The boilerplate answer is to shrink the VMDK... but these Linux VMs use an ext4 filesystem, which VMware does not support shrinking with their conventional tools (i.e. vmware-toolbox).

Using VMware can save labor costs related to testing, because when a virtual machine crashes, it can quickly be rebooted or reinstalled. The virtual disks (files with the filename *.vmdk) are ...

The base Linux system ext3 filesystem appears to have corrupted the VMware vmdk files, as well as irreparably damaged the OS's filesystem and system files.

The VMDK file format is used for virtual machine (VM) disk image files. VMDK files contain a complete and independent virtual machine and are commonly used with VMware virtual appliances.

Weekly quickTIP Physically Manage Virtual Disks Strategies for managing disk space in a virtual environment. By Greg Shields 12/26/2006 If you’re a fan of VMware, then you’re used to its familiar GUI ...