Specifications

Table Of Contents
VMware, Inc. 37
Chapter 2 Creating a New Virtual Machine
Installing a Guest Operating System
A!new!virtual!machine!is!like!a!physical!computer!with!a!blank!hard!disk.!Before!you!
can!use!it,!you!need!to!partition!and!format!the!virtual!disk!and!install!an!operating!
system.!The!operating!system’s!installation!program!can!handle!the!partitioning!and!
formatting!steps!for!you.
Installing!a!guest!operating!
system!inside!your!VMware!Server!virtual!machine!is!
essentially!the!same!as!installing!it!on!a!physical!computer.!The!basic!steps!for!a!typical!
operating!system!are:
1 Launch!the!VMware!Server!Console.
2Insert!the!installation!CDROM!or!floppy!disk!for!your!guest!operating!system.
NOTE If!you!plan!to!use!a!PXE!server!to!install!the!guest!operating!system!over!
a!network!connection,!you!don’t!need!the!operating!system!installation!
media.!When!you!power!on!the!virtual!machine!in!the!next!step,!the!
virtual!machine!detects!the!PXE!server,!if!one!is!available!on!the!network.
!
For!more!information,!see!“Using!PXE!with!Virtual!Machines”!on!
page 100.
In!some!host!configurations,!the!virtual!machine!is!not!able!to!boot!from!the!
installation!CDROM.!You!can!work!around!that!problem!by!creating!an!ISO!
image!file!from!the!installation!CDROM.!Use!the!virtual!machine!settings!editor!
(VM!>!Settings)!to!connect!the!virtual!machine’s!CD
ROM!drive!to!the!ISO!image!
file,!then!power!on!the!virtual!machine.
3Power!on!your!virtual!machine!by!clicking!the!Power!On!button.
4Follow!the!instructions!provided!by!the!operating!system!vendor.
For!a!brief!illustration!of!installing!a!Windows!Server!2003!guest!operating!system,!see!
“Example:!Installing!Windows!Server!2003!
as!a!Guest!OS”!on!page 37.!The!example!
describes!the!process!on!a!Windows!host.!The!steps!are!the!same!on!a!Linux!host.
For!information!on!installing!other!guest!operating!systems,!see!the!VMware!Guest!
Operating!System!Installation!Guide,!available!from!the!VMware!Web!site!at!
www.vmware.com/support/guestnotes/doc/index.html.
Example: Installing Windows Server 2003 as a Guest OS
You!can!install!Windows!Server!2003!Standard!Edition,!Enterprise!Edition,!or!Web!
Edition!in!a!virtual!machine!using!the!corresponding!Windows!Server!2003!
distribution!CD.!