space to create a second copy of the VMDK.
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[quote=“Mentaloid, post: 37412, member: 4362”]Last I used VMware to shrink a disk, it was done via a VMware supplied tool called “vmware tools” for a windows guest. This is a guest OS application that is installed from VMware from a CD ISO image (ESXi, accessed by selecting “install vmware tools” in the host manager).
As this is a program/tool supplied by VMware, and is Host dependant, as well using private (and hidden) vmware API’s, I am quite certain that there is no linux derivative of said tool. If you have access to the VMDK file from a linux system you can manage to squeeze vcli [url]https://www.vmware.com/support/developer/vcli/[/url] onto it, I would suggest thinking about creating a new (smaller) VMDK file, and then cloning to the new VMDK. Of course this requires a fair amount of room itself (as does the hot shrink that VMware supplies for windows guests)
TL;DR; Windows guests, you need to use vmware tools. Linux guests, you need to do a lot of research, and get some 3rd party tools and install VMware tools (which likely won’t work on macos) to possibly even try with enough spare disk space to create a second copy of the VMDK.[/quote]
they do have a copy of the VMWare tools that fusion keeps updated. And it does allow folder sharing and a host of other functions but the resize doesn’t seem to work for me. I dunno maybe i’m wasting my time but I think i’ll figure out this dilemma long before I et a bigger SSD
