Specifications

VMware, Inc. 89
Chapter 3 Using the VMware Management Interface
Changing!the!power!state!executes!any!script!associated!with!the!power!state!change.!
For!information!about!running!scripts,!see!“Choosing!Scripts!for!VMware!Tools!to!Run!
During!Power!State!Changes”!on!page 162.
Suspending and Resuming Virtual Machines
Suspending!a!virtual!machine,!and!later!resuming!its!operation,!can!speed!provisioning!
tasks—for!example,!deployment!of!standby!servers.!VMware!ESX!Server!supports!two!
configurations!for!resuming!a!suspended!virtual!machine:
! You!can!suspend!a!running!virtual!machine!at!any!time,!resume!operation,!
suspend!at!a!later!time,!and!resume!with!the!machine!in!the!second!state,!and!so!
on.!
! You!can!suspend!a!virtual!machine!at!any!point!in!its!operation,!and!lock!in!the!
suspended!state!at!that!point.!Any!time!you!restart!the!virtual!machine,!it!resumes!
in!the!same!state—the!state!it!was!in!when!you!first!suspended!it.!
You!can!also!set!the!configuration!of!each
!virtual!machine!so!the!file!that!stores!
information!on!the!suspended!state!is!saved!in!a!location!of!your!choice.
Setting the Suspend Directory
When!a!virtual!machine!is!suspended,!its!state!is!written!to!a!file!with!a!.vmss!
extension.!By!default,!the!.vmss!file!is!written!to!a!VMFS!volume.! When!a!virtual!
machine!is!resumed,!ESX!Server!looks!for!the!.vmss!file!in!the!same!VMFS!volume.
The!virtual!machine!must!be!
powered!off!to!change!the!directory!where!the!suspended!
state!file!for!a!virtual!machine!is!stored.!
To set the suspend directory
1Log!into!the!VMware!Management!Interface,!and!click!the!arrow!to!the!right!of!the!
terminal!icon!(!!)!for!the!virtual!machine!you!want!to!change.
2 Choose!Configure!Options.
The!Options!tab!for
!this!virtual!machine!appears!in!a!new!browser!window.
N
OTE Do!not!change!a!configuration!file!after!you!suspend!a!virtual!machine,!because!the!
virtual!machine!does!not!resume!properly!if!the!configuration!file!is!inconsistent!with!
the!suspended!virtual!machine.!
Also,!do!not!move!any!physical!disks!or!change!the!name!of!any!VMFS!file!systems!that!
the!virtual!machine
!uses.!If!you!do,!the!virtual!machine!will!not!be!able!to!access!its!
virtual!disks!when!it!resumes.