Checking Default Files
After you have created a virtual machine, several files are generated and placed in the directory specified in the VirtualMachineConfigSpec.files property.
| File | Usage | File Description | File Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| .vmx | .vmname.vmx | Virtual machine configuration file. | ASCII |
| .vmxf | vmname.vmxf | Additional virtual machine configuration files, available, for example, with teamed virtual machines. | ASCII |
| .vmdk | vmname.vmdk | Virtual disk file. | ASCII |
| .flat.vmdk | vmname.flat.vmdk | Preallocated virtual disk in binary format. | Binary |
| .vswp | vmname.vswp | Swap file. | |
| .nvram | vmname.nvram or nvram | Non-volatile RAM. Stores virtual machine BIOS information. | |
| .vmss | vmname.vmss | Virtual machine suspend file. | |
| .log | vmware.log | Virtual machine log file. | ASCII |
| #.log | vmware-#.log | Old virtual machine log files. # is a number starting with 1. | ASCII |
| .vmtx | vmname.vmtx | Virtual machine template file. | ASCII |
If you are using snapshots, the following additional files might be available. See Snapshots.
| File Extension | Usage | File Description |
|---|---|---|
| .vmsd | vmname.vmsd | Virtual machine snapshot file. |
| .vmsn | vmname.vmsn | Virtual machine snapshot data file. |
| **.delta.vmdk | Snapshot difference file. A number preceding the extension increases with more snapshots. | |
| **.vmdk | Metadata about a snapshot. | |
| -Snapshot#.vmsn | Snapshot of virtual machine memory. Snapshot size is equal to the size of you virtual machine’s maximum memory. |