The samples are installed under %VDDK_HOME%\samples . You will find examples for C++ and C# for operations like opening disks, reading sectors, and using Changed Block Tracking.
If the VDDK files are present but SAN or HotAdd transport modes fail, verify your network configuration. SAN mode requires direct storage visibility on the proxy machine, while HotAdd requires the backup proxy to run as a virtual machine on an ESXi host with access to the target datastore.
Read and write to vSphere virtual disk files (VMDK) without installing agents inside the guest OS.
VMware Virtual Disk Development Kit (VDDK) is an essential software development kit (SDK) designed for storage and backup vendors to create applications that interact with VMware virtual disk files (VMDK) and vSphere storage. Following the acquisition of VMware by Broadcom, the primary location for these downloads is the Broadcom Developer Portal Latest Versions and Availability (April 2026) As of early 2026, the VDDK has moved to version 9.0.x , aligning with the latest vSphere releases. developer.broadcom.com VDDK 9.0.1.0 download vmware vddk
The VDDK is a collection of C/C++ libraries, utilities, and documentation designed to manipulate virtual machine disk files (VMDK format). It is primarily used with the to enable centralized, agentless backups of vSphere virtual machines. Key capabilities include:
vdiskmanager -ws
: Free up SCSI controller slots or consider using an alternative transport method. The samples are installed under %VDDK_HOME%\samples
The kit includes several critical components:
Downloading the VDDK is a straightforward process, but it does require a Broadcom account.
It is available for both Windows (as a .zip) and Linux (as a .tar.gz). Key Technical Performance VMware Virtual Disk Development Kit (VDDK) SAN mode requires direct storage visibility on the
If your backup software reports that it cannot find vixDiskLib.dll or libvixDiskLib.so , your environment variables are likely configured incorrectly. Double-check that your system path points directly to the folder containing these library files and restart your application. Transport Mode Failures
: Contains executable utilities like vmware-mount and vdiskmanager .
Allows applications to create and manage VMware snapshots programmatically.
The following table provides a general guideline for VDDK to vSphere compatibility: