Optimize Your Virtual Disks Efficiently

Optimize-VirtualDisk

Streamline your virtual disk operations with our powerful PowerShell module, designed to defragment and optimize partitions efficiently.

Why Optimize VHDX Files?

The Importance of VHDX Optimization

Optimizing VHDX files in Hyper-V environments is crucial for maintaining system performance and reliability. Regular optimization helps to reduce fragmentation, improve disk access times, and ensure that virtual machines run smoothly. Additionally, it can prevent potential issues related to disk space utilization and data integrity, making it a vital maintenance task for IT administrators.

How to Install Optimize-VirtualDisk

Step 1: Ensure you have PowerShell 5.1 or greater.

Open an elevated PowerShell prompt and execute the command:
$PSVersionTable.PSVersion
If you have less than 5.1, you will need to install Windows Management Framework 5.1

Step 2: Install PowerShellGet

Open an elevated PowerShell prompt and execute the command: Install-Module PowerShellGet -Force -AllowClobberThis ensures you have the latest version of PowerShellGet installed.

Step 3: Restart PowerShell

After installing PowerShellGet, close the PowerShell window and reopen it with elevated privileges to ensure the changes take effect.

Step 4: Install Optimize-VirtualDisk

In the elevated PowerShell prompt, run the command: Install-Module -Name Optimize-VirtualDisk
This will download and install the Optimize-VirtualDisk module from the PowerShell Gallery.

Step 5: Verify Installation (Optional)

To confirm the installation, you can run: Get-Module -ListAvailable -Name Optimize-VirtualDiskThis will list the module if it has been successfully installed.

How Optimize-VirtualDisk Works

Optimize-VirtualDisk leverages a series of PowerShell commands to defragment and optimize partitions on virtual hard disks. Only partitions with drive letters (e.g.: C:\) will be defragmented. Partitions without drive letters will be skipped. For each valid partition on the virtual hard disk the following commands will be ran:

Step 1

Optimize-Volume -Defrag
All files on the partition are defragmented to be contiguous

Step 2

Optimize-Volume -SlabConsolidate -ReTrim
All defragmented data is consolidated towards the start of the partition and excess file size is trimmed.

Step 3

Optimize-Volume -Defrag
The partition again is defragmented again to ensure no leftover fragmentation is present from moving data during the slab consolidation and re-trim.

Step 4

Optimize-Volume -SlabConsolidate -ReTrim
All defragmented data is consolidated once more towards the start of the partition.

Step 5

After all partitions are defragmented the optimization concludes with running Optimize-VHD on the virtual hard disk.

Optimize-VirtualDisk Examples

EXAMPLE 1

Optimize-VirtualDisk "C:\Hyper-V\Virtual Machines\Server 2022\Virtual Hard Disks\Server 2022.vhdx"
Description: Optimizes the provided VHDX file “Server 2022.vhdx”.
Before executing, Optimize-VirtualDisk will gather a list of all VHD files used by snapshots of VMs on the system.
If “Server 2022.vhdx” is used in a snapshot for a VM, Optimize-VirtualDisk will error out and will not try to optimize the VHD file as to prevent corruption.

