Building risk-free sandbox topologies for self-education.

Network emulation platforms like EVE-NG (Emulated Virtual Environment Next Generation) and GNS3 are the most popular environments for this file. Within these platforms, the .vmdk file is typically converted to a .qcow2 format using QEMU utilities to allow for lightweight snapshotting and resource optimization. VMware ESXi / Workstation

GNS3 can directly consume a .vmdk file when you import a GNS3 appliance (the .gns3a file). Steps: