Category: VMware

CTK (changed block tracking) snapshot cleanup & removal process

Resolution for Snapshot Consolidation
To resolve this issue, the CBT files need to be moved out of the working folder of the affected virtual machine(s).
To move the CBT files and consolidate snapshots:
  1. Connect to the ESXi host that the virtual machine is running on using SSH. For more information, see Using ESXi Shell in ESXi 5.x and 6.0 (2004746).
  2. Navigate to the virtual machine folder using this command:cd /vmfs/volumes/datastore/virtual_machine/
  3. List the contents of the directory using the ls command and look for .ctk files.
  4. Create a temporary directory for the CBT files.For example:mkdir temp
  5. Move the CBT files to this directory with this command:mv *-ctk.vmdk temp/
  6. ls -ltr
  7. cd ../..
  8. Run the snapshot again.
  9. Then run the snapshot consolidation.
  10. Then delete the snapshots.

Contributor: Azael Colon Jr.