TM Virtual Machine Guide
Please note that you will always find the most up-to-date technical documentation on our Web site at http://www.vmware.com/support/. VMware, Inc. 3145 Porter Drive Palo Alto, CA 94304 www.vmware.com The VMware Web site also provides the latest product updates. Copyright © 1998-2005 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved. Protected by one or more of U.S. Patent Nos. 6,397,242, 6,496,847, 6,704,925, 6,711,672, 6,725,289, 6,735,601, 6,785,886, 6,789,156 and 6,795,966; patents pending.
Table of Contents Introduction and System Requirements __________________________ 11 VMware GSX Server: Enterprise-Class Virtual Infrastructure for x86-Based Servers ____________________________________________12 Welcome to VMware GSX Server ___________________________________14 Enterprise-Class Virtual Infrastructure for Intel-Based Servers ___________15 What’s New in Version 3 __________________________________________16 Features in Version 3.
Installing VMware Tools in a NetWare Virtual Machine ________________74 Executing Scripts When the Virtual Machine’s Power State Changes ________76 Issues to Consider ____________________________________________77 Configuring VMware Tools ________________________________________78 Configuring VMware Tools in a Windows Virtual Machine ______________78 Configuring VMware Tools in a Linux or FreeBSD Virtual Machine ________82 Configuring VMware Tools in a NetWare Virtual Machine ______________85 About the VMwa
Powering Virtual Machines On and Off When the Host Starts and Shuts Down ____________________________________________122 Controlling the Virtual Machine Display _____________________________125 Using Full Screen Mode _______________________________________125 Using Quick Switch Mode _____________________________________125 Taking Advantage of Multiple Monitors ___________________________126 Fitting the Console Window to the Virtual Machine _________________127 Fitting a Windows Guest Operating System’s Disp
Settings for Snapshots ________________________________________ 157 Removing the Snapshot ______________________________________ 157 Snapshots and Legacy Disk Modes ______________________________ 158 Snapshots and Repeatable Resume ______________________________ 158 Snapshots and Legacy Virtual Machines __________________________ 158 Using Disks in a Virtual Machine ________________________________ 161 Configuring Hard Disk Storage in a Virtual Machine ____________________ 162 Disk Types: Virtual and Physic
Installing an Operating System onto a Physical Partition from a Virtual Machine __________________________________________220 Configuring a Windows Host ___________________________________221 Configuring a Linux Host ______________________________________223 Disk Performance in Windows NT Guests on Multiprocessor Hosts ________225 Improving Performance _______________________________________225 Networking _________________________________________________ 227 Components of the Virtual Network _______________
The Host Computer and the NAT Network ________________________ 270 DHCP on the NAT Network ____________________________________ 270 DNS on the NAT Network ______________________________________ 270 External Access from the NAT Network ___________________________ 271 Advanced NAT Configuration __________________________________ 272 Custom NAT and DHCP Configuration on a Windows Host ____________ 275 Considerations for Using NAT __________________________________ 276 Using NAT with NetLogon __________________
Connecting to a Generic SCSI Device _______________________________325 Device Support in Guest Operating Systems _______________________325 Adding a Generic SCSI Device to a Virtual Machine __________________326 Generic SCSI on a Windows Host Operating System _________________328 Generic SCSI on a Linux Host Operating System ____________________330 Video and Sound ____________________________________________ 333 Setting Screen Color Depth in a Virtual Machine ______________________334 Changing Screen Color
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CHAPTER Introduction and System Requirements 1 The following sections introduce you to VMware GSX Server.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide VMware GSX Server: Enterprise-Class Virtual Infrastructure for x86-Based Servers VMware® GSX Server is virtual infrastructure for enterprise IT administrators who want to consolidate servers and streamline development and testing operations. GSX Server is easily installed and managed, and provides rapid return on investment (ROI).
C H A P T E R 1 Introduction and System Requirements Key GSX Server 3 Benefits GSX Server 3 offers the following key benefits: • Shipping for over four years, with thousands of successful customers, VMware GSX Server is the most flexible and easily deployed server virtualization product on the market. • Offers widest selection of supported host and guest operating systems of any virtualization technology — preserves your freedom to choose the best operating system platform.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Welcome to VMware GSX Server Thank you for choosing VMware GSX Server, the software that provides IT professionals with enterprise-class server consolidation and high availability of server resources by letting them run multiple operating systems in secure, transportable, high-performance virtual computers. If you’re new to GSX Server, this chapter is the place to start.
C H A P T E R 1 Introduction and System Requirements Enterprise-Class Virtual Infrastructure for Intel-Based Servers VMware products provide a virtualization layer that turns your physical computers into a pool of logical computing resources. You can then dynamically allocate those resources to any operating system or application in the way that best meets your needs.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide What’s New in Version 3 Whether you’re a long-time power user of VMware GSX Server or a new user who is just learning what you can do with virtual machines, the new features in VMware GSX Server 3 extend its capabilities and make it easier to use. Features in Version 3.2 Here are some highlights of key features to explore in VMware GSX Server 3.2: New Operating System Support VMware GSX Server 3.
C H A P T E R 1 Introduction and System Requirements Support for Clustering with the iSCSI Protocol Using the iSCSI protocol allows you to set up a clustering environment across hosts. For more information, see Clustering Using the iSCSI Protocol in the VMware GSX Server Administration Guide. Dual-Core Processor Licensing Compatibility The two processor version of GSX Server now supports systems with two dual-core processors. Critical Bugs Fixed in GSX Server 3.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Manage Virtual Disks with VMware Virtual Disk Manager Create, manage and modify virtual disk files from the command line or within scripts with the VMware Virtual Disk Manager utility. For more information, see Using VMware Virtual Disk Manager on page 191. New Operating System Support Get the freedom to choose the operating systems and applications that work best for you. VMware GSX Server 3.
C H A P T E R 1 Introduction and System Requirements • Fix for Linux hosts where switching to the vmxnet networking driver caused networking to fail in a virtual machine. • Fix for Windows hosts where a virtual machines froze and the only workaround was to kill the virtual machine process. • Fixes for SCSI reservation issues including deadlocks, and panics that occurred when powering on clustered virtual machines configured with LSI Logic SCSI adapters.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Enhanced Virtual Machine User Access Control On Windows hosts, a virtual machine runs as a user. You can specify the particular user or let the virtual machine run as the user who powers it on. For more information, see Authenticating Users and Running Virtual Machines on a GSX Server for Windows Host in the VMware GSX Server Administration Guide.
C H A P T E R 1 Introduction and System Requirements Automatically Install GSX Server on Windows Hosts and VMware Tools in Windows Guests We’ve improved the installers for Windows hosts and for VMware Tools in Windows guest operating systems. GSX Server for Windows hosts and VMware Tools for Windows guests use the Microsoft Windows Installer runtime engine, which allows you to automate the installation of GSX Server on a Windows host and VMware Tools in a Windows virtual machine.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide details, see Monitoring Virtual Machine Performance in the VMware GSX Server Administration Guide. More Memory for Your Virtual Machines Allocate up to 3600MB of memory to each virtual machine to run large server applications. For more information, see Allocating Memory to a Virtual Machine on page 340.
C H A P T E R 1 Introduction and System Requirements Improved Virtual DVD-ROM and CD-ROM Drive Support Read multisession DVD-ROM and CD-ROM media. Burn CD-ROMs in your guest operating systems. Debugging Support in Virtual Machines GSX Server supports user- and kernel-level debuggers in virtual machines. New Operating System Support VMware GSX Server 3 provides support for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3.0, SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 8.0 patch 3, and Turbolinux Server 8.0 and Workstation 8.0 hosts.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Virtual Machine Specifications Each virtual machine created with GSX Server provides a platform that includes the following devices that your guest operating system can see.
C H A P T E R 1 Introduction and System Requirements • Mylex® (BusLogic) BT-958 compatible host bus adapter • LSI Logic Ultra160 LSI53C10xx SCSI controller Virtual PCI Slots • Six virtual PCI slots, to be divided among the virtual SCSI controllers, virtual Ethernet cards, virtual display adapter and virtual sound adapter Virtual Floppy Drives • Up to two 1.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide • Virtual networking supports most Ethernet-based protocols, including TCP/IP, NetBEUI, Microsoft Networking, Samba, Novell® NetWare® and Network File System • Built-in NAT supports client software using TCP/IP, FTP, DNS, HTTP and Telnet Virtual Sound Adapter • Sound output and input • Creative Labs Sound Blaster® AudioPCI emulation (MIDI input, game controllers and joysticks are not supported) 26 www.vmware.
C H A P T E R 1 Introduction and System Requirements Supported Guest Operating Systems The operating systems listed here have been tested in VMware GSX Server virtual machines and are officially supported. For notes on installing guest operating systems, see the VMware Guest Operating System Installation Guide, available from the Help menu or from the VMware Web site at www.vmware.com/support/guestnotes/doc/index.html.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Linux • Mandrake Linux 8.0, 8.1, 8.2, 9.0, 9.1, 9.2, 10.0 and 10.1 • Red Hat Linux 6.2, 7.0, 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 8.0 and 9.0 • Red Hat Enterprise Linux (AS, ES and WS) 2.1, including Update 6; Red Hat Enterprise Linux (AS, ES and WS) 3.0, including Update 4; Red Hat Enterprise Linux (AS, ES and WS) 4.0 • SuSE Linux 7.3, 8.0, 8.1, 8.2, 9.0, 9.1 and 9.
C H A P T E R 1 Introduction and System Requirements Technical Support Resources The following sections describe various technical support resources available to you. • Self-Service Support • Online and Telephone Support • Support Offerings • Reporting Problems • Log Files Self-Service Support Use the VMware Technology Network for self help tools and technical information: • Product Information — www.vmware.com/support/resources • Technology Information — www.vmware.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide The steps below describe the information we need from you to diagnose problems. This information largely comes from various log files. Which log file we need depends upon the problem you encounter. The log files are listed after the steps. You can simplify the process of collecting the needed information by running the support script to collect the appropriate log files and system information. Follow the steps below that apply to your host computer.
C H A P T E R 1 Introduction and System Requirements Log Files The following log files are generated by GSX Server and are collected by the support script as needed. Since there is no support script on a remote client, you need to submit a support request at www.vmware.com/requestsupport for any issues you encounter on a client and include the console’s log file or its installation log file.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide On a Linux host, the log is called ui-.log and is stored in the user’s TEMP directory; by default, this directory is /tmp/vmware-. The path to this file appears in the terminal when you start the console. VMware Management Interface Log File The VMware Management Interface keeps a log. On a Windows host, the log is called mui.log and is stored by default in C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware Management Interface.
C H A P T E R 1 Introduction and System Requirements VMware GSX Server and VMware Virtual Machine Console Installation Log Files GSX Server keeps an installation log file on the server host. On a remote client, the VMware Virtual Machine Console keeps an installation log file. If you encounter problems installing the VMware Virtual Machine Console, please submit a support request and this log file. On a Windows host, the file is VMInst.log.
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CHAPTER 2 Creating a New Virtual Machine The following sections describe how to create a new virtual machine: • Setting Up a New Virtual Machine on page 36 • Installing a Guest Operating System on page 56 35
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Setting Up a New Virtual Machine The New Virtual Machine Wizard guides you through the key steps for setting up a new virtual machine, helping you set various options and parameters. You can then use the virtual machine settings editor (VM > Settings) if you need to make any changes to your virtual machine’s setup. • To create a new virtual machine from a console, see Creating a New Virtual Machine with the New Virtual Machine Wizard on page 38.
C H A P T E R 2 Creating a New Virtual Machine If the virtual machine is connected directly to a physical disk, rather than to a virtual disk, the .vmdk file stores information about the partitions the virtual machine is allowed to access. Note: Earlier VMware products used the extension .dsk for virtual disk files. • .log or vmware.log — the file that keeps a log of key virtual machine activity. This file can be useful in troubleshooting if you encounter problems.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide When the virtual machine is running, the actions you can take with it depend upon your permissions. For more information about permissions, see Understanding Permissions and Virtual Machines in the VMware GSX Server Administration Guide.
C H A P T E R 2 Creating a New Virtual Machine 3. Select the method you want to use for configuring your virtual machine. If you select Typical, you can specify or accept defaults only for • The guest operating system. • The virtual machine name and the location of the virtual machine’s files. • The network connection type. • The size of the virtual disk. • Allocating all the disk space for the virtual disk at the time you create it. • Splitting the virtual disk into 2GB files.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide • Use independent disk mode (if you don’t plan to use snapshots with this virtual machine; see Independent Disks on page 164). Note: If you follow the custom path, you still specify the options under the typical path. 4. Select a guest operating system. This screen asks which operating system you plan to install in the virtual machine. The New Virtual Machine Wizard uses this information to select appropriate default values, such as the amount of memory needed.
C H A P T E R 2 Creating a New Virtual Machine 5. Select a name and directory for the virtual machine. The name specified here is used in the VMware Virtual Machine Console and the VMware Management Interface. It is also used as the name of the directory where the files associated with this virtual machine are stored. Each virtual machine must have its own directory. All associated files, such as the configuration file and the disk file, are placed in this directory.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide 6. Specify whether this virtual machine should be private. By default, a virtual machine is private, so only you have access to it. This is useful, for example, if you are in charge of provisioning virtual machines on one host and will propagate the virtual machines to other hosts. If you are creating a virtual machine using the Typical path, then only you can access the virtual machine. The virtual machine is private.
C H A P T E R 2 Creating a New Virtual Machine network access from within the virtual machine and access to virtual machine resources that are on the network. • User that powers on the virtual machine — the virtual machine runs as the account of the user who powered on the virtual machine until the virtual machine is powered off. Other users can connect to the virtual machine but it still runs as the user who powered on the virtual machine.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide 8. Allocate an amount of memory to the virtual machine. The New Virtual Machine Wizard provides a default value based on your guest operating system selection, along with the recommended range and the total amount of memory all running virtual machines can use. The wizard also indicates the minimum amount of memory recommended by the manufacturer and the GSX Server recommended maximum value for best performance of your virtual machine on this server host.
