Purpose and management of aux.xml files in vSphere environments

Products

• VMware vCenter Server
• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

The aux.xml file was used in vSphere versions(4.x) to temporarily store snapshot manifest metadata.
This file is no longer required or utilized.

Resolution

The aux.xml files do not impact virtual machine performance or data integrity. To manage this file:

1. Retention: The files may be safely left in the datastore directory as they occupy negligible space.
2. Manual Deletion: If preferred, administrators may manually delete the aux.xml files from the datastore.