Specifications

VMware, Inc. 65
Chapter 2 Creating and Configuring Virtual Machines
When!you!install!VMware!Tools!in!the!VMware!ESX!Server!virtual!machine,!you!can!
set!up!a!new!network!driv er.!
Virtual!machines!migrated!from!Workstation!and!GSX!Server!cannot!be!configured!to!
use!more!than!one!virtual!processor.
Disk Geometry Failures When Importing GSX Server Virtual Machines
If!you!used!vmkfstools!to!import!a!virtual!machine!created!under!GSX!Server!to!ESX!
Server,!after!you!import!the!virtual!machine,!you!might!see!the!following!message:
“Disk!geometry!mismatch.!To!power!on!the!virtual!machine!you!should!specify!
scsi<adapter-id>:<target-id>.biosGeometry=”<cylinders>/<heads>/<
sectors>”!in!the!configuration!file.”
A!similar!problem!can!occur!if!you
!used!the!management!interface!file!manager!to!
import!the!virtual!machine,!although!no!message!appears.!If!you!have!problems!
powering!on!a!virtual!machine!with!the!imported!disk,!you!might!have!a!mismatch!
with!the!virtual!disk’s!geometry.
Virtual!disks!created!under!GSX!Server!use!a!different!disk!geometry!than!virtual
!disks!
created!under!ESX!Server.!To!determine!the!correct!disk!geometry,!run!the!following!
vmkfstools!command!on!the!source!virtual!disk!(the!copy!of!the!virtual!disk!on!the!
GSX!Server!host,!not!the!disk!in!a!VMFS!partition):
vmkfstools -g //path/to/<sourceVirtualDisk>.vmdk
After!you!determine!the!disk!geometry,!you!can!add!the!correct!geometry!information!
to!the!configuration!file.!See!“Setting!Startup!and!Shutdown!Options!by!Modifying!the!
Configuration!File!Directly!(Advanced!Users!Only)”!on!page 126.!
Create!an!option!called!scsi<adapter-id>:<target-id>.biosGeometry!and!set!the!
value!of!the!option!to!“<cylinders>/<heads>/<sectors>”,!where!
<adapter-id>:<target-id>!
is!the!SCSI!ID!of!the!virtual!disk!on!the!ESX!Server!
system!and!“<cylinders>/<heads>/<sectors>”!is!the!number!of!cylinders,!heads,!
and!sectors!on!the!virtual!disk!returned!by!the!vmkfstools!command.
For!example,!if!the!virtual!disk!is!located!on!the!SCSI!0:0!node!in!the!virtual!machine!on!
the!
ESX!Server!system,!and!you!determine!that!the!disk!geometry!of!the!original!virtual!
disk!(the!one!on!the!GSX!Server!host)!contains!261!cylinders,!255!heads,!and!63!sectors,!
add!the!following!option!to!the!configuration!file:
scsi0:0.biosGeometry=261/255/63
Assign!the!following!value!to!the!new!option:
261/255/63