You might require more disk space in a virtual machine, for example, if you want to install a large application or work with a large number of files. You can increase the size of the virtual disk already associated with your virtual machine, or you can add a new virtual disk. You can create a virtual hard disk to add to a virtual machine.

Prerequisites

Shut down or power off the virtual machine. You cannot change the setting while the virtual machine is powered on or suspended.

Procedure

  1. Select Window > Virtual Machine Library.
  2. Select a virtual machine in the Virtual Machine Library window and click Settings.
  3. Click Add Device.
  4. Click New Hard Disk.
  5. Click Add.

    A new hard disk appears. The new hard disk is selected and a default file name appears in the File name pop-up menu.

  6. (Optional) Change the file name for the new virtual hard disk.
    1. Select the file name in the pop-up menu and select Save As.
    2. Type the file name for the hard disk in the Save as field and click Save.

    Fusion creates the virtual disk file with this name and stores it in the bundle directory.

  7. Use the Disk size slider to set the maximum size for the hard disk.

    The maximum size for any hard disk is 8TB.

  8. (Optional) Under Advanced options, set the Bus type for the hard disk to IDE, SCSI, or SATA.

    Changing this setting is recommended only for advanced users. Fusion selects the bus type that is most appropriate for the virtual machine guest operating system.

  9. Set your disk space configuration, depending on the constraints of the file system.

    Option

    Description

    Pre-allocate disk space

    Can give better performance for your virtual machine. If you allocate all the disk now, you cannot use the VMware Tools shrink disk feature later. Allocating all disk space now is a time-consuming operation that cannot be canceled, and requires as much physical disk space as you specify for the virtual disk.

    Split disk into multiple files

    Default. Some file systems, such as FAT and UFS, cannot support very large files. Use this option if your virtual machine will be used in a hard drive with a file system that does not support very large files. This option splits your virtual disk into multiple files. Also, use this option if you might place the virtual machine on an external FAT drive or if you might move the virtual machine to an external drive.
  10. Click Apply.

    The hard disk is created. View the new hard disk in Settings > Removable Devices of the virtual machine.