A (typically named [VM_Name]-flat.vmdk ) is the raw data component of a VMware virtual disk. While often seen alongside a small "descriptor" .vmdk file, the flat file is where the actual bits and bytes of your virtual machine's operating system and data reside. The Role of the Flat File
Research into VMware forensic recovery suggests that thick-provisioned (flat) disks provide the best chance for recovering deleted VM data, as the blocks are contiguous and fully allocated, unlike thin-provisioned disks which may be fragmented across the datastore.
A small text file that contains metadata, including the disk's geometry (cylinders, heads, sectors), hardware version, and a pointer to the actual data storage file. flat-vmdk
flat-vmdk convert server-disk-flat.vmdk --to qcow2 -o server-disk.qcow2
Because it is a "flat" extent, forensic tools like The Sleuth Kit or FTK Imager can often treat the file as a raw (dd) image. A (typically named [VM_Name]-flat
The text flat-vmdk refers to a specific type of file associated with virtual machines.
# Inspect flat-vmdk info server-disk-flat.vmdk A small text file that contains metadata, including
In a standard VMware virtual machine, a virtual disk is composed of two distinct parts that work in tandem to simulate a physical drive.
A small text file that defines the disk geometry, hardware version, and IDs.
flat-vmdk carve --type jpeg disk-flat.vmdk --output ./carved/