Occasionally, a descriptor file gets corrupted or deleted, leaving you with an orphaned -flat.vmdk . Without the descriptor, VMware cannot mount the disk.
A VMware ( *-flat.vmdk ) is the raw data component of a virtual machine's disk. While the standard .vmdk file is often just a small text-based descriptor, the flat file is the heavy hitter containing the actual binary data of the guest operating system and applications. Core Function and Structure vmware flat file
: Unlike "sparse" disks that grow as you add data, a traditional flat file is thick-provisioned . It immediately occupies the full capacity assigned to the virtual disk on the physical storage, filled with zeros where data hasn't been written yet. Occasionally, a descriptor file gets corrupted or deleted,
For many administrators, this can be confusing. Which one is the actual virtual disk? Do you need both? While the standard