Store WDS images on a network share

For backup and space purposes, you have the ability to store WDS images on a network share.

Add a WDS share

1. Create a virtual disk.
   1. In vSphere client, select the AD server for which you want to a second virtual disk.
   2. Click Edit virtual machine settings.
   3. Click Add, select Hard Disk, and click Next.
   4. Select Create virtual disk, and click Next.
   5. For Capacity, enter the desired size.
   6. For Location, select Specify a datastore, then browse and select the NAS volume on which you want this new virtual disk to reside. Click OK.
   7. Click Next on the following screens, and finally Finish.
2. Format the disk in the WDS/AD server.
   1. Right-click My computer and select Manage.
   2. Click Disk management.
   3. In the right panel, right-click the new disk, select New partition and create a NTFS partition using the entire disk.
   4. For the drive letter, choose the next available drive partition, say E:
   5. Select default options for rest.
   You should now have your new disk mounted as "E:\".

Grow the share

3. If the new disk become full, follow these steps to extend its size.
   1. Shut down the AD/WDS server completely.
   2. Find the path to the virtual disk on your ESXi server. It will be something like [os_repository] ad.j.sp.collab.net/ad.j.sp.collab.net_1.vmdk.
   3. On the mgr node, run the vmkfstools command to extend its size. For example, this command will extend the disk to a final size of 20g:

       $ /usr/local/vmware-vicli/bin/vmkfstools --server devmgr2.sp.collab.net -X 20g \
            "[os_repository] ad.j.sp.collab.net/ad.j.sp.collab.net_1.vmdk" 
       Enter username: root
       Enter password: 
       $

   4. Restart the WD/WDS server. Then follow this procedure to extend the partition on the disk using the diskpart.exe command line tool.