virtual machine files in esxi

Each VM consists of several types of files stored on a storage device. Here is a list and a description of some of the files that make up a foo virtual machine running on ESXi:

• foo.vmx - Configuration file, a plain-text file that stores the settings of a virtual machine.
• foo.vswp, vmx-foo.vswp - Swap files, a virtual machine swap file used to reclaim memory during periods of contention.
• foo.nvram - BIOS file, a file that contains the virtual machine’s BIOS.
• vmware.log - Log files, a virtual machine log file.
• foo.vmtx - Template file, a virtual machine template configuration file.
• foo-rdm.vmdk - Raw device map file, the mapping file for the RDM that manages mapping data for the RDM device.
• foo.vmdk - Disk descriptor file, text file containing descriptive data about the virtual hard disk.
• foo-flat.vmdk - Disk data file, the actual content of that disk.
• foo.vmss - Suspend state file, a file that stores the state of a suspended virtual machine.
• foo.vmsd, foo.vmxf - Snapshot data file, a file that stores information and metadata about snapshots.
• foo.vmsn - Snapshot state file, a file that stores the running state of a virtual machine at the time the snapshot was taken.
• foo-delta.vmdk - Snapshot disk file

The first virtual disk files have filenames foo.vmdk and foo-flat.vmdk. If a virtual machine has more than one disk file, the second and later disk files would have the filenames foo_1.vmdk and foo_1-flat.vmdk, starting with 1.