C H A P T E R 2 Creating a New Virtual Machine 9. Configure the networking capabilities of the virtual machine. If your host computer is on a network and you have a separate IP address for your virtual machine (or can get one automatically from a DHCP server), select Use bridged networking. If you do not have a separate IP address for your virtual machine but you want to be able to connect to the Internet, select Use network address translation (NAT).
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide 10. Choose the type of SCSI adapter you want to use with the virtual machine. An IDE and a SCSI adapter are installed in the virtual machine. The IDE adapter is always ATAPI. You can choose between a BusLogic or LSI Logic SCSI adapter. The default for your guest operating system is already selected. Most guests except for newer operating systems like Windows Server 2003, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 and NetWare 6.5 default to the BusLogic adapter.
C H A P T E R 2 Creating a New Virtual Machine Virtual disks are the best choice for most virtual machines. They are quick and easy to set up and can be moved to new locations on the same host computer or to different host computers. To use an existing virtual disk with this virtual machine, select Use an existing virtual disk. Browse to select the disk. To install the guest operating system on a physical (also called raw) IDE disk, select Use a physical disk.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide 13. Specify the capacity of the virtual disk. Make the Virtual Disk Big Enough • The virtual disk should be large enough to hold the guest operating system and all of the software that you intend to install, with room for data and growth. • You cannot change the virtual disk’s maximum capacity later. • You can install additional virtual disks using the virtual machine settings editor.
C H A P T E R 2 Creating a New Virtual Machine expand or convert the virtual disk. For more information, see Using VMware Virtual Disk Manager on page 191. If you selected Typical as your configuration path and you have set the disk options you want to use, click Finish. GSX Server creates the virtual machine. If you selected Custom as your configuration path, continue to the next step. 14. Specify the name and location of the virtual disk’s files.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide You have the following options for an independent disk: • Persistent — changes are immediately and permanently written to the disk. • Nonpersistent — changes to the disk are discarded when you power off or reset the virtual machine. When you have set the filename and location you want to use and have made any selections you want to make on the Specify Advanced Options screen, click Finish. GSX Server creates the virtual machine.
C H A P T E R 2 Creating a New Virtual Machine in the VMware Guest Operating System Installation Guide available from the Help menu or from the VMware Web site at www.vmware.com/support/guestnotes/doc/index.html. To create a virtual machine from the VMware Management Interface, complete the following steps. 1. On the Status Monitor page, click Add Virtual Machine. The Add Virtual Machine page appears. 2. In the Guest Operating System list, select the guest operating system for the new virtual machine.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide 3. Allocate memory to the virtual machine. The default setting in the Memory field depends on the guest operating system you have selected. You may need to change it to meet the demands of applications you plan to run in the virtual machine. The amount of memory you specify must be a multiple of four. You may change this setting later.
C H A P T E R 2 Creating a New Virtual Machine any hardware, see Configuring a Virtual Machine’s Hardware in the VMware GSX Server Administration Guide. Creating a New Virtual Disk 1. To create a new virtual disk, decide whether you want the disk to be IDE or SCSI. The wizard suggests the recommended type. Then under IDE type or SCSI type, click Blank. The Virtual Disk Configuration page appears. 2. In the Disk File field, enter the location and name of the virtual disk. Make sure the virtual disk has a .
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide You have two options for an independent disk. You can make the disk Persistent, which means that changes are immediately and permanently written to the disk. Or you can make the disk Nonpersistent, which means that changes to the disk are discarded when you power off or reset the virtual machine. 6. Decide if you want to preallocate the virtual disk space.
C H A P T E R 2 Creating a New Virtual Machine Using an Existing Virtual Disk 1. To add an existing virtual disk, decide whether the disk is IDE or SCSI. Then under IDE type or SCSI type, click Blank. The Virtual Disk Configuration page appears. 2. In the Disk File field, enter the location for the virtual disk. 3. Specify the virtual device node in the Virtual IDE Node or Virtual SCSI Node list as appropriate. 4. Decide if you want to make this virtual disk an independent disk.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Installing a Guest Operating System A new virtual machine is like a physical computer with a blank hard disk. Before you can use it, you need to partition and format the virtual disk and install an operating system. The operating system’s installation program may handle the partitioning and formatting steps for you. Installing a guest operating system inside your VMware GSX Server virtual machine is essentially the same as installing it on a physical computer.
C H A P T E R 2 Creating a New Virtual Machine Installation Steps 1. Insert the Windows Server 2003 CD in the CD-ROM drive. 2. Power on the virtual machine to start installing Windows Server 2003. 3. If you enabled the virtual machine’s Ethernet adapter, an AMD PCNET Family Ethernet Adapter is detected and set up automatically. 4. Follow the installation steps as you would for a physical computer.
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CHAPTER Using VMware Tools 3 The following sections describe how to install and run VMware Tools: • About VMware Tools on page 60 • Installing VMware Tools on page 62 • Executing Scripts When the Virtual Machine’s Power State Changes on page 76 • Configuring VMware Tools on page 78 • About the VMware Tools Service on page 90 59
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide About VMware Tools VMware Tools is a suite of utilities that enhances the performance of the virtual machine's guest operating system and improves management of the virtual machine by VMware GSX Server. It is very important that you install VMware Tools in the guest operating system. Although GSX Server can run a guest operating system without VMware Tools, you lose important functionality and convenience.
C H A P T E R 3 Using VMware Tools In a Windows guest, you can access the VMware Tools control panel through the Windows Control Panel (choose Start > Settings > Control Panel > VMware Tools) or via the VMware Tools icon, which appears by default in the system tray. In a Linux or FreeBSD guest operating system, the VMware Tools control panel is called vmware-toolbox.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Installing VMware Tools The following sections describe how to install VMware Tools: • Installing VMware Tools in a Windows Virtual Machine on page 62 • Automating the Installation of VMware Tools in a Windows Guest on page 69 • Additional Steps for Some Versions of Windows When Migrating from Old Disk Versions on page 66 • Installing VMware Tools in a Linux or FreeBSD Virtual Machine on page 71 • Installing VMware Tools in a NetWare Virtual Machine on page 74 The in
C H A P T E R 3 Using VMware Tools You can automate the installation of VMware Tools in a Windows guest operating system. For information, see Automating the Installation of VMware Tools in a Windows Guest on page 69. Installing VMware Tools in a Windows Guest Operating System 1. Power on the virtual machine. 2. When the guest operating system starts, prepare your virtual machine to install VMware Tools. Choose VM > Install VMware Tools. The remaining steps take place inside the virtual machine. 3.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide The VMware Tools installation wizard starts. 5. Click Next to continue with the VMware Tools installation wizard. The Setup Type dialog box appears. 6. Choose whether you want to perform a typical, complete or custom installation. The installer uses this selection each time you upgrade VMware Tools. Typical Installation A typical installation installs only those components used by GSX Server.
C H A P T E R 3 Using VMware Tools Complete Installation A complete installation installs the utilities to enhance the performance of the guest operating system, and all the drivers — the VMware SVGA driver, the VMware Mouse driver, the VMware SCSI driver, the VMware vmxnet networking driver (the vlance driver is installed automatically when you created the virtual machine) and the shared folders driver (for use by virtual machines with VMware Workstation).
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide 7. If you want to change any settings or information you provided, now is the time to make those changes. Click Back until you reach the dialog box containing the information you want to change. Otherwise, click Install. The installer begins copying files to your host. 8. You may see one or more Digital Signature Not Found dialog boxes when the installer begins to install the virtual drivers.
C H A P T E R 3 Using VMware Tools For details, see the steps below that correspond to your guest operating system. Windows NT 1. After installing VMware Tools, click Finish. The Display Properties dialog box appears. 2. Click the Display Type button. The Display Type dialog box appears. 3. Click the Change button. The Change Display dialog box appears. 4. Select VMware, Inc. from the Manufacturer list. 5. Select VMware SVGA as the display adapter and click OK. 6.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide If you are upgrading a virtual machine created under GSX Server 2, you may see a dialog box that warns, “The driver you are installing is not specifically designed for the hardware you have.… Do you wish to continue?” Click Yes. After the driver is installed, click Finish. 10. Click Yes to restart Windows Me and start using the new video driver. 11. The VMware Tools background application starts automatically when you reboot your virtual machine. Windows 98 1.
C H A P T E R 3 Using VMware Tools Windows 95 1. After installing VMware Tools, click Finish. The Display Settings dialog box appears. 2. Click the Advanced Properties button. The Advanced Display Properties dialog box appears. 3. Click the Change button. The Select Device dialog box appears. 4. Select Have Disk. 5. Enter the following path: D:\video\win9x D: is the drive letter for the first virtual CD-ROM drive in your virtual machine. Click OK. 6. Click OK again to install the driver. 7.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide To install VMware Tools silently in a Windows guest, first make sure the virtual machine’s CD-ROM drive is connected to the VMware Tools ISO image (windows.iso, located in the directory where you installed GSX Server) and configured to connect when you power on the virtual machine. Then, run the silent installation on the extracted installation packages. At the command prompt, on one line, type: msiexec -i "D:\VMware Tools.
C H A P T E R 3 Using VMware Tools To include a feature, use it with the ADDLOCAL option. To exclude a feature, use it with the REMOVE option. For example, to install everything but the shared folders driver, type the following on the command line: msiexec -i "D:\VMware Tools.msi" ADDLOCAL=ALL REMOVE=Hgfs /qn The SVGA, Mouse, BusLogic, vmxnet and MemCtl features are children of the Drivers feature. Thus, on the command line, if you type msiexec -i "D:\VMware Tools.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide To switch between Linux workspaces in a virtual machine, press Ctrl-Alt-Space, release Space without releasing Ctrl and Alt, then press the function key for the workspace you want to use — for example, F2. Note: If you changed your hot-key combination to something other than CtrlAlt, use that combination with Space and the function key. 4.
C H A P T E R 3 Using VMware Tools 7. Run the configuration program. vmware-config-tools.pl 8. To change your virtual machine’s display resolution, answer yes, then enter the number that corresponds to the desired resolution. 9. Log off of the root account. exit 10. Start X and your graphical environment. 11. In an X terminal, launch the VMware Tools background application. vmware-toolbox & You can run VMware Tools as root or as a normal user.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide The required library was not installed. This does not happen with full installations of FreeBSD 4.5, but does occur for minimal installations. To fix the problem of the missing library, take the following steps: 1. Insert and mount the FreeBSD 4.5 installation CD or access the ISO image file. 2. Change directories and run the installation script. cd /cdrom/compat3x ./install.
C H A P T E R 3 Using VMware Tools When the installation finishes, the message VMware Tools for NetWare are now running appears in the Logger Screen (NetWare 6.5 and NetWare 6.0 guests) or the Console Screen (NetWare 5.1 guests). 5. Restart the guest operating system. In the system console, type restart server After you install VMware Tools, make sure the VMware Tools virtual CD-ROM image (netware.iso) is not attached to the virtual machine. If it is, disconnect it.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide 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.
C H A P T E R 3 Using VMware Tools During Power State Changes on page 79 for Windows guests and Choosing Scripts for VMware Tools to Run During Power State Changes on page 83 for Linux guests. In order for scripts and their associated power operations to work, the following conditions must be met: 1. The VMware Tools service must be running in the virtual machine. 2. The version of VMware Tools must be updated to the current version.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Configuring VMware Tools The following sections describe how to configure VMware Tools in a virtual machine. • Configuring VMware Tools in a Windows Virtual Machine on page 78 • Configuring VMware Tools in a Linux or FreeBSD Virtual Machine on page 82 • Configuring VMware Tools in a NetWare Virtual Machine on page 85 Configuring VMware Tools in a Windows Virtual Machine This section shows the options available in a Windows 2000 guest operating system.
C H A P T E R 3 Using VMware Tools Connecting Devices with VMware Tools The Devices tab allows you to enable or disable removable devices. Removable devices include the floppy and CD-ROM drives and the virtual network adapter. To connect a device, check the check box next to the device. To disconnect the device, clear the check box next to the device. Note: You can also set these options from the VM > Removable Devices menu in the virtual machine window.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide A default script for each power state is included in VMware Tools. These scripts are located in the guest operating system in C:\Program Files\VMware. When You … This Default Script Runs Suspend the guest operating system suspend-vm-default.bat Resume the guest operating system resume-vm-default.bat Power off the guest operating system poweroff-vm-default.bat Power on the guest operating system poweron-vm-default.
C H A P T E R 3 Using VMware Tools Shrinking Virtual Disks with VMware Tools The Shrink tab gives you access to the controls you need if you wish to reclaim unused space in a virtual disk. In some configurations, it is not possible to shrink virtual disks. If your virtual machine uses such a configuration, the Shrink tab displays information explaining why you cannot shrink your virtual disks. For more information about shrinking virtual disks, see Defragmenting and Shrinking Virtual Disks on page 168.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Configuring VMware Tools in a Linux or FreeBSD Virtual Machine This section shows the options available in a Linux or FreeBSD guest operating system. To open the VMware Tools control panel, at a command prompt, type: vmware-toolbox & You may run VMware Tools as root or as a normal user. To shrink virtual disks, you should run VMware Tools as root (su -).
