Use the datastore file browser in your vSphere environment to manage contents of your datastores. You can upload files or folders, download files from the datastore, or move or copy folders or files to a new location. You can also use the datastore browser to inflate the thin virtual disk.

Navigate to the Datastore Browser

Navigate to your datastore to browse folders and files that are stored on the datastore and perform administrative tasks on your folders and files.

Procedure

  1. Open the datastore browser.
    1. Display the datastore in the inventory.
    2. Right-click the datastore and select Browse Files.
  2. Explore the contents of the datastore by navigating to existing folders and files.
  3. Perform administrative tasks by using the icons and options.
    Icons and Options Descriptions
    Upload Files Upload a file to the datastore.
    Upload Folder (Available only in the vSphere Client) Upload a folder to the datastore.
    Download Download from the datastore.
    New Folder Create a folder on the datastore.
    Copy to Copy selected folders or files to a new location, either on the same datastore or on a different datastore.
    Move to Move selected folders or files to a new location, either on the same datastore or on a different datastore.
    Rename to Rename selected files.
    Delete Delete selected folders or files.
    Inflate Convert a selected thin virtual disk to thick. This option applies only to thin-provisioned disks.

Upload Files or Folders to Datastores

Use the datastore file browser to upload files to datastores on the ESXi host. If you use the vSphere Client, you can also upload folders.

In addition to their traditional use as storage for virtual machines files, datastores can serve to store data or files related to virtual machines. For example, you can upload ISO images of operating systems from a local computer to a datastore on the host. You then use these images to install guest operating systems on the new virtual machines.

Note: You cannot upload files directly to the Virtual Volumes datastores. You must first create a folder on the Virtual Volumes datastore, and then upload the files into the folder. The created folders in Virtual Volumes datastores for block storage have a limited storage capacity space of 4GB. The Virtual Volumes datastore supports direct uploads of folders.

Prerequisites

Required privilege: Datastore.Browse Datastore and Host.System Management

Procedure

  1. Open the datastore browser.
    1. Display the datastore in the inventory.
    2. Right-click the datastore and select Browse Files.
  2. (Optional) Create a folder to store the file or folder.
  3. Upload the file or folder.
    Option Description
    Upload a file
    1. Select the target folder and click Upload Files.
    2. Locate the item to upload on the local computer and click Open.
    Upload a folder (available only in the vSphere Client)
    1. Select the datastore or the target folder and click Upload Folders.
    2. Locate the item to upload on the local computer and click Ok.
  4. Refresh the datastore file browser to see the uploaded files or folders on the list.

What to do next

You might experience problems when deploying an OVF template that you previously exported and then uploaded to a datastore. For details and a workaround, see the VMware Knowledge Base article 2117310.

Download Files from Datastores

Use the datastore file browser to download files from the datastore available on your ESXi host to your local computer.

Prerequisites

  • Required privilege: Datastore.Browse Datastore
  • Privileges when a VM is encrypted: Cryptographic operations.Decrypt and Cryptographic operations.Direct Access

Procedure

  1. Open the datastore browser.
    1. Display the datastore in the inventory.
    2. Right-click the datastore and select Browse Files.
  2. Navigate to the file to download and click Download.
  3. Follow the prompts to save the file to your local computer.

Rename Datastore Files

Use the datastore browser to rename files.

Prerequisites

Required privilege: Datastore.Browse Datastore

Procedure

  1. Open the datastore browser.
    1. Display the datastore in the inventory.
    2. Right-click the datastore and select Browse Files.
  2. Browse to a file you want to rename.
  3. Select the file and click Rename to.
  4. Specify the new name and click OK.

Move or Copy Datastore Folders or Files

Use the datastore browser to move or copy folders or files to a new location, either on the same datastore or on a different datastore.

Note: Virtual disk files are moved or copied without format conversion. If you move a virtual disk to a datastore that belongs to a host different from the source host, you might need to convert the virtual disk. Otherwise, you might not be able to use the disk.

You cannot copy VM files across vCenter Servers.

Prerequisites

Required privilege: Datastore.Browse Datastore

Procedure

  1. Open the datastore browser.
    1. Display the datastore in the inventory.
    2. Right-click the datastore and select Browse Files.
  2. Browse to an object you want to move or copy, either a folder or a file.
  3. Select the object and click Move to or Copy to.
  4. Specify the destination location.
  5. (Optional) Select Overwrite files and folders with matching names at the destination.
  6. Click OK.

Inflate Thin Virtual Disks

If you created a virtual disk in the thin format, you can change the format to thick.

You use the datastore browser to inflate the thin virtual disk.

Prerequisites

  • Make sure that the datastore where the virtual machine resides has enough space.
  • Make sure that the virtual disk is thin.
  • Remove snapshots.
  • Power off your virtual machine.

Procedure

  1. In the vSphere Client, navigate to the folder of the virtual disk you want to inflate.
    1. Navigate to the virtual machine.
    2. Click the Datastores tab.
      The datastore that stores the virtual machine files is listed.
    3. Right-click the datastore and select Browse Files.
      The datastore browser displays contents of the datastore.
  2. Expand the virtual machine folder and browse to the virtual disk file that you want to convert.
    The file has the .vmdk extension and is marked with the virtual disk ( Virtual Disk icon.) icon.
  3. Select the virtual disk file and click Inflate.
    Note: The option might not be available if the virtual disk is thick or when the virtual machine is running.

Results

The inflated virtual disk occupies the entire datastore space originally provisioned to it.