FreeBSD-12.1-RELEASE-amd64.vmdk.xz on VMware vSphere?

[Stefan Lambrev]

Hi,

Is there any guide on how to use the vmdk file provided on release on
vSphere?
The first thing that I noticed is an issue reported a few months ago -
https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/installing-on-esxi-using-official-vmdk-files.72945/

Changing the type (Virtual Device Node) of the disk from SCSI to IDE solves
the initial issue, but then growfs fails (also the vSphere complains about
the disk image and resizing fails. I workaround this by creating a
FBSD(12.1amd64) VM on Workstation Player (free version) and then replacing
the disk with the image. Resizing and growfs (on first boot) worked as
expected. Then I used the created vmdk file and uploaded it to be used for
my VM.
It's not very "clean" process, I need to download additional software and I
wonder if someone has a better approach or those files are strictly only
for VM Workstation? Also it's not very good for automatization...