C H A P T E R 3 Using VMware Tools Choosing Scripts for VMware Tools to Run During Power State Changes Through VMware Tools, you can run scripts that execute when you power on, power off, suspend or resume the virtual machine. For more information, see Executing Scripts When the Virtual Machine’s Power State Changes on page 76. Note: Scripts cannot be run in FreeBSD guest operating systems. A default script for each power operation is included in VMware Tools.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide • To edit a script, click Edit. The script opens in vi. Make your changes there. Note: To edit scripts from the Scripts tab, xterm and vi must be installed in the guest operating system. The user trying to edit the script must be a root user and must have vi and xterm in his or her PATH. Otherwise, scripts can be edited manually in any text editor. • To test a script, click Test. Note: If you plan to test scripts in a Turbolinux 7.
C H A P T E R 3 Using VMware Tools Shrinking Virtual Disks with VMware Tools The Shrink tab gives you access to the controls you need if you wish to reclaim unused space in a virtual disk. To shrink virtual disks, you should run VMware Tools as the root user (su -). This way, you ensure the whole virtual disk is shrunk. Otherwise, if you shrink the virtual disk as a non-root user, you cannot prepare to shrink the parts of the virtual disk that require root-level permissions.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Viewing Information About VMware Tools For general information about VMware Tools, click the VMware Tools tab. This tab contains: • Copyright information. • A button you click to visit the VMware Web site. Connecting Devices with VMware Tools The Devices tab allows you to enable or disable removable devices. Removable devices include the floppy and CD-ROM drives and the virtual network adapter. To connect a device, select the check box next to the device.
C H A P T E R 3 Using VMware Tools Shrinking Virtual Disks with VMware Tools The Shrink tab gives you access to the controls you need if you wish to reclaim unused space in a virtual disk. For more information about shrinking virtual disks, see Defragmenting and Shrinking Virtual Disks on page 168. Setting Options with VMware Tools The Other tab gives you the option to synchronize the time in the guest operating system with the time in the host operating system.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide To see the options associated with this command, type vmwtool help at the system console. When VMware Tools is installed in a NetWare guest, a heartbeat is always sent from the virtual machine to GSX Server. You can verify the virtual machine’s heartbeat by viewing information about this virtual machine in the VMware Management Interface. For more information, see Monitoring the Virtual Machine’s Heartbeat in the VMware GSX Server Administration Guide.
C H A P T E R 3 Using VMware Tools vmwtool Command Definition disabledevice Disables the specified device or devices in the virtual machine. If no device is specified, then all removable devices in the virtual machine are disabled. Note: You can also disable devices from the VM > Removable Devices menu in the virtual machine console window. enabledevice Enables the specified device or devices in the virtual machine.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide About the VMware Tools Service When you install VMware Tools in a virtual machine, the VMware Tools service is one of the primary components installed. The service does the following: • Synchronizes the time of the guest operating system with the time in the host operating system. • Runs scripts in a virtual machine when the power state changes. See Executing Scripts When the Virtual Machine’s Power State Changes on page 76.
C H A P T E R 3 Using VMware Tools Synchronizing the Time in the Guest with the Host Operating System The VMware Tools service can synchronize the date and time in the guest operating system with the time in the host operating system once every minute. To enable time synchronization for a Windows guest, see Setting Options with VMware Tools on page 78. To enable time synchronization for a Linux or FreeBSD guest, see Setting Options with VMware Tools on page 84.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Executing Commands After You Power Off or Reset a Virtual Machine In a Linux guest, you can have the VMware Tools service execute specific commands when you shut down or restart the guest operating system. This is in addition to any script that you may have specified to run when you shut down the guest operating system. In order to execute these commands, you need to modify /etc/vmware-tools/tools.conf.
C H A P T E R 3 Using VMware Tools This way, you can make copies of the same configuration file, add a different string to each (either in the configuration file itself or at the command line), then use these variations of the same configuration file to launch the same virtual disk in nonpersistent mode multiple times in a training or testing environment, for example. This is what portions of two configuration files that point to the same virtual disk might look like.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Note: Write the above command on one line. Note: On a Linux host, the machine ID passed on the command line takes precedence and is passed to the guest operating system if the following conditions are met: • A virtual machine ID is specified in a configuration file. • You use that file to launch a virtual machine. • You also specify a machine ID on the command line. 2. Retrieve the string in the virtual machine.
CHAPTER Running Virtual Machines 4 After you have installed VMware GSX Server, a guest operating system and VMware Tools, how do you run your virtual machine? The following sections give you highlights of the most common tasks.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide • Command Reference on page 145 For purposes of illustration, the examples in these sections use a Windows Server 2003 guest operating system. Some commands used in the illustrations are different from those used in other guest operating systems. 96 www.vmware.
C H A P T E R 4 Running Virtual Machines Overview of the VMware Virtual Machine Console Window The following sections provide an overview of the VMware Virtual Machine Console: • Using the Home Tab on page 98 • Using Tabs on page 102 • Configuring a Virtual Machine on page 103 • Using the Virtual Machine Inventory on page 103 • Displaying Hints on page 104 • Checking the Status of VMware Tools on page 104 • Creating a Screen Shot of a Virtual Machine on page 105 Think of a VMware GSX Server virtual machine
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide If you are connecting to an older version of GSX Server or ESX Server, some of the controls and functionality of the interface change to accommodate the differences between the features available to that product. To see a list of what is different, see Connecting to Older GSX Server and ESX Server Systems and Older Virtual Machines on page 113. New Menu Layouts Menus in VMware GSX Server 3 are organized somewhat differently from those in VMware GSX Server 2.
C H A P T E R 4 Running Virtual Machines • For information on configuring the GSX Server host, see Setting Global Preferences for VMware GSX Server in the VMware GSX Server Administration Guide. Selecting virtual machines in the Inventory list opens them in new tabs. If the virtual machine is already running, its desktop appears in the virtual machine display.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide system, the location of the configuration file, and whether the virtual machine is configured for the current or an older version of GSX Server. With the virtual machine powered off or suspended, you can enter notes about it, edit its settings or start it. Double-click on a device to configure it. 100 www.vmware.
C H A P T E R 4 Running Virtual Machines For information about the inventory, see Using the Virtual Machine Inventory on page 103. VMware Virtual Machine Console window on a Linux host Instead of using physical buttons to turn this computer on and off, you use buttons on the toolbar at the top of the VMware Virtual Machine Console window.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Toolbar when a virtual machine is suspended (as seen on a Windows host) Toolbar when a virtual machine is suspended (as seen on a Linux host) There are separate Power Off and Power On buttons. When you suspend a virtual machine, the Power On button becomes a Resume button. Using Tabs When a virtual machine is active, its virtual machine name appears on a tab at the top of the virtual machine display.
C H A P T E R 4 Running Virtual Machines Configuring a Virtual Machine To change settings for a virtual device, use the virtual machine settings editor. Choose VM > Settings, click the device name in the list on the left, then make changes on the right. Use the virtual machine settings editor to add, remove and modify virtual machine components The virtual machine settings editor (formerly the Configuration Editor) on Linux hosts now matches the virtual machine settings editor on Windows hosts.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Removing a Virtual Machine from the Inventory If you do not have a current need for a virtual machine, but do not want to delete it, you can remove it from the inventory instead. The virtual machine no longer appears in the console or the management interface. Removing the virtual machine from the list does not affect the virtual machine’s files. You can add the virtual machine to the list again at any time by using File > Open Virtual Machine.
C H A P T E R 4 Running Virtual Machines background application with this command: vmware-toolbox & You may run VMware Tools as root or as a normal user. To shrink virtual disks, you must run VMware Tools as root (su -). To test and edit scripts, you must run VMware Tools as the root user. In a NetWare 5.1 or higher guest operating system, you can access the VMware Tools control panel by choosing Novell > Settings > VMware Tools for NetWare.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Connecting to Virtual Machines and GSX Server Hosts This section covers the following topics: • Connecting to a Virtual Machine from a Windows Host or Client on page 107 • Connecting to a Virtual Machine from a Linux Host or Client on page 110 • Connecting to a Virtual Machine from the VMware Management Interface on page 111 • Connecting to a Different GSX Server Host on page 112 • Connecting to Older GSX Server and ESX Server Systems and Older Virtual Machines on pa
C H A P T E R 4 Running Virtual Machines Connecting to a Virtual Machine from a Windows Host or Client If you need to view a particular virtual machine’s desktop, you can attach the VMware Virtual Machine Console and connect to the virtual machine. 1. Start the VMware Virtual Machine Console. Connecting to the Local GSX Server Host To quickly connect to the local host, double-click the VMware GSX Server Console icon on your desktop or choose Start > Programs > VMware > VMware GSX Server. Go to step 2.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Connecting to the GSX Server Host from a Remote Client If you are on a Windows client, double-click the VMware Virtual Machine Console icon on your desktop or choose Start > Programs > VMware > VMware Virtual Machine Console. The VMware Virtual Machine Console - Connect to Host dialog box appears. Specify the host name, user name and password to connect to that host, then click OK. 2.
C H A P T E R 4 Running Virtual Machines The VMware Virtual Machine Console window opens. 3. Select the name of the virtual machine you want to use in the Inventory list at the left of the console window. If the virtual machine you want to use does not appear in the inventory, choose File > Open Virtual Machine, click Browse and browse to the configuration (.vmx) file for the virtual machine you want to use.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Connecting to a Virtual Machine from a Linux Host or Client If you need to view a particular virtual machine’s desktop, you can attach the VMware Virtual Machine Console and connect to the virtual machine. You need an X server to run the VMware Virtual Machine Console. If an X server is not installed, you must install libxpm.so.4, located on your Linux distribution disk. 1. Start the VMware Virtual Machine Console.
C H A P T E R 4 Running Virtual Machines The VMware Virtual Machine Console window opens. 3. Select the name of the virtual machine you want to use in the Inventory list at the left of the console window. If the virtual machine you want to use is not shown in the Inventory, choose File > Open Virtual Machine, click Browse and browse to the configuration file (.vmx or .cfg file) for the virtual machine you want to use.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Client on page 107 and Connecting to a Virtual Machine from a Linux Host or Client on page 110. Connecting to a Different GSX Server Host Each VMware Virtual Machine Console can connect to one GSX Server host at a time. If you need to connect to a virtual machine on another host, you can launch another console and connect to any virtual machine on the new host. Or you can switch hosts in the same console window.
C H A P T E R 4 Running Virtual Machines Connecting to Older GSX Server and ESX Server Systems and Older Virtual Machines When you connect a VMware Virtual Machine Console from GSX Server 3 to an older virtual machine or older GSX Server or ESX Server system, the console controls adapt to the older machine or server. Certain capabilities, such as creating new virtual machines or configuring the host, are unavailable when you connect to an older virtual machine or server.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide current virtual machine when run under GSX Server 3. Look for the Version information in the virtual machine display when the virtual machine is not running. In addition, the virtual machine settings editor identifies a virtual machine as a legacy virtual machine. Note: To determine which version of another VMware product is older than GSX Server 3, see the VMware Virtual Machine Mobility Planning Guide on the VMware Web site.
C H A P T E R 4 Running Virtual Machines Upgrading Virtual Hardware Using the console, you can upgrade the virtual hardware of a legacy virtual machine to the virtual hardware level supported by GSX Server 3. You cannot upgrade the virtual hardware for a legacy virtual machine to the level of hardware used by the older version of GSX Server on which the virtual machine is running.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Virtual Network Interface Card (NIC) If you are connected to a GSX Server 2 virtual machine, you can choose the vmxnet adapter only if the guest operating system is Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Server 2003. Furthermore, if you are connected to a GSX Server 2.0 or 2.0.1 virtual machine on a GSX Server 2.5 or higher host and you choose the vmxnet adapter, you are prompted to install VMware Tools. This installs the GSX Server 2.
C H A P T E R 4 Running Virtual Machines Advanced Virtual Machine Settings You cannot specify process priorities for the virtual machine. For more information, see Adjusting Priorities for Virtual Machine Processes (Windows Hosts Only) in the VMware GSX Server Administration Guide. If the virtual machine uses physical (raw) disks and is on an older server, you can hide read-only partitions so the virtual machine can see only partitions to which it can write data.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Changing the Power State of a Virtual Machine The following topics discuss ways you change a virtual machine’s power state: • Using Power Options for Virtual Machines on page 118 • Suspending and Resuming Virtual Machines on page 121 • Shutting Down a Virtual Machine on page 121 • Powering Virtual Machines On and Off When the Host Starts and Shuts Down on page 122 Using Power Options for Virtual Machines The basic power operations for a virtual machine include power
C H A P T E R 4 Running Virtual Machines you want to run the script at the time you suspend the virtual machine, choose Power > Suspend after running script. Options for Powering On a Virtual Machine You can choose from the following options when powering on a virtual machine: • Power On — powers on the virtual machine. This is the same as clicking the Power On button on the toolbar. When the virtual machine is suspended, this menu item appears as Resume.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Options for Resetting a Virtual Machine You can choose from the following options when resetting a virtual machine: • Reset — resets the virtual machine. This is similar to resetting a physical computer by pressing its reset button, so any programs running in the virtual machine may be adversely affected. • Restart Guest — gracefully restarts the virtual machine.
C H A P T E R 4 Running Virtual Machines Suspending and Resuming Virtual Machines You can save the current state of your virtual machine by suspending it. Later, you can resume the virtual machine to pick up work quickly, right where you stopped — with all documents you were working on open and all applications in the state they were at the time you suspended the virtual machine. To suspend a virtual machine: 1.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Powering Virtual Machines On and Off When the Host Starts and Shuts Down You can configure a virtual machine to power on automatically when the GSX Server host starts. When the host shuts down, you can specify whether you want to power off the virtual machine or shut down the guest operating system. You can enable these settings as long as the startup and shutdown options are not disabled for the server.
C H A P T E R 4 Running Virtual Machines To power off the virtual machine — or shut down the guest — when the host shuts down, select the appropriate option in the On host shutdown list. 4. Click OK to save your changes and close the virtual machine settings editor. You cannot configure a virtual machine to start up or shut down automatically when the host starts or shuts down until the host is configured accordingly.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide VMware Tools does not start in the virtual machine before the specified time elapses, GSX Server starts the next virtual machine. 4. Specify what happens to the virtual machine when the system shuts down. In the At System Shutdown, Attempt to list, select whether you want to power off the virtual machine, shut down the guest operating system or suspend the virtual machine.
C H A P T E R 4 Running Virtual Machines Controlling the Virtual Machine Display There are a variety of ways for you to control how your virtual machines display in a console window.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide to Window option works only if you have the current version of VMware Tools installed in the guest operating system and you disabled Autofit. Note: When you choose Fit Guest to Window, VMware GSX Server adjusts the display settings of your Windows guest operating system as needed. If you subsequently run the virtual machine in window mode, you may want to change the display settings back to their previous values.
C H A P T E R 4 Running Virtual Machines Fitting the Console Window to the Virtual Machine The View menu gives you two ways to adjust the size of the VMware Virtual Machine Console window so it exactly fits the virtual machine’s display. Autofit is toggled on or off each time you click it. When Autofit is on, the console window adjusts automatically to fit the virtual machine’s display. When it is off, you can adjust the console window to a size of your choice.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Simplifying the Screen Display If you prefer, you can hide many of the controls visible in the console window. Use the View menu to toggle the following controls on or off: • Inventory • Toolbar • Status bar • Virtual machine tabs On a Windows host, you can also hide the menu bar. To do so, click the title bar icon, then choose Hide Controls. Choosing Hide Controls hides the menu bar, the toolbar, the status bar and the inventory.
C H A P T E R 4 Running Virtual Machines Taking and Reverting to a Snapshot GSX Server lets you take a snapshot of a virtual machine at any time and revert to that snapshot at any time. You can take a snapshot while a virtual machine is powered on, powered off or suspended. A snapshot preserves the virtual machine just as it was when you took the snapshot — the state of the data on all the virtual machine’s disks and whether the virtual machine was powered on, powered off or suspended.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Running Virtual Machines from DVD-ROM or CD-ROM Discs You can store a virtual disk on DVD-ROM or CD-ROM, and run the virtual machine from your GSX Server host’s DVD/CD-ROM drive. You do not have to copy the virtual disk files from the DVD-ROM or CD-ROM to the GSX Server host. One suggested use for this method is to install GSX Server on a host you want to use for product demonstrations, which could be a laptop.
C H A P T E R 4 Running Virtual Machines Note: The performance of the virtual machine accessing a virtual disk stored on a DVD-ROM or CD-ROM depends upon the speed of the DVD-ROM/CD-ROM drive. Keep in mind that a virtual machine on a DVD-ROM/CD-ROM drive runs slower than it would if it were running on your host’s hard disk. To run a virtual machine with a virtual disk stored on DVD-ROM or CD-ROM, complete the following steps. 1.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Using PXE with Virtual Machines You can use a preboot execution environment (commonly known as PXE) to boot a virtual machine over a network. When you use PXE with a virtual machine, you can: • Remotely install a guest operating system over a network without needing the operating system installation media. • Deploy an image of a virtual disk to the virtual machine. • Boot a Linux virtual machine over the network and run it diskless.
C H A P T E R 4 Running Virtual Machines • Remote installation of a supported guest operating system from a Ghost image using Windows 2000 and Ghost RIS Boot package • Remote installation of a supported guest operating system from an Altiris image using a Windows 2000 Altiris server • Network booting a Linux virtual machine by connecting with the Linux Diskless option to a Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Sharing Files Between Guest and Host Operating Systems To share files between a host computer and a virtual machine or between two virtual machines, you use the networking features of GSX Server. If you know how to share files between two physical computers on a network, you already know how to share files with a virtual machine.
C H A P T E R 4 Running Virtual Machines Sharing Files Between Two Windows Systems To share files between two Windows systems (where one machine is a host and the other is a virtual machine, or both are virtual machines), be sure the file and printer sharing service is installed for both operating systems and the folders you want to share are marked as shared. Then you can browse from one system to the shared folder or folders on the other system.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Sharing Files by Connecting to a Linux System from a Windows System To share files on a Linux system with a Windows system (by connecting to a Linux host from a Windows guest or connecting to a Linux guest from a Windows host or guest), you can run Samba on the Linux system and browse shared directories in the Linux file system from Network Neighborhood in the Windows system.
C H A P T E R 4 Running Virtual Machines socket options = TCP_NODELAY SO_RCVBUF=8192 SO_SNDBUF=8192 Note: This setting must be entered on one line. i. To create the share, add the following: [SHARE_NAME] path = /home/user/shared public = no writable = yes printable = no (since you want to share files, not a printer) j. Save this file and create a backup copy to protect these changes when you upgrade GSX Server. 3. Restart the Samba services to load the new settings.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Connecting to a Linux Guest from a Windows Host or Guest To share the directory /home/user/shared, for example, on a Linux guest operating system with a Windows host or guest operating system, follow these steps: 1. On the Linux guest operating system, back up the smb.conf file to a file called something like smb.conf.orig. cp /etc/smb.conf /etc/smb.conf.orig 2. Modify Samba on the Linux system to share the directory.
C H A P T E R 4 Running Virtual Machines Installing Software in a Virtual Machine Installing software in a virtual machine is just like installing it on a physical computer. For example, to install software in a Windows virtual machine, take the following steps: 1. Be sure you have started the virtual machine and, if necessary, logged on. In the console window, check VM > Removable Devices to be sure the virtual machine has access to the CD-ROM drive and, if needed, the floppy drive. 2.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Cutting, Copying and Pasting Text When VMware Tools is running, you can cut (or copy) and paste text between applications in the virtual machine and the host computer or between two virtual machines. Use the normal hot keys or menu choices to cut, copy and paste. Note: If you are copying text from a Windows host into a Linux guest operating system, you can paste only by using the middle mouse button.
C H A P T E R 4 Running Virtual Machines Using Devices in a Virtual Machine The following sections provide an overview on the devices in your virtual machine.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Removing Hardware Using the Console To remove hardware from a virtual machine, make sure the virtual machine is powered off, then complete the following steps. 1. In a console, select the virtual machine, then click Edit virtual machine settings. The virtual machine settings editor appears. 2. Select the item you want to remove, then click Remove. 3. Click OK to save the change and close the virtual machine settings editor. 142 www.vmware.
C H A P T E R 4 Running Virtual Machines Removing Hardware Using the Management Interface To remove hardware from a virtual machine, make sure the virtual machine is powered off, then complete the following steps. 1. In the management interface, on the Status Monitor page, click the virtual machine menu icon ( ) for the virtual machine, then choose Configure Hardware. The Hardware page appears. 2. Next to the item you want to remove, click Remove.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Connecting and Disconnecting Removable Devices Choose VM > Removable Devices to connect and disconnect removable devices that you have configured for a virtual machine — including floppy drives, DVD/CD-ROM drives, USB devices and Ethernet adapters — while the virtual machine is running. When you choose VM > Removable Devices, a submenu appears. Choose a device from that menu to connect or disconnect it, and to edit device settings.
C H A P T E R 4 Running Virtual Machines Command Reference The following sections describe command line options that are available when you launch a console and keyboard shortcuts that you can use while a virtual machine is running.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide -m automatically starts the virtual machine in quick switch mode. This option works for virtual machines running on Linux hosts only. For information on quick switch mode, see Using Quick Switch Mode on page 125. //.vmx (or .cfg) launches a virtual machine using the specified configuration file. X toolkit options can be passed as arguments, although some of them (most notably the size and title of the console window) cannot be overridden.
C H A P T E R 4 Running Virtual Machines Using Keyboard Shortcuts If you prefer to work from the keyboard as much as possible, you may find the following keyboard shortcuts handy. If you have changed the Preferences setting for the hot-key combination, substitute your new setting for Ctrl-Alt as needed in the shortcuts listed here. Shortcut Action Ctrl-B Power on. Ctrl-E Power off. Ctrl-R Reset the power. Ctrl-Z Suspend. Ctrl-N Create a new virtual machine. Ctrl-O Open a virtual machine.
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CHAPTER Preserving the State of a Virtual Machine 5 VMware GSX Server 3 offers two ways to preserve the state of a virtual machine.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Suspending and Resuming Virtual Machines The suspend and resume feature is most useful when you want to save the current state of your virtual machine, then pick up work later with the virtual machine in the same state it was when you stopped. Once you resume and do additional work in the virtual machine, you cannot return to the state the virtual machine was in at the time you suspended unless you took a snapshot when you suspended.
C H A P T E R 5 Preserving the State of a Virtual Machine Note that any applications you were running at the time you suspended the virtual machine are running and the content is the same as it was when you suspended the virtual machine. You can suspend and resume a virtual machine with the management interface. See Changing a Virtual Machine’s Power State from the Management Interface on page 120.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Setting the Suspended State File Directory from the Management Interface 1. Log on to the VMware Management Interface, then click the virtual machine menu icon ( ) for the virtual machine you want to change and choose Configure Options. The Options page for this virtual machine appears in a new browser window. 2. Click Edit. The Options page appears.
C H A P T E R 5 Preserving the State of a Virtual Machine Taking Snapshots The snapshot feature is most useful when you want to preserve the state of the virtual machine so you can return to the same state repeatedly. To simply save the current state of your virtual machine, then pick up work later with the virtual machine in the same state it was when you stopped, suspend the virtual machine. For details, see Suspending and Resuming Virtual Machines on page 150.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Use the Snapshot and Revert buttons on the console toolbar to take a snapshot and revert to it later. You can take a new snapshot at any time. When you do so, you replace the previous snapshot. You can have only one active snapshot at a time. Note: Taking a new snapshot when the virtual machine is powered off and a snapshot already exists can take a long time, as the original snapshot needs to be removed.
C H A P T E R 5 Preserving the State of a Virtual Machine • Persistent — changes are immediately and permanently written to the disk. All changes to an independent disk in persistent mode remain, even when you revert to the snapshot. • Nonpersistent — changes to the disk are discarded when you power off or revert to the snapshot. Ways of Using Snapshots The following examples illustrate the most common ways you can use a snapshot.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide if you want the virtual machine to be powered on or powered off when you launch it, be sure it is powered on or powered off when you take the snapshot. Snapshots and a Virtual Machine’s Hard Disks When a snapshot exists and the virtual machine saves data to disk, that data is written to a set of redo-log files. These files have .REDO as part of the filename and are stored in the virtual machine’s working directory.
C H A P T E R 5 Preserving the State of a Virtual Machine Or consider a case in which you take a snapshot while an application in the virtual machine is sending a transaction to a database on a separate machine. If you revert to the snapshot — especially if you revert after the transaction starts but before it has been committed — the database is likely to be confused. Settings for Snapshots You can specify what you want GSX Server to do with the snapshot any time the virtual machine is powered off.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide you run the virtual machine are written to the virtual disk. You cannot revert to a previous state because the snapshot no longer exists. To remove the snapshot, shut down and power off the virtual machine. Then choose Snapshot > Remove Snapshot. Note: Removing a snapshot when the virtual machine is powered off can take a long time, depending upon the size of the snapshot file.
C H A P T E R 5 Preserving the State of a Virtual Machine — and you have disks in undoable or nonpersistent mode, you have a snapshot. If you have persistent disks, you have no snapshot. You have the following options: • Persistent mode — You have no snapshot. You may take a snapshot any time the virtual machine is powered off. • Undoable mode — You have a snapshot. You may update or remove the snapshot any time the virtual machine is powered off. • Nonpersistent mode — You have a snapshot.
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CHAPTER 6 Using Disks in a Virtual Machine The following sections provide information on configuring your virtual machine’s hard disk storage so the virtual disk best meets your needs: • Configuring Hard Disk Storage in a Virtual Machine on page 162 • Configuring Optical and Floppy Drives on page 171 • Adding Drives to a Virtual Machine on page 177 • Using VMware Virtual Disk Manager on page 191 • Configuring a Dual-Boot Computer for Use with a Virtual Machine on page 198 • Installing an Operating System
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Configuring Hard Disk Storage in a Virtual Machine Like a physical computer, a VMware GSX Server virtual machine stores its operating system, programs and data files on one or more hard disks. Unlike a physical computer, GSX Server gives you options for undoing changes to the virtual machine’s hard disk. The New Virtual Machine Wizard creates a virtual machine with one disk drive.
C H A P T E R 6 Using Disks in a Virtual Machine way are similar to the experimental plain disks that could be created under earlier versions of GSX Server. A virtual disk that is not preallocated is known as a growable disk. A growable virtual disk’s files start out small and grow to their maximum size as needed. The main advantage of this approach is the smaller file size. Smaller files require less storage space and are easier to move if you want to move the virtual machine to a new location.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide The most common use of a physical disk is to convert a dual-boot or multiple-boot machine so one or more of the existing operating systems can be run inside a virtual machine. Physical disks may be set up on both IDE and SCSI devices. Physical disks can be as large as 128GB when configured as IDE or 256GB when configured as SCSI. Caution: You cannot use a physical disk that is stored on a SAN. You must use a disk or a partition on the GSX Server host.
C H A P T E R 6 Using Disks in a Virtual Machine • Persistent — changes are immediately and permanently written to the disk. All changes to an independent disk in persistent mode remain, even when you revert to the snapshot. • Nonpersistent — changes to the disk are discarded when you power off or revert to the snapshot.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide The first .vmdk file for each disk is small and contains pointers to the other files that make up the virtual disk. The other .vmdk files contain data stored by your virtual machine and use a small amount of space for virtual machine overhead. By default, all disk space is allocated when you create the virtual disk. A preallocated virtual disk has fixed file sizes, and most of the files are 2GB. As mentioned above, the first file is small.
