Installation guide

C H A P T E R 2 Creating and Configuring Virtual Machines

Executing Scripts When the Virtual

Machine’s Power State Changes

You can run scripts in the guest operating system when you change the power state

of a virtual machine; that is, when you power on, power off, suspend or resume the

virtual machine.

Scripts can help automate guest operating system operations when you change the

virtual machine’s power state.

Note: There are no scripts for FreeBSD guest operating systems.

You perform these power operations from the toolbar buttons and menus in the

consoles. For more information on changing the power state of a virtual machine in a

console, see Special Power Options for Virtual Machines on page 182.

Scripts can run when using the power buttons in the VMware Management Interface.

For more information, see Running the VMware Management Interface on page 87.

Scripts can be executed only when the VMware guest operating system service is

running. The guest service starts by default when you start the guest operating

system. For more information about the guest service, see About the VMware Guest

Operating System Service on page 51.

Default scripts are included in VMware Tools. The default script executed when

suspending a virtual machine stops networking for the virtual machine while the

default script executed when resuming a virtual machine starts networking for the

virtual machine.

In addition, you can create your own scripts. The scripts you can run must be batch

files for Windows hosts but can be any executable format (such as shell or Perl scripts)

for Linux hosts. You should have a thorough familiarity with these types of scripts

before you modify the default scripts or create your own.

If you create your own scripts, you must associate each script with its particular power

operation. For more information, see Choosing Scripts for VMware Tools to Run

During Power State Changes on page 186.

In order for scripts and their associated power operations to work, the following

conditions must be met:

1. The VMware guest operating system service must be running in the virtual

machine.