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Table Of Contents
Table 5-3. Soft and Hard Options for Power Commands in the Virtual Machine Menu
Command Result
Start Up (soft option) Triggers a startup script to run. You can customize this
script. For more information, see the document Installing
and Configuring VMware Tools at http://
www.vmware.com/pdf/vmware-tools-installation-
configuration.pdf.
Power On (hard option) Starts the virtual machine.
Resume (soft option) Triggers a resume script to run. You can customize this
script. For more information, see the document Installing
and Configuring VMware Tools at http://
www.vmware.com/pdf/vmware-tools-installation-
configuration.pdf.
Force Resume (hard option) Resumes the virtual machine from a suspended state.
Shut Down (soft option) Triggers a poweroff script to run. Sends a shut-down signal
to the guest operating system. An operating system that
recognizes this signal shuts down gracefully. Not all guest
operating systems respond to a shut-down signal from this
button. If your operating system does not respond, shut
down from the operating system, as you would with a
physical machine.
Power Off (hard option)
Also called Force Shut Down
Works the way a power switch works on a computer's
power supply. The virtual machine is abruptly powered off,
with no consideration for work in progress. This action can
result in data loss. When possible, shut down the virtual
machine's operating system before you power off the
virtual machine.
Suspend (soft option) Triggers a suspend script to run. You can customize this
script. For more information, see the document Installing
and Configuring VMware Tools at http://
www.vmware.com/pdf/vmware-tools-installation-
configuration.pdf.
Force Suspend (hard option) The Force Suspend command suspends the virtual
machine.
Restart (soft option) Sends a restart signal to the guest operating system. An
operating system that recognizes this signal shuts down
gracefully and restarts. Not all guest operating systems
respond to a restart signal from this button. If your
operating system does not respond, restart from the
operating system, as you would with a physical machine.
Reset (hard option)
Also called Force Restart
Works as a reset switch. The virtual machine is abruptly
reset, with no consideration for work in progress. When
possible, restart the virtual machine's operating system.
Use the reset option only as a last resort when the virtual
machine's operating system is unresponsive.
Using VMware Fusion
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