C H A P T E R 6 Using Disks in a Virtual Machine You can choose the location where the redo-log and snapshot files are stored. By default, the files are stored in the same directory as the virtual disk (.vmdk) file. By default, redo-log files for physical disks are located in the same directory as the virtual machine configuration file (.vmx). You can change the location of the redo-log and snapshot files in the virtual machine settings editor. With the virtual machine powered off, choose VM > Settings.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide If those two conditions are true, the virtual machine can safely remove the stale lock. If either of those conditions is not true, a dialog box appears, warning you that the virtual machine cannot be powered on. If you are sure it is safe to do so, you may delete the lock files manually. On Windows hosts, the filenames of the lock files end in .lck. On Linux hosts, the filenames of the lock files end in .WRITELOCK.
C H A P T E R 6 Using Disks in a Virtual Machine Shrinking virtual disks is a convenient way to convert a virtual disk to the format supported by GSX Server 3. Virtual disks created in the new format cannot be recognized by earlier VMware products except for VMware Workstation 3.0 and higher. The virtual disks to be shrunk must not be booted as independent disks. You can change the mode of a virtual disk before the virtual machine is powered on. See Independent Disks on page 164.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide 4. When VMware Tools finishes wiping the selected disk partitions, you are prompted to begin shrinking the disks. Shrinking disks may take considerable time. In some configurations, it is not possible to shrink virtual disks. If your virtual machine uses such a configuration, the Shrink tab displays information explaining why you cannot shrink your virtual disks.
C H A P T E R 6 Using Disks in a Virtual Machine Configuring Optical and Floppy Drives The following sections describe how to configure your virtual machine’s optical (DVDROM and CD-ROM) and floppy drives. You can use the physical device or point the virtual machine to an ISO or floppy image file.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Choosing a Device Node for the DVD-ROM or CD-ROM Drive Like a virtual disk, the virtual machine’s DVD-ROM or CD-ROM drive can be associated with a specific SCSI or IDE device node. The type of device does not have to match the type of device on the host, so if your GSX Server host has an IDE CD-ROM drive, you can still configure your virtual machine with a SCSI CD-ROM drive.
C H A P T E R 6 Using Disks in a Virtual Machine Exclusively Using the DVD-ROM or CD-ROM Drive You can prevent other virtual machines and the host from using the DVD-ROM or CDROM drive until either you disconnect it from this virtual machine or you power off or suspend the virtual machine. In the virtual machine settings editor, check Connect exclusively to this virtual machine.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Configuring a Virtual Machine’s DVD-ROM or CD-ROM Drive from the Management Interface To configure a virtual machine’s DVD-ROM or CD-ROM drive, complete the following steps. 1. In the Hardware page, under DVD/CD-ROM Drive, click Edit. The DVD/CD-ROM Drive page appears. 2. To connect this virtual machine to the host’s DVD/CD-ROM drive, check Connected. 3.
C H A P T E R 6 Using Disks in a Virtual Machine Configuring Virtual Floppy Drives Each virtual machine can access a physical floppy drive on the GSX Server host or a floppy image file. Only one virtual machine can connect to the floppy drive on the server at a time. You configure virtual floppy drives from the virtual machine settings editor or the VMware Management Interface.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide 4. Specify whether to connect to the host’s floppy drive or to a floppy image. In the Device list, select System Floppy Drive or Floppy Image. 5. Enter the location of the drive or floppy image in the Location field. For example, the host’s floppy drive could be A: or /dev/fd0. 6. Click OK to save your changes and close the window. 176 www.vmware.
C H A P T E R 6 Using Disks in a Virtual Machine Adding Drives to a Virtual Machine A GSX Server virtual machine can use up to four IDE devices and up to seven SCSI devices. Any of these devices can be a virtual hard disk or DVD or CD-ROM drive. A virtual machine can read data from a DVD-ROM disc. GSX Server does not support playing DVD movies in a virtual machine. Many other SCSI devices can be connected to a virtual machine using the host operating system’s generic SCSI driver.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide 5. Set the capacity for the new virtual disk. You can set a size between 0.1GB (100MB) and 256GB for a SCSI virtual disk or 128GB for an IDE virtual disk. The default is 4GB. By default, Allocate all disk space now is checked. Allocating all the space at the time you create the virtual disk gives somewhat better performance, but it requires as much disk space as the size you specify for the virtual disk.
C H A P T E R 6 Using Disks in a Virtual Machine 7. The wizard creates the new virtual disk. It appears to your guest operating system as a new, blank hard disk. Use the guest operating system’s tools to partition and format the new drive. Adding an Existing Virtual Disk from the Console 1. Open the virtual machine settings editor (VM > Settings) and click Add. The Add Hardware Wizard guides you through the steps to create your virtual disk. Click Next to start configuring the virtual disk. 2.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Adding a New Virtual Disk from the Management Interface To add a new virtual disk to a virtual machine, make sure the virtual machine is powered off, then complete the following steps. 1. On the Hardware page, click Add Device. The Add Device Wizard starts. 2. Click Hard Disk. The virtual disk type page appears. 3. To create a new virtual disk, decide whether you want the disk to be IDE or SCSI. The wizard suggests the recommended type.
C H A P T E R 6 Using Disks in a Virtual Machine 6. Specify the virtual device node in the Virtual IDE Node or Virtual SCSI Node list, as appropriate. 7. Decide if you want to make this virtual disk an independent disk. Under Disk Mode, check Independent, then check Persistent or Nonpersistent. Independent disks are not included in snapshots. Note: The independent disk option should be used only by advanced users who need it for special-purpose configurations. You have two options for an independent disk.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Adding an Existing Virtual Disk from the Management Interface To add an existing virtual disk to a virtual machine, make sure the virtual machine is powered off, then complete the following steps. 1. On the Hardware page, click Add Device. The Add Device Wizard starts. 2. Click Hard Disk. The virtual disk type page appears. 3. To add an existing virtual disk, choose the correct disk type — whether the disk is IDE or SCSI.
C H A P T E R 6 Using Disks in a Virtual Machine You have two options for an independent disk. You can make the disk Persistent, which means that changes are immediately and permanently written to the disk. Or you can make the disk Nonpersistent, which means that changes to the disk are discarded when you power off or reset the virtual machine. 7. Click OK to add the virtual disk.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Adding Physical Disks to a Virtual Machine Use the virtual machine settings editor (VM > Settings) to add a physical disk to your virtual machine. The virtual machine should be powered off before you begin. If it is not, shut down the guest operating system normally, then click Power Off on the VMware Virtual Machine Console toolbar. Caution: Physical disks are an advanced feature and should be configured only by advanced users. 1.
C H A P T E R 6 Using Disks in a Virtual Machine • To use specific partitions on the disk, select Use individual partitions, then click Next. The Select Partition screen appears. Select which partitions you want to use in the virtual machine. Only the partitions you select in this step are visible to the virtual machine. All other partitions are hidden from it. After you select the partitions, click Next. 5. The Specify Disk File screen appears.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Click Advanced if you want to specify the virtual machine SCSI or IDE device node to which this disk is connected. On the advanced settings screen, you can also specify a disk mode. This is useful in certain special-purpose configurations in which you want to exclude disks from the snapshot. For more information on the snapshot feature, see Taking Snapshots on page 153. You can choose between a normal disk and an independent disk.
C H A P T E R 6 Using Disks in a Virtual Machine Adding DVD-ROM or CD-ROM Drives to a Virtual Machine You can add one or more DVD-ROM or CD-ROM drives to your virtual machine. You can connect the virtual machine’s drive to a physical drive on the host machine or to an ISO image file. You can configure the virtual DVD-ROM or CD-ROM drive as either IDE or SCSI, no matter what kind of physical drive you connect it to.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide • If you selected Use ISO Image, enter the path and filename for the image file or click Browse to navigate to the file. If you do not want the CD-ROM drive connected when the virtual machine starts, deselect Connect at power on. Click Advanced if you want to specify the device node the drive should use in the virtual machine. After you have made any desired changes in these settings, click Finish. 5.
C H A P T E R 6 Using Disks in a Virtual Machine Adding Floppy Drives to a Virtual Machine You can add floppy drives to your virtual machine, up to a total of two floppy drives. A virtual floppy drive can connect to a physical floppy drive on the host computer, to an existing floppy image file or to a blank floppy image file. Adding a Floppy Drive from the Console 1. Open the virtual machine settings editor (VM > Settings) and click Add to start the Add Hardware Wizard. 2.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Adding a Floppy Drive from the Management Interface If your server contains a floppy drive, you can add a virtual floppy drive to the virtual machine. You can point the floppy drive to a floppy disk image file. A device can be connected to only one virtual machine on a server at a time. To add a new virtual floppy drive to a virtual machine, make sure the virtual machine is powered off, then complete the following steps. 1. On the Hardware page, click Add Device.
C H A P T E R 6 Using Disks in a Virtual Machine Using VMware Virtual Disk Manager VMware Virtual Disk Manager is a utility in GSX Server that allows you to create, manage and modify virtual disk files from the command line or within scripts. One key feature is the ability to enlarge a virtual disk so its maximum capacity is larger than it was when you created it.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide You can use the virtual disk manager with virtual disks created under VMware GSX Server, VMware Workstation and VMware VirtualCenter (provided the virtual disk was created on a GSX Server host managed by VirtualCenter). You cannot use the virtual disk manager to create physical (raw) disks. Physical disks cannot be shrunk, neither by the virtual disk manager nor by GSX Server.
C H A P T E R 6 Using Disks in a Virtual Machine Options/Parameters Description -r Converts the virtual disk specified by, creating a new virtual disk as a result. You must use the -t option to specify the disk type to which the virtual disk is converted and you must specify the name of the target virtual disk ().
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Options/Parameters Description -d Defragments the specified virtual disk. You can defragment only growable virtual disks. You cannot defragment preallocated virtual disks. -p Prepares a virtual disk for shrinking. If the virtual disk is partitioned into volumes, each volume must be prepared separately. The volume must be mounted by VMware DiskMount at . After you prepare the volume, unmount it with VMware DiskMount.
C H A P T E R 6 Using Disks in a Virtual Machine Shrinking Virtual Disks with VMware Virtual Disk Manager If the virtual disk is located on a Windows host, you can use the virtual disk manager to prepare and shrink virtual disks. You cannot use the virtual disk manager to prepare or shrink virtual disks located on a Linux host. You cannot use the virtual disk manager to shrink physical disks. Shrinking a virtual disk does not reduce the maximum capacity of the virtual disk itself.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Converting a Virtual Disk To convert a virtual disk from preallocated to a growable disk, use the following: vmware-vdiskmanager -r sourceDisk.vmdk -t 0 targetDisk.vmdk This converts the disk from its original preallocated type to a growable virtual disk consisting of a single virtual disk file.
C H A P T E R 6 Using Disks in a Virtual Machine Preparing a Virtual Disk for Shrinking Before you can shrink a virtual disk, you must prepare each volume on the disk for shrinking. To prepare a volume, it must be located on a Windows host. First you must mount the volume. To mount the volume, use the VMware DiskMount Utility, available as a free download from the VMware Web site.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Configuring a Dual-Boot Computer for Use with a Virtual Machine Many users install GSX Server on a dual-boot or multiple-boot computer so they can run one or more of the existing operating systems in a virtual machine. If you are doing this, you may want to use the existing installation of an operating system rather than reinstall it in a virtual machine.
C H A P T E R 6 Using Disks in a Virtual Machine hardware, however, booting a previously installed operating system within a virtual machine may not work. Technical notes in this section document the issues most commonly encountered with various guest operating systems. Read the notes that apply to your guest operating system before you begin to set up your virtual machine.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide • Do Not Use Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 Dynamic Disks as Physical Disks on page 213 Windows NT • Configuring Dual- or Multiple-Boot Systems to Run with GSX Server on page 200 • Setting Up Hardware Profiles in Virtual Machines on page 206 Windows 98 • Configuring Dual- or Multiple-Boot Systems to Run with GSX Server on page 200 • Setting Up Hardware Profiles in Virtual Machines on page 206 • Setting Up the SVGA Video Driver for Use with a Windows
C H A P T E R 6 Using Disks in a Virtual Machine Use the New Virtual Machine Wizard or the VMware Management Interface to configure GSX Server to use existing physical disk partitions. The wizard guides you though creating a configuration for a new virtual machine including configuring the physical disk description files. Typically, you rerun the wizard to create a separate configuration for each guest operating system installed on a raw partition.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide of LILO is located — usually the partition with the /boot directory. If LILO can't access the rest of itself, an error message like the one above appears. To avoid the problem, follow the configuration steps below and be sure to select the native Linux partition where the rest of LILO is located. The next time the virtual machine tries to boot, the LILO code in the MBR should be able to access the rest of LILO and display the normal LILO: prompt.
C H A P T E R 6 Using Disks in a Virtual Machine Use Disk Management (Start > Settings > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management > Storage > Disk Management). Select the partition you want to unmap, then from the Action menu select All Tasks > Change Drive Letter and Path. Click the Remove button. 6.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide system natively. This is necessary because any changes to sectors on the physical disk that have been modified on the disk invalidate the snapshot for the disk. Configuring a Linux Host 1. If you are running a Windows guest operating system, read Setting Up Hardware Profiles in Virtual Machines on page 206. You should boot the guest operating system natively on the computer and create a hardware profile for the virtual machine before proceeding. 2.
C H A P T E R 6 Using Disks in a Virtual Machine 6. To configure a virtual machine to run from a physical disk partition, start the New Virtual Machine Wizard (File > New > New Virtual Machine) and select Custom. 7. When you reach the Select a Disk step, select Use a physical disk. 8. Complete the wizard steps, specifying the appropriate disk or partition to use for this virtual machine.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide For Windows guest operating systems, Plug and Play reconfigures Windows. Set up your virtual hardware profile with the devices found and configured by Plug and Play. See Setting Up Hardware Profiles in Virtual Machines on page 206 for more information. 13. Install VMware Tools in your guest operating system.
