Tech: Exporting VMware Server beta virtual machines to ESX Server 2.x

Kevin Gehrke, Senior Technical Support Engineer at VMware, posted an unsupported (but working) method for importing virtual machines created with VMware Server beta inside an ESX Server 2.x:

First remove snapshots and make a backup of the virtual machine.

A unsupported option is to use vmware-vdiskmanager to convert your virtual disk into a type 1 (growable split into 2Gb file) or type 2 (Single pre-allocated) or type 3 (Pre-allocated split into 2Gb files)
Type 1,2 & 3 have a text file for the first .vmdk file, which is a disk descriptor file. You can edit the .vmdk file and change.

ddb.virtualHW = 4


ddb.virtualHW = 3

Note: Type 0 virtual disk would require you to use a hex editor.

You will need to use the virtual hardware wizard to remove your original virtual disk and add the one you converted.

Now edit the .vmx file and change the following from

config.version = “8”
virtualHW.version = “4”


config.version = “7”
virtualHW.version = “3”

Be sure to read the original post for comments and updates.