Can I use VHD file to boot VMWare?

Question

I am using VMWare and my OS image is in the form of a VHD (virtual hard drive). I've done some searching but I don't see anything on this.

So my question is: Is it possible to load my OS onto my VMWare virtual machine using a .VHD file? If so, how?

score 5 · Answer 1 · answered Dec 16 '14 at 15:16

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The latest version of VMWare player seems to play .vhd files out of the box.

Create the VM using "I will install the operating system later." and then when the VM has been created edit its settings to remove the existing empty virtual hard disk (.vmdk) and then add the one you created from the .vhd

answered Dec 16 '14 at 15:16

steampowered

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Even better, create your new VMware VM using "Custom Settings", select "Existing Disk" during setup, and when prompted for the VMDK extension, change the extension to `*.* All Files`, select the .vhd, and you're good to go. Boots right up off of the VHD file. Windows 81. w/VMWare Workstation 11.1, booting XP Mode's vhd - just did it now. – Eric Duncan May 27 '15 at 22:36

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 12 '13 at 20:30

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From what I know, you have to convert it to a VMDK format image. You can use a tool like VBoxHDTools to convert between image formats.

answered Jun 12 '13 at 20:30

Justin Pearce

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I think you need virtualbox installed to use VBoxHDTools, and all VBoxHDTools does is run Cli commands from virtualbox – steampowered Dec 16 '14 at 15:07

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Nov 19 '19 at 10:49

Just use Oracle Virtualbox. It supports VHD files directly.

New VM
Select the Operating system of the VHD
Select the RAM
Select "Use Existing Virtual Hard Disk" and browse to your VHD file.
Click "Create".
Done.

Your VHD will be booted immediately.

I did this with a 127GB VHD file downloaded from Microsoft Azure.

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Nov 09 '22 at 13:24

You can use VMWare Converter with a workaround.

Mount the VHD in Windows
Start VMWare Converter
Select Convert Machine and choose Powered On
Select This local machine
On the next page you can select the parameters you want to convert. In the data section only select the VHD volume and start conversion
Copy the vdmk from the new folder to new destination of the future VM
Create a new VM in Workstation an select the created vmdk

Can I use VHD file to boot VMWare?

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