C H A P T E R 6 Using Disks in a Virtual Machine • 82093AA IOAPIC This set of virtual devices is different from the set of physical hardware devices on the host computer and is independent of the underlying hardware with a few exceptions (the processor itself is such an exception). This feature provides a stable platform and allows operating system images installed within a virtual machine to be migrated to other physical machines, regardless of the configuration of the physical machine.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide include audio, MIDI and joystick devices, Ethernet and other network devices and USB devices. Remember to disable them in the Virtual Machine hardware profile only. Skip this step if you are running Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Server 2003. The initial Plug and Play phase detects device mismatches. 3.
C H A P T E R 6 Using Disks in a Virtual Machine If you want to enable the virtual machine’s sound adapter to work inside the Windows NT guest operating system, finish the remaining steps in this section, then refer to Configuring Sound on page 337. Windows 95 and Windows 98 guests: You should see New Hardware Detected dialog boxes as Plug and Play runs and discovers the virtual hardware. Windows prompts you for locations to search for device drivers.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Running a Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 Virtual Machine from an Existing Multiple-Boot Installation If you have installed Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 on a computer, then try to run that same installation of the operating system as a GSX Server virtual machine running from a physical disk, the virtual machine may fail with an error message reporting an inaccessible boot device.
C H A P T E R 6 Using Disks in a Virtual Machine 7. Shut down Windows 95 and reboot the system. 8. Boot into your host operating system (Linux, Windows 2000 or Windows Server 2003). 9. Start the Windows 95 virtual machine. 10. Select Virtual Machine from the list of profiles when prompted. 11. If you are prompted to select the CPU Bridge, accept the default, then click OK. 12. Restart Windows 95 when prompted. 13. Again, select Virtual Machine from the list of profiles when prompted. 14.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide physical machine. For more details on hardware profiles, see Setting Up Hardware Profiles in Virtual Machines on page 206. 1. Boot Windows 98 natively (not in a virtual machine). 2. Right-click the My Computer icon on the desktop, then select Properties. 3. Click the Hardware Profiles tab. 4. Highlight the Original Configuration profile, then click Copy. 5. Name the profile Virtual Machine, then click OK.
C H A P T E R 6 Using Disks in a Virtual Machine 23. Open the Device Manager. It should show that you have • Standard PCI Graphics Adapter • VMware SVGA Display Adapter 24. Shut down the Windows 98 virtual machine and your host operating system. 25. Boot natively into Windows 98, then start the Device Manager. 26. Select the VMware SVGA device if listed, then click Remove. 27. Select the Remove from Specific Configuration radio button, then select Physical Machine from the configuration list. 28.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Configuring Dual- or Multiple-Boot SCSI Systems to Run with VMware GSX Server on a Linux Host It may be possible to configure GSX Server so that you can use an operating system already installed and configured on a SCSI disk as a guest operating system inside a GSX Server virtual machine. Using an existing physical SCSI disk — also called a SCSI raw disk — inside a virtual machine is supported only if the host has a BusLogic SCSI adapter.
C H A P T E R 6 Using Disks in a Virtual Machine unaware of the other, data corruption may occur if both operating systems read or write to the same partition. It is critical that the virtual machine not be allowed to modify any partition mounted under the Linux host or in use by another virtual machine. To safeguard against this problem, be sure the partition you use for the virtual machine is not mounted under the Linux host. 5. Set the device group membership or device ownership.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Setting Up the Virtual Machine Configuration 1. Launch the VMware Virtual Machine Console. 2. Start the New Virtual Machine Wizard (File > New > New Virtual Machine) and select Custom. 3. When you reach the Select a Disk step, select Use a physical disk. The Select a Physical Disk screen appears. 4. In the Device list, select the physical drive. Under Usage, select whether to use the entire disk or individual partitions.
C H A P T E R 6 Using Disks in a Virtual Machine For example, if your SCSI drive has SCSI ID 2, select SCSI 0:2. If you do not know the SCSI ID set on your physical SCSI drive, try using SCSI 0:0. On the advanced settings screen, you can also specify a disk mode. This is useful in certain special-purpose configurations in which you want to exclude disks from the snapshot. For more information on the snapshot feature, see Taking Snapshots on page 153. Normal disks are included in the snapshot.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide host and you try to boot that disk inside a virtual machine, the boot program can fail if the host geometry does not match the geometry used by the BusLogic virtual SCSI adapter. The symptoms are that you see the first part of the boot loader — possibly an LI from LILO, for example — but then the boot either stops or crashes.
C H A P T E R 6 Using Disks in a Virtual Machine 3 on the host and as SCSI ID 0 in your virtual machine’s configuration file, it would move if you were running Solaris, and most likely Solaris would not boot. The precise dependencies in various operating systems can be complex. That is why it is safest to configure SCSI physical disks in a virtual machine using the same SCSI ID as they use on the host.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Installing an Operating System onto a Physical Partition from a Virtual Machine In some situations, you may want to install a guest operating system directly on a physical disk or partition — also known as a raw disk — even if you do not need to boot that disk on the host, outside of the virtual machine. It is possible to use either an unused partition or a completely unused disk on the host as a disk in the virtual machine.
C H A P T E R 6 Using Disks in a Virtual Machine Read the section appropriate to your GSX Server host operating system. • Configuring a Windows Host on page 221 • Configuring a Linux Host on page 223 Configuring a Windows Host The following sections describe configuring physical disks on a Windows host.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide 3. When you reach the Select a Disk step, select Use a physical disk. 4. Choose the physical hard disk to use from the drop-down list. Select whether you want to use the entire disk or use only individual partitions on the disk. Click Next. 5. If you selected Use individual partitions in the previous step, select which partitions you want to use in the virtual machine. If you selected Use entire disk, this step does not appear. Click Next. 6.
C H A P T E R 6 Using Disks in a Virtual Machine Caution: Corruption is possible if you allow the virtual machine to modify a partition that is simultaneously mounted under Windows. Since the virtual machine and guest operating system access a physical disk partition while the host continues to run Windows, it is critical that you not allow the virtual machine to modify any partition mounted by the host or in use by another virtual machine.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide group ID disk. If this is the case, you can add GSX Server users to the disk group. Another option is to change the owner of the device. Please think carefully about security issues when you explore different options here. It is a good idea to grant GSX Server users access to all /dev/hd[abcd] raw devices that contain operating systems or boot managers, then rely on GSX Server’s physical disk configuration files to guard access.
C H A P T E R 6 Using Disks in a Virtual Machine Disk Performance in Windows NT Guests on Multiprocessor Hosts Some users have seen slower than expected disk input and output performance when running Windows NT guest operating systems. They see the problem in GSX Server virtual machines using IDE virtual disks on multiprocessor host computers. The I/O issue is especially noticeable when the virtual machine is booting.
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CHAPTER Networking 7 VMware GSX Server provides virtual networking components that let you create a wide range of configurations. If you create a virtual machine with the New Virtual Machine Wizard, the wizard lets you choose any of the common configurations — bridged networking, network address translation (NAT) and host-only networking. The wizard then connects the virtual machine to the appropriate virtual network.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide The first topics in this section give you a quick look at the virtual networking components that GSX Server provides and show how you can use them with your virtual machine. The rest of the section provides more detail on some networking capabilities and specialized configurations.
C H A P T E R 7 Networking Components of the Virtual Network The following items are components of a virtual network: Virtual switch — Like a physical switch, a virtual switch lets you connect other networking components together. Virtual switches are created as needed by the GSX Server software, up to a total of ten switches on a Windows host or 100 switches on a Linux host. You can connect one or more virtual machines to a switch.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide NAT device — The NAT (network address translation) device allows you to connect your virtual machines to an external network when you have only one IP network address on the physical network, and that address is used by the host computer. You can, for example, use NAT to connect your virtual machines to the Internet through a dial-up connection on the host computer or through the host computer’s Ethernet adapter or wireless Ethernet adapter.
C H A P T E R 7 Networking Common Networking Configurations The following sections illustrate the networking configurations that are set up for you automatically when you choose the standard networking options in the New Virtual Machine Wizard or virtual machine settings editor.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide address. Your network administrator can tell you whether IP addresses are available for your virtual machine and what networking settings you should use in the guest operating system. Generally, your guest operating system may acquire an IP address and other network details automatically from a DHCP server, or you may need to set the IP address and other details manually in the guest operating system.
C H A P T E R 7 Networking If you want to connect to the Internet or other TCP/IP network using the host computer’s dial-up networking or broadband connection and you are not able to give your virtual machine an IP address on the external network, NAT is often the easiest way to give your virtual machine access to that network. NAT also allows you to connect to a TCP/IP network using a Token Ring adapter on the host computer.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Host-Only Networking Virtual Ethernet adapter Routing and Connection Sharing • If you install the proper routing or proxy software on your host computer, you can establish a connection between the host virtual Ethernet adapter and a physical network adapter on the host computer. This allows you, for example, to connect the virtual machine to a Token Ring or other non-Ethernet network.
C H A P T E R 7 Networking Custom Networking Configurations The virtual networking components provided by GSX Server make it possible for you to create sophisticated virtual networks. The virtual networks can be connected to one or more external networks, or they may run entirely on the host computer. Setting up networking components for your custom virtual network is a straightforward process.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide To set up this configuration, you must create four virtual machines and use the virtual machine settings editor to adjust the settings for their virtual Ethernet adapters. You also need to install the appropriate guest operating systems and application software in each virtual machine and make the appropriate networking settings in each virtual machine. 1. Set up four virtual machines using the New Virtual Machine Wizard.
C H A P T E R 7 Networking Note: On a Windows host, you may skip the steps for configuring network addresses manually and, instead, use GSX Server’s DHCP server. Choose Host > Virtual Network Settings > DHCP and add VMnet2 and VMnet3 to the list of virtual networks served by the virtual DHCP server. Then skip to step 9. On a Windows host, open a command prompt on the host computer and run ipconfig /all. Note the network addresses used by each virtual adapter.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Changing the Networking Configuration Using the virtual machine settings editor (VM > Settings), you can change the configuration of your virtual networks by • Adding and Modifying Virtual Network Adapters on page 238 • Configuring Bridged Networking Options on a Windows Host on page 242 • Enabling, Disabling, Adding and Removing Host Virtual Adapters on page 247 Adding and Modifying Virtual Network Adapters You can add new or configure existing virtual network adap
C H A P T E R 7 Networking 4. Specify the type of networking this virtual NIC uses. Select Bridged, NAT, Hostonly, Custom or Named. If you select Custom, choose the VMnet virtual network you want to use for the network from the drop-down list. Note: Although VMnet0, VMnet1 and VMnet8 are available in this list, they are normally used for bridged, host-only and NAT configurations, respectively. Special steps are required to make them available for use in custom configurations.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide lease. If the IP address is set statically, be sure the guest has an address on the correct virtual network. Adding and Configuring a Virtual Network Adapter from the Management Interface To add a new virtual network adapter to a virtual machine, make sure the virtual machine is powered off, then complete the following steps. 1. On the Hardware page, click Add Device. The Add Device Wizard starts. 2. Click Network Adapter. The Network Adapter page appears. 3.
C H A P T E R 7 Networking To change the configuration of an existing virtual network adapter, complete the following steps. 1. In the Hardware page, under Network Adapter, click Edit. The Network Adapter page appears. 2. To connect the virtual network adapter when the virtual machine is powered on, check Connect at Power On. 3. In the Virtual Device list, select the network driver you want the virtual machine to use. Choose either the vlance or vmxnet driver. 4.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Configuring Bridged Networking Options on a Windows Host You can view and change the settings for bridged networking on your host. These changes affect all virtual machines using bridged networking on the host. You can decide which network adapters on your host to use for bridged networking. You can map specific network adapters to specific virtual networks (VMnets). 1. Launch a VMware Virtual Machine Console. 2. Choose Host > Virtual Network Settings.
C H A P T E R 7 Networking 4. To exclude one or more physical Ethernet adapters from the list to which VMnet0 may be bridged, click the Automatic Bridging tab. To exclude an Ethernet adapter, click Add to add it to the list of excluded devices. In the Choose Network Adapters dialog box, select the listing for the adapter you want to exclude, then click OK. To remove an adapter from the list of excluded adapters, select its name in the list, then click Remove.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide 5. To designate a physical Ethernet adapter to be used for bridged networking on virtual switches named VMnet2–VMnet7, click the Host Virtual Network Mapping tab. Choose an adapter from the drop-down list beside the name of the virtual switch you want to use. If you are using teamed network adapters on your host, you can choose the teamed NIC for VMnet0. Caution: Be careful when you change the bridged adapter mappings.
C H A P T E R 7 Networking 6. To make changes to the subnet or the DHCP settings for a virtual network, click the button on the right that corresponds to the virtual network you want to configure, then choose Subnet or DHCP. Changing the Subnet In the Subnet dialog box, you can change the subnet’s IP address and the subnet mask. The address should specify a valid network address that is suitable for use with the subnet mask. The default subnet mask is 255.255.255.0 (a class-C network).
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Changing DHCP Settings In the DHCP settings dialog box, you can change the range of IP addresses provided by the DHCP server on a particular virtual network. You can also set the duration of leases provided to clients on the virtual network. 7. When you have made all the changes you want to make on all tabs of the VMware Network Editor, click OK. 246 www.vmware.
C H A P T E R 7 Networking Enabling, Disabling, Adding and Removing Host Virtual Adapters When you install GSX Server, two network adapters are added to the configuration of your host operating system — one that allows the host to connect to the host-only network and one that allows the host to connect to the NAT network. If you are not using these adapters, you may wish to remove them (users on Windows hosts can choose to disable the adapters instead of removing them).
