Previous page

Next page

Locate page in Contents

Print this page

prl_disk_tool

The prl_disk_tool utility is used to manage disk drives of your virtual machines. This utility has the following syntax:

prl_disk_tool < COMMAND > [ OPTIONS ] --hdd < disk_path >

Resizing Virtual Disks

When resizing virtual disks, the utility has the following syntax:

prl_disk_tool resize --size < size >[M|G] [--resize_partition] --hdd < disk_path > [--force] [--split]

prl_disk_tool resize -i,--info [--units <K|M|G>] --hdd < disk_path >

Parameters

resize

Changes the capacity of the virtual disk. The disk to be resized must be formatted as NTFS, FAT 16, FAT 32, ext2, or ext3.

--size

New size of the virtual disk. It can be set either in megabytes (specify M after the value) or in gigabytes (specify G after the value). By default, the size is set in megabytes.

--resize_partition

Resizes the last partition of the specified virtual disk.

--hdd < disk_path >

Full path to the virtual disk to be configured.

--force

Forces the resizing operation for suspended virtual disks.

--split

Splits the virtual hard disk into 2 GB files.

-i, --info

Do not resize the virtual disk; just show the size the disk will have after resizing.

--units

Displays the disk size in kilobytes ( K ), megabytes ( M , default), and gigabytes ( G ).

Compacting Virtual Disks

When compacting virtual disks, the utility has the following syntax:

prl_disk_tool compact [--buildmap] --hdd < disk_path > [--force]

prl_disk_tool compact -i,--info --hdd < disk_path >

Parameters

compact

Removes all empty blocks from the expanding virtual disk and reduces its size on your physical disk. The disk to be compacted must be formatted as NTFS, FAT 16, FAT 32, ext2, or ext3. You can also try to compact virtual disks with other filesystems using the --buildmap option.

--hdd < disk_path >

Full path to the virtual disk to be configured.

--buildmap

Compacts virtual disks with unsupported filesystems.

--force

Forces the compacting operation for suspended virtual disks.

-i, --info

Do not compact the virtual disk; just display the information about the size the disk will have after compacting.

Preparing Virtual Disks for Booting

The prl_disk_tool utility can also be used to prepare virtual disks and real Boot Camp partitions for booting into virtual machines. In this case, the utility has the following syntax:

prl_disk_tool configure --hdd < disk_path > [--para < paravirt_driver >] [--boot < boot_driver >]

Parameters

configure

Prepares a disk or a real Boot Camp partition for booting into a virtual machine.

--hdd < disk_path >

Full path to the virtual disk to be configured.

--para

Specifies the full path to the Parallels virtualization driver.

--boot

Specifies the full path to the Parallels boot driver.

Converting Virtual Disks

You can use the prl_disk_tool utility to change the type of a virtual machine disk from expanding to plain and vice versa. In this case, the utility has the following syntax:

prl_disk_tool convert --hdd < disk_path > [--plain|expanding] [--split|--merge]

prl_disk_tool convert -i,--info --hdd < disk_path >

Parameters

convert

Converts the virtual disk from the expanding format to plain and vice versa.

--hdd < disk_path >

Full path to the virtual disk to convert.

-i, --info

Do not convert the virtual disk; just show the size the disk will have after resizing.

--plain

Converts the disk to the plain format. A plain virtual hard disk has a fixed size.

--expanding

Converts the disk to the expanding format. An expanding virtual hard disk is small initially. Its size grows as you add applications and data to it.

--split

Splits the virtual hard disk into 2 GB files.

--merge

Merges all parts of the split disk into one file.

Displaying Utility Help

To display the utility help, use this command:

prl_disk_tool --help

Top of page Feedback