[Fixed] There is No More Space for Virtual Disk VMDK

When there is no more space for virtual disk VMDK error happens, which can lead to some problems like data loss, you need to solve this error immediately to ensure the operation goes smoothly and prevent losses.

Amelia

By Amelia / Updated on January 20, 2025

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A virtual machine disk (VMDK) is a file format used by VMware to store the contents of a virtual disk, which has the functionality of a virtual hard disk and is an important part of ensuring that a virtual machine runs properly. However, virtual disks also have storage limitations, and the issue there is no more space for virtual disk VMDK may occur. The occurrence of this issue can lead to problems such as system failure, data corruption, or service interruption. In this article, we will provide the reasons for this problem and the steps to resolve it.

there is no more space for virtual disk vmdk

Common Causes of VMDK Space Issues

When the underlying storage space where the VMDK ask price is located is full or nearly full. The error message “there is no more space for virtual disk” appears, and the following are common reasons for this error.

Exceeding Disk Size Limits: Disks configured for virtual machines that are fully utilized may run out of space in the VMDK file. Although there are dynamically expanding disks, no more data can be written to the disk when their upper limit is reached.
Storage Array Full: The datastore or storage array where the VMDK file resides may not have enough free space, even though the VMDK file itself may not have reached its size limit.
High I/O Demand: During heavy workloads, large data transfers, or database operations may cause a virtual machine to consume more disk space rapidly.
Thin Provisioning Mismanagement: Thin provisioning enables virtual machines to use more storage than physically available by allocating space on demand, but can cause issues if the physical storage is full.

How to Fix There Is No More Space for Virtual Disk VMDK

When you encounter the There is no more space for virtual disk VMDK error, it means that the virtual disk used by the VMware virtual machine has run out of available storage space and the VM is unable to write more data to the disk, here are the steps to resolve the error.

1. Check VM Disk Usage and Storage Availability

👉Check the virtual disk (VMDK) size of the virtual machine

vSphere Client/vCenter:

  • Log in to vSphere or vCenter, right-click the virtual machine, and select Edit Settings.
  • Under the Virtual Hardware tab, check the size of the VMDK file.
  • If it is a dynamically expanding disk, it may have grown to its maximum allocated size.

check the vmdk size

ESXi Direct Access: If you are accessing an ESXi host directly, navigate to the datastore where the VMDK is stored and check the file size.

👉Check the datastore space

Log in to the vSphere Client and navigate to Storage.

Check the available space on the datastore where the VMDK resides.

If the datastore is full or nearly full, you may run out of virtual disk space.

2. Free Up Datastore Space

If the datastore is full, you will need to free up some space for the VMDK to function properly.

▶Delete unused files: Check if there are old or unused virtual machine files, ISO images, logs, or snapshots that can be deleted.

▶Move the virtual machine to another datastore: If space is available on another datastore, you can manually migrate a virtual machine or other VMDK files using Storage vMotion or through the vSphere Client.

Clean-up snapshots: Snapshots can take up a lot of space. Right-click the virtual machine in the vSphere Client and go to Snapshot > Consolidate to merge and delete old snapshots.

clean up snapshots

3. Increase Virtual Disk Size (VMDK)

If the virtual disk has reached its capacity limit, you may need to increase its size.

🔆Increase the virtual disk size:

  • In vSphere, right-click the virtual machine and select Edit Settings.
  • Under the Virtual Hardware section, select Hard Disk.
  • Increase the Provisioned Size (for example, from 100 GB to 150 GB).

🔆Adjust the size of the partitions within the virtual machine:

After increasing the VMDK size, the additional space is unallocated. You need to resize the internal partitions of the virtual machine to utilize the expanded space.

  • Windows: Right-click This PC > Manage > Disk Management. Select the disk, right-click, and select Extended Volume to allocate the new space.
  • Linux: Resize the partition using a tool such as gparted or fdisk.

Regular Data Backup to Prevent Unexcept Conditions

There is no more space for virtual disk VMDK errors are usually unexpected problems, so sometimes it may not be possible to avoid them. Therefore, it is necessary to take backups to ensure the safety of your important data, and if you have already encountered some disasters, you can restore your data in time to minimize the downtime. AOMEI Cyber Backup is a professional backup software designed to protect your data and provide you with a series of measures to ensure the safety of your data.

Various Backup Methods: You can perform full, incremental, or differential virtual machine backups to capture only changed data and save storage space.
Instant Recovery: It provides the solution to reduce business-critical downtime by instant restoring VMware to a normal state in the event of a VMware crash.
Centralized Backup: It makes it easy to schedule and manage backup tasks for the central console.
User-friendly Interface: With easy-to-use intuitive, you can create task with several clicks without installing any agents.
Email Notification: It can monitor the status of backups and send email notifications when a task is completed or an exception is raised.

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Follow simple steps to backup VMware VMs

Step 1. Log in to AOMEI Cyber Backup, navigate to Source Device > VMware > + Add VMware Device, enter the required information, and click Confirm.

Bind device

Step 2. Navigate to Backup Type > + Create New Task, and then set Backup Type, Task Name, Device, Target, Archive, and Schedule according to your needs.

  • Backup Type: Select VMware ESXi Backup as the Backup Type.

VMware ESXi backup

  • Schedule: Choose to perform full, differential, or incremental backup, and automate execution according to your specified backup schedule.

schedule backup

  • Archive: You can add an Amazon Object storage and save backup files to it.

Step 3. Click Start Backup and select Add the schedule and start backup now, or Add the schedule only.

Start Backup

Conclusion

There is no more space for virtual disk VMDK errors are usually caused by a full datastore, a disk size limit, or running out of preset disk space. You can follow the steps provided in this article to resolve this issue. Meanwhile, since this problem can cause data loss, it is necessary to take backups to avoid losses.

Amelia
Amelia · Editor
Amelia is an editor from AOMEI. Trained in professional systems, she specializes in solving problems in enterprise databases, virtual machines, and physical environments. With a high sense of responsibility, she is dedicated to protecting business data and security.