Disks, clones, and appliances

Virtual disks, OVA appliances, and when to clone.

A virtual disk is a file (or a set of files) that looks like a SATA/NVMe drive to the guest. You can add a second disk for data, or expand the existing one and then grow the filesystem inside the guest — Player will not do that second step for you.

OVA/OVF appliances import a prebuilt machine. After import, change default passwords before you attach a bridged network. Clone a VM when you need a disposable copy; do not keep a chain of forgotten snapshots as a backup strategy. Player’s feature set is thinner than Workstation Pro — if you need frequent snapshots and linked clones, Pro is the tool.