Always ensure your VM is either powered off or the disk is not actively writing data when you download the -flat.vmdk – otherwise, you may end up with a corrupted or inconsistent file system inside the disk.
How to Download a VMDK File from a VMware Datastore (3 Easy Methods) vmware download vmdk from datastore
If you found this useful, bookmark it or share it with another VMware admin. Have another method? Let me know in the comments below. Always ensure your VM is either powered off
scp root@esxi-ip:/vmfs/volumes/datastore1/MyVM/MyVM-flat.vmdk ~/Desktop/ ✅ This method is and supports resume on large files. Method 3: Using vmkfstools + Export (Advanced) If you want to export only a thin-provisioned VMDK as a thick disk or clone it without snapshots, use the command line directly on ESXi. vmware download vmdk from datastore