Upgrade VMFS from 3 to 5th Version Fast
Here you will find out:
- why it is better to move from VMFS 3 to 5 version
- what the peculiarities you may meet
- how DiskInternals can help you
Are you ready? Let's read!
Benefits of moving from VMFS 3 to 5
By upgrading from VMFS 3 to 5, you get the ability to create virtual machine storages up to 64 TB in size without the need to create extensions. In addition, the new version of VMFS 3 is using GPT partitions instead of MBR partitions. When upgrading to it from the third version, VMFS 5.0 retains the MBR format for some time. However, after expanding a volume of more than 2 TB, MBR is automatically converted to GPT.
You should be aware that newly created volumes in version 5 of VMFS are always created with a unified block size of 1 MB.
How to upgrade from VMFS 3 to 5
Go into the VMFS 3 volume and click on the link "Upgrade to VMFS 5". After going through all the steps with the Update Wizard, you will eventually see that the volume type is VMFS 5. As you can see, this is simple and does not require any additional skills.
What problems you may meet
You may notice that the VMFS 5 volume remains 2 TB in size, despite the fact that the LUN can be more than 2 TB. In addition, the volume may remain MBR-formatted; this means that your LUN/datastore did not exceed 2 TB. If this limit is exceeded, the partition will be converted from MBR to GPT automatically.
Sometimes you can’t upgrade from VMFS 3 to 5 the first time. This is often due to an outdated host that does not support ESXi 5.x.
Therefore, before upgrading, be sure to check this condition and, if necessary, upgrade the host to ESXi 5.x. and higher. In this case, the update will occur as planned without any errors.
How to recover data from a VMFS 3 or VMFS 5 datastore
DiskInternals VMFS Recovery will help to return files of any format from both version 3 and version 5 of VMFS. It is a professional specialized tool for VMware® data recovery, VMFS recovery, or for reading and restoring VMDK files. The program confidently returns VMDK files stored on disks formatted by the VMware ESX/ESXi server. Any virtual disks can be mounted in local storage for convenience in viewing files.
You will be accompanied by a smart Recovery Wizard, thanks to which you do not need technical skills in this area.
Be sure to carefully study this guide for working with the utility:
Download and install DiskInternals VMFS Recovery; the Recovery Wizard will start automatically.
Connect via SSH, if necessary.
After that, open the disk (local disk or SSH).
Click on the Next button, and after that scanning will starts.
Mount the found VMDK file. Next, the most exciting step is to browse the files to verify their integrity.
To recover files you need a license.
Purchase a license and complete the entire process with data export.
You can also get help from the Export Wizard, which will not steer you wrong.