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Adding a Host Virtual Adapter to a Windows Host Follow these steps to add a host virtual adapter to a Windows host. 1. Choose Host > Virtual Network Settings > Host Virtual Adapters. 2. Click Add new adapter. 3. Choose the virtual network on which you want to use the adapter and click OK. 4. Click Apply. 5. Click OK to close the Virtual Network Editor.
C H A P T E R 7 Networking Answer yes if you still want to use any networking in your virtual machines, then continue to the next question. Otherwise, answer no to remove all networking. 3. If you answer yes, the script prompts you to select the wizard or editor to edit your network configuration. Select editor. This is the only way to delete virtual network adapters without removing all of them.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Advanced Networking Topics The following sections describe advanced networking topics: • Selecting IP Addresses on a Host-Only Network or NAT Configuration on page 250 • Avoiding IP Packet Leakage in a Host-Only Network on page 253 • Maintaining and Changing the MAC Address of a Virtual Machine on page 255 • Controlling Routing Information for a Host-Only Network on a Linux Host on page 256 • Other Potential Issues with Host-Only Networking on a Linux Host on page 25
C H A P T E R 7 Networking When host-only networking is enabled at the time GSX Server is installed, the network number to use for the virtual network is automatically selected as an unused private IP network number. To find out what network is used on a Windows host, choose Host > Virtual Network Settings and check the subnet number associated with the virtual network. On a Linux host, run ifconfig in a terminal.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Configuring the DHCP Server on a Windows Host On a Windows host, you configure the DHCP server using the Virtual Network Editor (Host > Virtual Network Settings > DHCP). Select the virtual network for which you want to change settings and click Properties. Make the desired changes, then click OK. Choosing the Method for Assigning IP Addresses For virtual machines that you do not expect to keep for long, use DHCP and let it allocate an IP address.
C H A P T E R 7 Networking Address Use on a Host-Only Network Range Address use Example .1 Host machine 192.168.0.1 .2–.127 Static addresses 192.168.0.2–192.168.0.127 .128–.253 DHCP-assigned 192.168.0.128–192.168.0.253 .254 DHCP server 192.168.0.254 .255 Broadcasting 192.168.0.255 Address Use on a NAT Network Range Address use Example .1 Host machine 192.168.0.1 .2 NAT device 192.168.0.2 .3–.127 Static addresses 192.168.0.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide forwarding is turned on. To turn it off, right-click the icon and disable Routing and Remote Access. A red dot appears, indicating that IP forwarding is disabled. Linux Hosts If you find packets leaking out of a host-only network on a Linux host computer, check to see if forwarding has mistakenly been enabled on the host machine. If it is enabled, disable it.
C H A P T E R 7 Networking Maintaining and Changing the MAC Address of a Virtual Machine When a virtual machine is powered on, GSX Server automatically assigns each of its virtual network adapters an Ethernet MAC address. MAC stands for media access control. A MAC address is the unique address assigned to each Ethernet device. The software guarantees that virtual machines are assigned unique MAC addresses within a given host system.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide a unique MAC address for each virtual machine within a networked environment, you can assign the address manually instead of letting GSX Server assign it automatically. To assign the same, unique MAC address to any virtual machine manually, use a text editor to remove three lines from the configuration file and add one line. The configuration file has a.vmx extension at the end of the filename.
C H A P T E R 7 Networking If, however, the processes are running because they supply routing information, then you need to configure them so they do not advertise routes to the host-only network. Unfortunately, the version of routed that comes with many distributions of Linux has no support for specifying that an interface should not be advertised. Consult the routed(8) manual page for your system in case you have a more contemporary version of the software. The gated process requires some configuration.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide This keeps dhcpd from probing for all available network interfaces. If the above solutions do not work for your DHCP server program, then it likely is old. You can try upgrading to a more current version such as the DHCP software available from the ISC Web site at www.isc.org.
C H A P T E R 7 Networking Do you wish to configure another bridged network? (yes/no) [no] Answer yes. 3. If you have additional physical Ethernet adapters not yet connected to a bridged network, the prompt is repeated, showing information about all currently configured bridged networks. 4. When you have set up all the bridged networks you want, type no.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide VMware has not tested and does not support network adapter teams with GSX Server on Linux hosts. GSX Server supports teamed Broadcom-based network adapters when used with Broadcom teaming software in the following modes: • Generic Trunking (FEC/GEC/802.3ad-Draft Static) • Link Aggregation (802.3ad) • Smart Load Balance and Fail Over GSX Server supports teamed Intel-based network adapters when used with Intel PROSet version 6.
C H A P T E R 7 Networking Alternately, you can use the Virtual Network Editor to either map the teamed NIC to VMnet0 or exclude the physical adapters from any automatic bridging by GSX Server. For information, see Configuring Bridged Networking Options on a Windows Host on page 242. Changing the Teamed Networking Mode If you change the teamed networking mode, you must delete the original NIC team on the host and create a new team. Do not modify a virtual machine’s NIC teaming settings.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide 5. Click OK to close the Virtual Network Editor. Setting Up the Second Host-Only Interface on a Linux Host 1. As root (su -), run the GSX Server configuration program. vmware-config.pl Caution: In order to configure GSX Server correctly, the vmware-config.pl configuration program requires all virtual machines to be shut down. The program shuts down any running virtual machines automatically. 2. Use the wizard to modify your configuration.
C H A P T E R 7 Networking 3. The virtual machine is configured with two virtual Ethernet adapters. One virtual adapter is connected to the default host-only interface (VMnet1) and the other virtual adapter is connected to the newly created host-only interface (VMnet2). Configuration 1 — Connect to the Default Host-Only Interface 1. Create the virtual machine or use an existing virtual machine. 2. Launch a VMware Virtual Machine Console and open the virtual machine. 3.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide the Ethernet adapters as you would physical adapters on a physical computer, giving each adapter an IP address on the appropriate VMnet subnet. On Windows hosts, you can open a command prompt and run ipconfig /all to see what IP addresses each host-only network is using. On Linux hosts, you can open a terminal and run ifconfig to see what IP addresses each host-only network is using.
C H A P T E R 7 Networking Caution: In order to configure GSX Server correctly, the vmware-config.pl configuration program requires all virtual machines to be shut down. The program shuts down any running virtual machines automatically. 2. Use the wizard to modify your configuration. After asking about a NAT network, the program asks: Do you want to be able to use host-only networking in your virtual machines? Answer yes.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Virtual Machine 2 — Connected to the Newly Created Host-Only Interface 1. Create the virtual machine or use an existing virtual machine. 2. Launch a VMware Virtual Machine Console and open the virtual machine. 3. Edit the configuration using the virtual machine settings editor (VM > Settings). Select NIC, select Custom, then choose VMnet2 (Host-only) (on a Windows host) or /dev/vmnet2 (on a Linux host) from the drop-down list on the right.
C H A P T E R 7 Networking 3. Install the router software — on the host computer or in the third virtual machine, depending on the approach you are using. 4. Configure networking in the first two virtual machines to use addresses on the appropriate host-only network. On Windows hosts, you can open a command prompt and run ipconfig /all to see what IP addresses each host-only network is using. On Linux hosts, you can open a terminal and run ifconfig to see what IP addresses each host-only network is using.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide To set the virtual machine’s Ethernet adapter to promiscuous mode, you must launch GSX Server as root because you must have read and write access to the VMnet device. For example, if you are using bridged networking, you must have access to /dev/vmnet0. To grant selected other users read and write access to the VMnet device, you can create a new group, add the appropriate users to the group and grant that group read and write access to the appropriate device.
C H A P T E R 7 Networking Understanding NAT Network address translation — or NAT — provides a simple way for virtual machines to use most client applications over almost any type of network connection available to the host. The only requirement for NAT is that the network connection must support TCP/IP. NAT is useful when you have a limited supply of IP addresses or are connected to the network through a non-Ethernet network adapter.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide When data arrives from the external network for the virtual machine on the private network, the NAT device receives the data, replaces the network address with that of the virtual machine and forwards the data to the virtual machine on the virtual network. This translation occurs automatically and requires minimal configuration on the guest and the host.
C H A P T E R 7 Networking The virtual machines in the private NAT network are not, themselves, accessible via DNS. If you want the virtual machines running on the NAT network to access each other by DNS names, you must set up a private DNS server connected to the NAT network. External Access from the NAT Network In general, any protocol using TCP or UDP can be used automatically by a virtual machine on the NAT network so long as the virtual machine initiates the network connection.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide WINS server so long as those shared files and folders are in the same workgroup or domain. Advanced NAT Configuration Read the section that corresponds to your host operating system for information on configuring NAT for your virtual machines. Windows Hosts Configure the NAT device using the Virtual Network Editor (Host > Virtual Network Settings > NAT). You can stop, restart and start the virtual NAT device by clicking the appropriate button.
C H A P T E R 7 Networking To add a new port for either TCP or UDP, click Add. If a port is already listed, you can change its settings. Select its name in the list, then click Properties. Or click Remove to remove the selected port. When you click Add, another dialog box appears. In the Host port field, type the number of the incoming TCP or UDP port. For example, incoming HTTP requests are usually on port 80.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide When you have made all the networking changes you want, click OK. Linux Hosts Use the NAT configuration file on the host to configure the NAT device. This file is /etc/vmware/vmnet8/nat/nat.conf. The configuration file is divided into sections. Each section configures a part of the NAT device. Text surrounded by square brackets — such as [host] — marks the beginning of a section. In each section is a configuration parameter that can be set.
C H A P T E R 7 Networking This example creates a mapping from port 8887 on the host to the IP address 192.168.27.128 and port 21. When this mapping is set and an external machine connects to the host at port 8887, the network packets are automatically forwarded to port 21 (the standard port for FTP) on the virtual machine with IP address 192.168.27.128. The [incomingudp] Section Use this section to configure UDP port forwarding for NAT.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide particular port on the server (the destination port). For security reasons, some servers accept connections only from source ports below 1024. If a virtual machine using NAT attempts to connect to a server that requires the client to use a source port below 1024, it is important that the NAT device forward the request from a port below 1024. You can specify this behavior in the vmnetnat.conf file.
C H A P T E R 7 Networking Using NAT with NetLogon When using NAT networking in a virtual machine with a Windows guest operating system running on a Windows host, you can use NetLogon to log on to a Windows domain from the virtual machine. You can then access file shares known by the WINS server in the domain. To use NetLogon, you need to know how WINS servers and Windows domain controllers work. This section explains how to set up the virtual machine to use NetLogon.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide 2. In the Network Connections window, right-click the virtual network adapter and select Properties. 3. In the Properties dialog box, select Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), then click Properties. 4. In the TCP/IP Properties dialog box, click Advanced. 5. Click the WINS tab, then click Add. 6. In the TCP/IP WINS Server dialog box, enter the IP address for the WINS server in the WINS server field, then click OK.
C H A P T E R 7 Networking # Allows the source to have any OUI. Enable this if you change the OUI # in the MAC address of your virtual machines. #allowAnyOUI = 1 [udp] # Timeout in seconds, 0 = no timeout, default = 60; real value might # be up to 100% longer timeout = 30 [incomingtcp] # Use these with care - anyone can enter into your virtual machine through # these... # FTP (both active and passive FTP is always enabled) # ftp localhost 8887 #8887 = 192.168.27.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Using Samba for File Sharing on a Linux Host On a Linux host computer, GSX Server can automatically install and configure a Samba server to act as a file server for Microsoft Windows guest operating systems. You can then use Windows Explorer in the virtual machine to move and copy files between virtual machine and host — or between virtual machines on the same network — just as you would with files on physical computers that share a network connection.
C H A P T E R 7 Networking Pay particular attention to the section on encrypted passwords. If you have enabled clear-text passwords in the guest operating system, be sure that smb.conf is set up to use clear-text passwords. Similarly, if you are using encrypted passwords, you must have the same setting in the guest operating system and in smb.conf. Note: Using Samba printer sharing with virtual machines is not supported. Consult the man pages for guidance on configuring Samba for printing. Sample smb.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide # VMware extension to use a different shared memory access key on each # Samba server running on this host sysv shm key = /dev/vmnet1 ; ; ; ; log log max max file = /etc/vmware/vmnet1/smb/var/log.
C H A P T E R 7 Networking # # # # # may wish to enable NOTE: Whenever you modify this file you should run the command "testparm" to check that you have not many any basic syntactic errors. # Global Settings [global] interfaces = eth0 workgroup = WORKGROUP netbios name = HOSTNAME server string = Samba Host Box # # ; ; ; Note: Printers not loaded in this example. Resource definitions commented below.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide ; lprm command = cancel %p-%j ;[system] ; comment = System share ; path = / ; valid users = username ; public = no ; browsable = yes ; writable = yes ; printable = no Adding User Names and Passwords to the GSX Server Samba Password File You must be sure the Samba password file includes entries for all users of the virtual machine who will access the host’s file system.
C H A P T E R 7 Networking Caution: In order to configure GSX Server correctly, the vmware-config.pl configuration program requires all virtual machines to be shut down. The program shuts down any running virtual machines automatically. If You Are Already Running Samba If you already have Samba running on your Linux host, you should not install the GSX Server Samba server when you are installing GSX Server on your host.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide in the smb.conf file. You can define the interface parameter so your Samba server serves multiple interfaces. An example of this is: interface = eth0 vmnet1 This example tells the Samba server that it is to listen to and use both the eth0 and vmnet1 interfaces — the interfaces used by bridged and host-only networking, respectively.
