Data Object Description

The virtual disk backing object types describe the different virtual disk backings available. The disk format version in each case describes the version of the format that is used.

Supported virtual disk backings:

Sparse disk format, version 1 and 2

The virtual disk backing grows when needed. Supported only for VMware Server.

Flat disk format, version 1 and 2

The virtual disk backing is preallocated. Version 1 is supported only for VMware Server.

Space efficient sparse disk format

The virtual disk backing grows on demand and incorporates additional space optimizations.

Raw disk format, version 2

The virtual disk backing uses a full physical disk drive to back the virtual disk. Supported only for VMware Server.

Partitioned raw disk format, version 2

The virtual disk backing uses one or more partitions on a physical disk drive to back a virtual disk. Supported only for VMware Server.

Raw disk mapping, version 1

The virtual disk backing uses a raw device mapping to back the virtual disk. Supported for ESX Server 2.5 and 3.x.

Properties

Name	Type	Description
capacityInBytes*	xsd:long	Capacity of this virtual disk in bytes. Server will always populate this property. Clients must initialize it when creating a new non -RDM disk or in case they want to change the current capacity of an existing virtual disk, but can omit it otherwise. If the disk is on a Virtual Volume datastore the disk size must be a multiple of a megabyte. *Since* vSphere API 5.5
capacityInKB	xsd:long	Deprecated. As of vSphere API 5.5, use capacityInBytes. Capacity of this virtual disk in kilobytes. Information might be lost when actual disk size is rounded off to kilobytes. If the disk is on a Virtual Volume datastore the disk size must be a multiple of a megabyte.
diskObjectId*	xsd:string	Deprecated. As of vSphere API 6.5, use vDiskId. Virtual disk durable and unmutable identifier. Virtual disk has a UUID field but that can be set through VirtualDiskManager APIs. This identifier is a universally unique identifier which is not settable. VirtualDisk can remain in existence even if it is not associated with VM. *Since* vSphere API 5.5
iofilter*	xsd:string[]	IDs of the IO Filters associated with the virtual disk. See id. This information is provided when retrieving configuration information for an existing virtual machine. The client cannot modify this information on a virtual machine. *Since* vSphere API 6.0
nativeUnmanagedLinkedClone*	xsd:boolean	Indicates whether a disk with VirtualDiskFlatVer2BackingInfo backing is a linked clone from an unmanaged delta disk and hence the parent chain to this delta disk will not be available. *Since* vSphere API 6.7
shares*	SharesInfo	Deprecated. As of vSphere API 4.1, use shares. Disk shares, used for resource scheduling.
storageIOAllocation*	StorageIOAllocationInfo	Deprecated. As of vSphere API 6.5, use Resource allocation for storage I/O. *Since* vSphere API 4.1
vDiskId*	ID	ID of the virtual disk object as the first class entity. See ID The ID is a universally unique identifier for the disk lifecycle, even if the virtual disk is not associated with VM. *Since* vSphere API 6.5
vFlashCacheConfigInfo*	VirtualDiskVFlashCacheConfigInfo	Deprecated. since vSphere 7.0 because vFlash Read Cache end of availability. vFlash cache configuration supported on this virtual disk. *Since* vSphere API 5.5
Properties inherited from VirtualDevice
backing, connectable, controllerKey, deviceInfo, key, slotInfo, unitNumber
Properties inherited from DynamicData
None

Name

Type

Description

capacityInBytes*

xsd:long

Capacity of this virtual disk in bytes. Server will always populate this property. Clients must initialize it when creating a new non -RDM disk or in case they want to change the current capacity of an existing virtual disk, but can omit it otherwise. If the disk is on a Virtual Volume datastore the disk size must be a multiple of a megabyte.

Since vSphere API 5.5

capacityInKB

xsd:long

Deprecated. As of vSphere API 5.5, use capacityInBytes.

Capacity of this virtual disk in kilobytes. Information might be lost when actual disk size is rounded off to kilobytes. If the disk is on a Virtual Volume datastore the disk size must be a multiple of a megabyte.

diskObjectId*

xsd:string

Deprecated. As of vSphere API 6.5, use vDiskId.

Virtual disk durable and unmutable identifier. Virtual disk has a UUID field but that can be set through VirtualDiskManager APIs. This identifier is a universally unique identifier which is not settable. VirtualDisk can remain in existence even if it is not associated with VM.

Since vSphere API 5.5

iofilter*

xsd:string[]

IDs of the IO Filters associated with the virtual disk. See id. This information is provided when retrieving configuration information for an existing virtual machine. The client cannot modify this information on a virtual machine.

Since vSphere API 6.0

nativeUnmanagedLinkedClone*

xsd:boolean

Indicates whether a disk with VirtualDiskFlatVer2BackingInfo backing is a linked clone from an unmanaged delta disk and hence the parent chain to this delta disk will not be available.

Since vSphere API 6.7

shares*

SharesInfo

Deprecated. As of vSphere API 4.1, use shares.

Disk shares, used for resource scheduling.

storageIOAllocation*

StorageIOAllocationInfo

Deprecated. As of vSphere API 6.5, use

Resource allocation for storage I/O.

Since vSphere API 4.1

vDiskId*

ID of the virtual disk object as the first class entity. See ID The ID is a universally unique identifier for the disk lifecycle, even if the virtual disk is not associated with VM.

Since vSphere API 6.5

vFlashCacheConfigInfo*

VirtualDiskVFlashCacheConfigInfo

Deprecated. since vSphere 7.0 because vFlash Read Cache end of availability.

vFlash cache configuration supported on this virtual disk.

Since vSphere API 5.5

Properties inherited from VirtualDevice

backing, connectable, controllerKey, deviceInfo, key, slotInfo, unitNumber

Properties inherited from DynamicData

None

Need not be set

Show WSDL type definition

         <complexType xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="VirtualDisk">
            <complexContent>
               <extension base="vim25:VirtualDevice">
                  <sequence>
                     <element name="capacityInKB" type="xsd:long"/>
                     <element name="capacityInBytes" type="xsd:long" minOccurs="0"/>
                     <element name="shares" type="vim25:SharesInfo" minOccurs="0"/>
                     <element name="storageIOAllocation" type="vim25:StorageIOAllocationInfo" minOccurs="0"/>
                     <element name="diskObjectId" type="xsd:string" minOccurs="0"/>
                     <element name="vFlashCacheConfigInfo" type="vim25:VirtualDiskVFlashCacheConfigInfo" minOccurs="0"/>
                     <element name="iofilter" type="xsd:string" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded"/>
                     <element name="vDiskId" type="vim25:ID" minOccurs="0"/>
                     <element name="nativeUnmanagedLinkedClone" type="xsd:boolean" minOccurs="0"/>
                  </sequence>
               </extension>
            </complexContent>
         </complexType>

Data Object - VirtualDisk(vim.vm.device.VirtualDisk)

Data Object Description