You must have on the ESXi host.
The vSphere Client is the most accessible method for one-off downloads. It automatically handles the relationship between the descriptor file and the flat data file. Prerequisites download vmdk from datastore
A massive binary file containing the actual raw data of the virtual machine. You must have on the ESXi host
Open WinSCP or FileZilla and connect to the ESXi host using its IP address and root credentials. Prerequisites A massive binary file containing the actual
Unlike the web client, you will see both distinct files: diskname.vmdk and diskname-flat.vmdk .
| Method | Difficulty | Best Use Case | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | | Easy | Small files (<50GB), quick checks. | | WinSCP / SFTP | Medium | Large files (>50GB), unreliable networks. | | Command Line | Hard | Automation, Linux users, direct host transfers. |