EXAMPLE 2
Optimize-VirtualDisk "C:\Hyper-V\Virtual Machines\Server 2022\Virtual Hard Disks\Server 2022.vhdx","C:\Hyper-V\Virtual Machines\Server 2022\Virtual Hard Disks\Storage.vhdx"
Description: Optimizes the provided VHDX files “Server 2022.vhdx” and “Storage.vhdx”.
Before executing, Optimize-VirtualDisk will gather a list of all VHD files used by snapshots of VMs on the system.
If either VHD file is used in a snapshot for a VM, Optimize-VirtualDisk will error out and will not try to optimize the VHD file as to prevent corruption.
EXAMPLE 3
Optimize-VirtualDisk "C:\Hyper-V\Virtual Machines\Server 2022\Virtual Hard Disks\*.vhdx"
Description: Optimizes the all VHDX files under “C:\Hyper-V\Virtual Machines\Server 2022\Virtual Hard Disks”.
Before executing, Optimize-VirtualDisk will gather a list of all VHD files used by snapshots of VMs on the system.
If any VHD file targeted is used in a snapshot for a VM, Optimize-VirtualDisk will error out and will not try to optimize the VHD file as to prevent corruption.
EXAMPLE 4
Optimize-VirtualDisk "C:\Hyper-V\Virtual Machines\Server 2022\Virtual Hard Disks\*.vhdx" -WhatIf
Description: Shows all VHDX files that would be optimized if the command was run without -WhatIf.
EXAMPLE 5
Optimize-VirtualDisk "C:\Hyper-V\Virtual Machines\Server 2022\Virtual Hard Disks\" -Filter "*.vhdx"
Description: Optimizes the all VHDX files under “C:\Hyper-V\Virtual Machines\Server 2022\Virtual Hard Disks”.
This command functions similarly to if “Virtual Hard Disks\*.vhdx” was used instead – this is just an alternate way of doing the same thing.
Before executing, Optimize-VirtualDisk will gather a list of all VHD files used by snapshots of VMs on the system.
If any VHD file targeted is used in a snapshot for a VM, Optimize-VirtualDisk will error out and will not try to optimize the VHD file as to prevent corruption.
EXAMPLE 6
Optimize-VirtualDisk -VMName "Server 2022"
Description: Optimizes all VHD files used by the “Server 2022” VM.
The VM cannot have any snapshots.
The VM must not be running and must not be in a saved state.
EXAMPLE 7
Optimize-VirtualDisk -VMName "Server 2022" -Shutdown
Description: Optimizes all VHD files used by the “Server 2022” VM.
The VM cannot have any snapshots.
If the VM is running it will be shut down before optimization and then restarted afterwards.
EXAMPLE 8
Optimize-VirtualDisk -VM $server2022VM
Description: Optimizes the VHD files used by the VM stored in the $server2022VM variable.
The $server2022VM would contain a VirtualMachine object returned by Get-VM.
It is generally recommended that you do not explicitly use the -VM parameter, and instead pipe the VM to Optimize-VirtualDisk. This is especially true if you are wanting to optimize multiple VMs, as the Optimize-VirtualDisk cmdlet SHOULD NOT be used in a for loop.
The VM cannot have any snapshots.
The VM must not be running and must not be in a saved state.
EXAMPLE 9
"C:\Hyper-V\Virtual Machines\Server 2022\Virtual Hard Disks\Server 2022.vhdx" | Optimize-VirtualDisk
Description: Optimizes the VHD file “Server 2022.vhdx”.
Before executing, Optimize-VirtualDisk will gather a list of all VHD files used by snapshots of VMs on the system.
If “Server 2022.vhdx” is used in a snapshot for a VM, Optimize-VirtualDisk will error out and will not try to optimize the VHD file as to prevent corruption.
EXAMPLE 10
"C:\Hyper-V\Virtual Machines\Server 2022\Virtual Hard Disks\*.vhdx" | Optimize-VirtualDisk
Description: Optimizes the all VHDX files under “C:\Hyper-V\Virtual Machines\Server 2022\Virtual Hard Disks”.
Before executing, Optimize-VirtualDisk will gather a list of all VHD files used by snapshots of VMs on the system.
If any VHD file targeted is used in a snapshot for a VM, Optimize-VirtualDisk will error out and will not try to optimize the VHD file as to prevent corruption.
EXAMPLE 11
Get-ChildItem "C:\VHDs\" -Recurse -Filter "*.vhdx" | Optimize-VirtualDisk
Description: Optimizes the all VHDX files under “C:\VHDs\” (searched recursively).
Before executing, Optimize-VirtualDisk will gather a list of all VHD files used by snapshots of VMs on the system.
If any VHD file targeted is used in a snapshot for a VM, Optimize-VirtualDisk will error out and will not try to optimize the VHD file as to prevent corruption.
EXAMPLE 12
Get-VM -VMName "Server 2022" | Optimize-VirtualDisk
Description: Optimizes all VHD files used by the “Server 2022” VM.
The VM cannot have any snapshots.
The VM must not be running and must not be in a saved state.
EXAMPLE 13
Get-VM | Optimize-VirtualDisk -WhatIf
Description: Shows all VHD files that would be optimized if the command was run without -WhatIf.
BE CAREFUL when running this command without -WhatIf, as it will attempt to optimize ALL VMs returned by Get-VM!
For every VM returned from Get-VM, the VM must not have any snapshots, must not be running, and must not be in a saved state.

Common Questions About VHDX Optimization

Learn more about optimizing your VHDX files with our comprehensive FAQ section.

What is the Optimize-VirtualDisk command?

The Optimize-VirtualDisk command is a PowerShell cmdlet used to optimize the virtual hard disks (VHDX) of virtual machines, ensuring better performance and efficient storage utilization.

Can I optimize VHDX files while the VM is running?

No, the VM must not be running and must not be in a saved state. The VM also should not have any snapshots for the optimization to proceed.

What happens if a VHDX file is used in a snapshot?

If a VHDX file is used in a snapshot, the Optimize-VirtualDisk command will error out to prevent any potential corruption of the virtual disk.

Can I optimize multiple VHDX files at once?

Yes, you can optimize multiple VHDX files by using wildcards or piping multiple VMs to the Optimize-VirtualDisk cmdlet. However, ensure none of the VMs have snapshots or are in a running state.

Is it safe to use Optimize-VirtualDisk in a script?

Yes, it is safe to use Optimize-VirtualDisk in a script, but avoid using it in a for loop. Instead, pipe the VMs directly to the cmdlet for better performance and safety.

How do I check which VHDX files will be optimized?

You can use the -WhatIf parameter with the Optimize-VirtualDisk cmdlet to see a list of VHDX files that would be optimized without actually performing the optimization.