Specifications

VMware, Inc. 43
Chapter 2 Creating and Configuring Virtual Machines
Installing a Guest Operating System and VMware Tools
This!section!describes!the!following:
! “Installing!a!Guest!Operating!System!in!a!Virtual!Machine”!on!page 43
! “Installing!VMware!Tools!in!the!Guest!Operating!System”!on!page 44
! “Starting!VMware!Tools!Automatically”!on!page 48
! “Using!the!VMw are!Guest!Operating!System!Service”!on!page 49
In!most!cases,!configure!your!virtual!machine!with!a!blank!(unformatted)!SCSI!virtual!
disk.!You!can!install!an!operating!system!on!this!virtual!disk!just!as!you!would!on!a!new!
physical!machine,!using!a!standard!installation!CD‐ROM!and!formatting!the!
virtual!
disk!at!the!appropriate!place!in!the!installation!process.!
You!can!also!install!from!image!files—ISO!image!files!of!installation!CD‐ROMs!and!
floppy!image!files!of!any!floppy!disks!needed!for!the!installation.!Use!the!VMware!
Management!Interface!to!connect!the!virtual!machine’s!drives!to!the!appropriate!image!
files
!before!you!begin!the!installation.
Another!approach!is!to!start!with!a!virtual!disk!created!with!VMware!Workstation!3.2!
or!higher!or!with!VMware!GSX!Server!2.5!or!higher,!and!configure!the!guest!operating!
system!to!work!with!VMware!ESX!Server.!
After!your!guest!operating!system!is!installed,!follow!the!directions
!below!for!installing!
VMware!Tools!and!the!network!driver.!
Installing a Guest Operating System in a Virtual Machine
To!install!a!guest!operating!system!and!other!software,!use!the!VMware!Remote!
Console!on!a!different!system!than!the!one!on!which!you’ve!installed!ESX!Server.
For!details!on!installing!the!remote!console,!see!“Installing!the!Remote!Console!
Software”!on!page 70.!Follow!the!directions!for!starting!a!remote!console!on!
your!
Windows!or!Linux!workstation!and!connecting!to!a!virtual!machine.!
Insert!the!installation!CD‐ROM!for!your!guest!operating!system!in!the!CD‐ROM!drive.!
Click!Power!On!on!the!remote!console!toolbar!to!begin!setting!up!your!guest!operating!
system.!See!http://ww.vmware.com/support/guestnotes/doc/index.html!and!the!ESX!
Server!2.5!release!
notes!for!details!on!installing!specific!guest!operating!systems.
To!install!over!a!network,!you!need!ISO!image!files!of!installation!CD‐ROMs!and!floppy!
image!files!of!any!floppy!disks!needed!for!the!installation.!The!installation!instructions!
in!this!section!assume!you!are!installing!from!physical!media.!If!you!are!
using!image!
files,!you!should!connect!the!virtual!machine’s!CD‐ROM!or!floppy!drives!to!the!
appropriate!image!files!before!you!begin!installing!the!guest!operating!system.