Installation guide

CHAPTER 6 Administering ESX Server
257
Configuring Startup and Shutdown
Options for Virtual Machines
Using the system-wide Virtual Machine Startup and Shutdown option, you can:
• Configure your server to determine if virtual machines start up or shut down
when the system starts or shuts down.
• Set a delay for starting or stopping one virtual machine before starting or
stopping the next. This delay helps to prevent overburdening the system due to
the processor and memory capacities required to simultaneously start or stop
multiple guest operating systems.
• Determine the global order in which virtual machines start and stop.
Once these settings are enabled for the system, you can customize the settings for
each virtual machine. To enable these settings for a virtual machine, see Setting
Startup and Shutdown Options for a Virtual Machine on page 139.
System Configuration Settings
The system-wide virtual machine startup and shutdown options include:
• Start Up and Shutdown Virtual Machines — whether or not virtual machines
should be started and stopped with the system. If enabled, default startup and
shutdown policies are applied to all virtual machines on your system (where no
virtual machines are powered on when the host system starts and all virtual
machines are shut down when the host system shuts down); you can customize
each virtual machine’s startup and shutdown policies.
If disabled, you cannot set startup and shutdown policies for any virtual
machines on your system.
• Continue Starting Virtual Machines After — sets the type of delay between
starting up virtual machines. You can set this to:
• Don’t Wait — start the next virtual machine immediately.
• <n> Minutes — wait <n> number of minutes to start the next virtual
machine.
• Other — specify a longer interval to wait before starting the next virtual
machine.
• when VMWare Tools starts — wait until VMWare Tools is operating in the
current virtual machine before starting up the next virtual machine.