If a linked-clone virtual machine becomes inaccessible in View, you can restore the virtual machine if it was configured with a View Composer persistent disk. You can import the persistent disk from a vSphere datastore into View.

You import the persistent disk file as a detached persistent disk in View. You can either attach the detached disk to an existing virtual machine or recreate the original linked clone in View.

Procedure

  1. In View Administrator, select Resources > Persistent Disks.
  2. On the Detached tab, click Import from vCenter.
  3. Select a vCenter Server instance.
  4. Select the datacenter where the disk file is located.
  5. Select a linked-clone desktop pool in which to create a new linked clone virtual machine with the persistent disk.
  6. In the Persistent Disk File text box, click Browse, click the down arrow, and select a datastore from the Choose a Datastore menu.
    You cannot import a persistent disk from a local datastore. Only shared datastores are available.
  7. Click the datastore name to display its disk storage files and virtual-machine files.
  8. Select the persistent-disk file you want to import.
  9. In the User text box, click Browse, select a user to assign to the virtual machine, and click OK.

Results

The disk file is imported into View as a detached persistent disk.

What to do next

To restore the linked-clone virtual machine, you can recreate the original virtual machine or attach the detached persistent disk to another virtual machine.

For details, see Recreate a Linked Clone With a Detached Persistent Disk and Attach a View Composer Persistent Disk to Another Linked Clone.