VM snapshots affect only attched disks

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

When a virtual machine’s hard disk is removed using Remove device instead of Remove device and data, the disk is detached from the VM while the VMDK files remain in the VM’s directory on the datastore. This raises questions about whether snapshots include these VMDK files that are no longer part of the VM configuration but still reside in the directory.

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 8.x

Resolution

Snapshot operations include only the virtual disks that are currently attached to the VM. Detached disk files that remain in the VM’s directory on the datastore do not participate in snapshot operations.