Specifications

Administration Guide
134 VMware, Inc.
5Start!the!virtual!machine!using!the!remote!console.!
You!might!see!a!message!warning!that!the!parallel!port!is!starting!disconnected.!
Connect!to!the!virtual!machine!with!a!remote!console!and!use!the!remote!consoleʹs!
Devices!menu!to!connect!the!parallel!port.
6As!it!starts!to!boot,!click!inside!the!
remote!console!window,!and!press!F2!to!enter!
the!virtual!machineʹs!BIOS!setup.!
7Go!to!the!Advanced!I/O!Device!Configuration!section!and!configure!the!parallel!
port!mode!for!the!virtual!machine!to!bidirectional.
Now!your!virtual!machine!can!use!a!dongle!or!other!parallel!port!device.
Using Serial Ports in a Virtual Machine
To!connect!the!virtual!machineʹs !first!serial!port!(COM1)!to!the!physical!computer’s!first!
serial!port,!edit!the!virtual!machineʹs!configuration!directly!using!the!VMware!
Management!Interface.
Be!sure!the!virtual!machine!is!shut!down!and!powered!off,!and!add!the!following!lines!
to!the!configuration!file!as!described!
in!“Setting!Startup!and!Shutdown!Options!by!
Modifying!the!Configuration!File!Directly!(Advanced!Users!Only)”!on!page 126.
! Add!an!option!called!serial0.present!and!set!its!value!to!true.
! Add!an!option!called!serial0.fileType!and!set!its!value!to!device.
! Add!an!option!called!serial0.fileName!and!set!its!value!to!/dev/ttyS0.
When!you!power!on!the!virtual!machine,!you!can!configure!the!serial!port!in!the!guest!
operating!system.
When!the!virtual!machine!is!running,!use!the!Devices!menu!on!the!remote!console!to!
connect!and!disconnect!its!serial!port.
You!can
!also!control!whether!the!virtual!machine!starts!with!its!serial!port!connected!to!
the!physical!computerʹs!serial!port.!To!set!the!first!serial!port!so!it!is!connected!when!the!
NOTE When!the!virtual!machine!starts!after!you!update!the!virtual!hardware!version,!the!
message!“The!CMOS!of!this!virtual!machine!is!incompatible!with!the!current!version!of!
VMware!ESX!Server.!A!new!CMOS!with!default!values!will!be!used!instead”!appears.!
Click!OK.!As!the!virtual!machine!starts,!the!guest!
operating!system!may!detect!new!
virtual!hardware!and!install!drivers!for!it.!Respond!to!any!messages.
NOTE Only!one!operating!system!can!be!connected!to!the!parallel!port!at!a!time.!You!cannot!
configure!more!than!one!virtual!machine!to!use!a!particular!parallel!port!at!a!given!time.