C H A P T E R 7 Networking ; Access ; ; Allow connections from ; hosts allow = / ; Authentication scheme security = user encrypt passwords = yes ; ; Options ; ; Automatically load the printer list (from /etc/printcap ; by default) load printers = yes ; Gives better performance socket options = TCP_NODELAY SO_RCVBUF=8192 SO_SNDBUF=8192 ; ; Files and directories ; ; Max log size in KB max log size = 1024 ; Locks lock directory = /var/samba ; SMB passwords smb passwd file
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CHAPTER Configuring Devices 8 The following sections describe how to use various devices with a virtual machine: • Using Parallel Ports on page 290 • Using Serial Ports on page 296 • Keyboard Mapping on a Linux Host on page 310 • Using USB Devices in a Virtual Machine on page 319 • Connecting to a Generic SCSI Device on page 325 289
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Using Parallel Ports VMware GSX Server supports a partial emulation of bidirectional PS/2-style ports. On Linux hosts, GSX Server requires that the parallel port “PC-style hardware” option (CONFIG_PARPORT_PC) be built and loaded as a kernel module (that is, it must be set to “m”). GSX Server is unable to use parallel port devices if CONFIG_PARPORT_PC is built directly (compiled) into the kernel.
C H A P T E R 8 Configuring Devices Adding a Parallel Port from the Console 1. Open the virtual machine settings editor. Choose VM > Settings. 2. Click Add to start the New Hardware Wizard. 3. Select Parallel Port, then click Next. 4. Make the appropriate selection to use a physical parallel port or connect the virtual parallel port to a file, then click Next. 5. If you selected Use physical parallel port on the host, choose the port from the Physical parallel port list.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide device name here, such as /dev/parport0. If you are connecting with a Linux console to add a physical parallel port to a virtual machine on a remote Windows host, be sure to specify a Windows device name here, such as LPT1. 6. Click OK to add the parallel port. Configuring a Parallel Port on a Linux Host For the parallel port to work properly in a guest, it must first be configured properly on the host.
C H A P T E R 8 Configuring Devices Linux kernels in the 2.6.x series also use a special arbitrator that allows access to the parallel port hardware. If the parallel port is in use by the host, the guest cannot use it. If a virtual machine is using the parallel port, the host and any users accessing the host are not given access to the device. GSX Server puts a lock on the device, and this lock restricts access so only the virtual machine can use the port.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide If a virtual machine is using the parallel port, the host and any users accessing the host are not given access to the device. GSX Server puts a lock on the device, and this lock restricts access so only the virtual machine can use the port. You can choose VM > Removable Devices to disconnect the parallel port from the virtual machine and reconnect it. Parallel Ports and Linux 2.2.x Kernels The 2.2.
C H A P T E R 8 Configuring Devices the associated group is lp. To allow the GSX Server user to access the device, add the user to the associated group. To view the owner and group of the device, run this command: ls –la /dev/parport0 The third and fourth columns of the output show the owner and group, respectively. To add the user to the device group, edit the /etc/group file. On the line starting with lp, which defines the lp group, add the GSX Server user’s user name.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Using Serial Ports The following sections describe how to use serial ports with GSX Server: • Using a Serial Port on the Host Computer on page 296 • Using a File on the Host Computer on page 298 • Connecting an Application on the Host to a Virtual Machine on page 300 • Connecting Two Virtual Machines on page 303 • Special Configuration Options for Advanced Users on page 306 • Examples: Debugging over a Virtual Serial Port on page 307 A GSX Server virtual machine can
C H A P T E R 8 Configuring Devices 3. Select Serial Port, then click Next. The Serial Port Type screen appears. 4. Select Use physical serial port on the host, then click Next. The Select a Physical Serial Port screen appears. 5. Choose the port on the host computer that you want to use for this serial connection. By default, the device status setting is Connect at power on. You may deselect this setting if you wish.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Adding a Serial Port from the Management Interface 1. On the Hardware page, click Add Device. The Add Device Wizard starts. 2. Click Serial Port. The Serial Port page appears. 3. To connect this virtual machine to the host’s serial port when the virtual machine is powered on, check Connect at Power On. 4. Connect to the host’s physical serial port. In the Device list, select System Serial Port. 5. Enter the location of the device in the Location field.
C H A P T E R 8 Configuring Devices To install a virtual serial port that connects to a file on the host computer, take the following steps with the virtual machine powered off. You can add the device from the console or from the management interface. Connecting to an Output File from the Console 1. Open the virtual machine settings editor (VM > Settings). 2. Click Add to start the Add Hardware Wizard. 3. Select Serial Port, then click Next. The Serial Port Type screen appears. 4.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Connecting to an Output File from the Management Interface 1. On the Hardware page, click Add Device. The Add Device Wizard starts. 2. Click Serial Port. The Serial Port page appears. 3. To connect this virtual machine to the device when the virtual machine is powered on, check Connect at Power On. 4. Connect to a file on the host. In the Device list, select Output File. 5. Enter the location of the file in the Location field. 6.
C H A P T E R 8 Configuring Devices 3. Select Serial Port, then click Next. The Serial Port Type screen appears. 4. Select Output to named pipe, then click Next. The Specify Named Pipe screen appears. 5. Use the default pipe name, or enter another pipe name of your choice. For a serial pipe on a Windows host, the pipe name must follow the form \\.\pipe\ — that is, it must begin with \\.\pipe\. For a serial pipe on a Linux host, enter /tmp/ or another Unix socket name of your choice.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Click Advanced if you want to configure this serial port to use polled mode. This option is of interest primarily to developers who are using debugging tools that communicate over a serial connection. For more information, see Special Configuration Options for Advanced Users on page 306. 9. Click Finish, then click OK to save your configuration and close the virtual machine settings editor. 10.
C H A P T E R 8 Configuring Devices 6. Select This end is the server or This end is the client. In general, select This end is the server if you plan to start this end of the connection first. 7. Select The other end is an application. 8. Check Yield CPU on Poll if you want to configure this device to use polled mode. This option is of interest primarily to developers who are using debugging tools that communicate over a serial connection.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide 6. Use the default pipe name, or enter another pipe name of your choice. For a serial pipe on a GSX Server for Windows host, the pipe name must follow the form \\.\pipe\ — that is, it must begin with \\.\pipe\. For a serial pipe on a GSX Server for Linux host, enter /tmp/ or another Unix socket name of your choice.
C H A P T E R 8 Configuring Devices 3. Click Serial Port. The Serial Port page appears. 4. To connect this virtual machine to the device when the virtual machine is powered on, check Connect at Power On. 5. Connect to a named pipe on the host. In the Device list, select Named Pipe. 6. Enter the location of the file in the Location field. For a serial pipe on a Windows host, the pipe name must follow the form \\.\pipe\ — that is, it must begin with \\.\pipe\.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Special Configuration Options for Advanced Users Two special configuration options are available for serial connections between a virtual machine and the host or between two virtual machines. These options are of interest primarily to developers who are using debugging tools that communicate over a serial connection.
C H A P T E R 8 Configuring Devices is the number of the serial port, starting from 0. So the first serial port is serial0. is any positive integer. It specifies the time taken to transmit a character, expressed as a percentage of the default speed set for the serial port in the guest operating system. For example, a setting of 200 forces the port to take twice as long per character, or send data at half the default speed.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide To prepare the host, make sure you have a recent version of Debugging Tools for Windows — one that supports debugging over a pipe. You need version 4.0.18.0 or higher. When you are ready to begin, complete the following steps: 1. Power on the virtual machine. 2. Check to make sure the serial port is connected. Choose VM > Removable Devices. On that menu, serial should be reported as \\.\pipe\ (on Windows hosts) or /tmp/ (on Linux hosts).
C H A P T E R 8 Configuring Devices 2. Check to make sure the serial port is connected. Choose VM > Removable Devices. If the serial port is not connected, choose the virtual serial port, then Connect. 3. In the debugger virtual machine, start debugging with WinDbg or KD normally.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Keyboard Mapping on a Linux Host This section addresses the following issues and provides additional details on keyboard mapping in Linux: • My (language-specific) keyboard is not supported by GSX Server. • Some of the keys on my keyboard don’t work right in the virtual machine. • My keyboard works fine when I run a virtual machine locally, but not when I run the same virtual machine with a remote X server.
C H A P T E R 8 Configuring Devices the keyboard. Most keys have one-byte scan codes, but some keys have two-byte scan codes with prefix 0xe0. Internally, GSX Server uses a simplified version of the PC scan code that is a single nine-bit numeric value, called a v-scan code. A v-scan code is written as a three-digit hexadecimal number. The first digit is 0 or 1. For example, the left-hand Ctrl key has a one-byte scan code (0x1d); its v-scan code is 0x01d.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide • xkeymap.usekeycodeMap = true Always use key code mapping regardless of server type. • xkeymap.nokeycodeMap = true Never use key code mapping. • xkeymap.keycode. = If using key code mapping, map key code to . In this example, must be a decimal number and should be a C-syntax hexadecimal number (for example, 0x001). The easiest way to find the X key code for a key is to run xev or xmodmap -pk.
C H A P T E R 8 Configuring Devices • xkeymap.language = Use this if GSX Server has a table in xkeymap for your keyboard but can’t detect it. must be one of the tables in the xkeymap directory. (See above for location.) However, the failure to detect the keyboard probably means the table isn’t completely correct for you. • xkeymap.keysym. = If you use keysym mapping, map keysym to .
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide V-Scan Code Table These are the v-scan codes for the 104-key U.S.
C H A P T E R 8 Configuring Devices Symbol Shifted symbol Location V-scan code A 0x01e S 0x01f D 0x020 F 0x021 G 0x022 H 0x023 J 0x024 K 0x025 L 0x026 ; 0x027 ' 0x028 ` 0x029 Shift \ left | 0x02a 0x02b Z 0x02c X 0x02d C 0x02e V 0x02f B 0x030 N 0x031 M 0x032 , < 0x033 .
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Symbol Shifted symbol Location 0x03c F3 0x03d F4 0x03e F5 0x03f F6 0x040 F7 0x041 F8 0x042 F9 0x043 F10 0x044 Num Lock numeric pad Scroll Lock 0x045 0x046 Home 7 numeric pad 0x047 Up arrow 8 numeric pad 0x048 PgUp 9 numeric pad 0x049 numeric pad 0x04a numeric pad 0x04b 5 numeric pad 0x04c Right arrow 6 numeric pad 0x04d + numeric pad 0x04e Left arrow 316 V-scan code F2 4 End 1 numeric pad 0x04f Down arrow 2
C H A P T E R 8 Configuring Devices Symbol Shifted symbol Location V-scan code Ins 0 numeric pad 0x052 numeric pad 0x053 Del F11 0x057 F12 0x058 Break Pause 0x100 Enter numeric pad 0x11c Ctrl right 0x11d / numeric pad 0x135 Alt right 0x138 Home function pad 0x147 Up arrow function pad 0x148 Page Up function pad 0x149 Left arrow function pad 0x14b Right arrow function pad 0x14d End function pad 0x14f Down arrow function pad 0x150 Page Down function pad 0x1
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Symbol Shifted symbol Windows Location V-scan code right 0x15c Menu 0x15d The 84-key keyboard has a Sys Req key on the numeric pad: Symbol Shifted symbol Sys Req Location V-scan code numeric pad 0x054 Keyboards outside the U.S. usually have an extra key (often < > or < > | ) next to the left shift key: 318 Symbol Shifted symbol Location V-scan code < > 0x056 www.vmware.
C H A P T E R 8 Configuring Devices Using USB Devices in a Virtual Machine The following sections describe how to use USB devices in a virtual machine: • Notes on USB Support on page 319 • Adding a USB Controller on page 320 • Connecting USB Devices on page 321 • Using USB with a Windows Host on page 321 • Replacing USB 2.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Adding a USB Controller The USB controller is disabled by default in all virtual machines created with GSX Server. If you want to add a USB controller to the virtual machine’s configuration, complete the following steps with the virtual machine powered off. You can add the device from the console or from the management interface. Adding a USB Controller from the Console 1. Open the virtual machine settings editor. Choose VM > Settings. 2.
C H A P T E R 8 Configuring Devices Connecting USB Devices When a virtual machine is running, its window is the active window and a USB device is plugged into the host computer, the device automatically connects to the guest instead of the host. This autoconnect feature can be disabled in the USB Controller panel of the virtual machine settings editor (VM > Settings).
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide computer before the guest can synchronize with it. If this occurs, let the guest finish installing the PDA driver, dismiss any connection error warnings, then try synchronizing the PDA again. The second attempt should succeed. Replacing USB 2.0 Drivers on a Windows 2000 Host To use GSX Server on a Windows 2000 host that has USB 2.0 ports, you must use the Microsoft USB 2.0 drivers for the USB controller in the host operating system.
C H A P T E R 8 Configuring Devices 2000 and Safely Remove Hardware on Windows Server 2003. Use this icon to disconnect the device from the host before connecting it to a virtual machine. Note: When you connect a USB network or storage device in a virtual machine, you may see a message on your host that says the device can be removed safely. This is normal behavior, and you can simply dismiss the dialog box. However, do not remove the device from your physical computer.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Disconnecting USB Devices from a Virtual Machine Before unplugging a USB device or using the Removable Devices submenu to disconnect it from a virtual machine, be sure it is in a safe state. You should follow the procedures the device manufacturer specifies for unplugging the device from a physical computer.
C H A P T E R 8 Configuring Devices Connecting to a Generic SCSI Device The following sections describe how to use generic SCSI devices in a virtual machine: • Device Support in Guest Operating Systems on page 325 • Adding a Generic SCSI Device to a Virtual Machine on page 326 • Generic SCSI on a Windows Host Operating System on page 328 • Generic SCSI on a Linux Host Operating System on page 330 Generic SCSI lets a virtual machine run any SCSI device that is supported by the guest operating system in the
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide 4. In the list of vendors on the left, select BusLogic. 5. In the list of drivers on the right, select BusLogic MultiMaster PCI SCSI Host Adapters. 6. Click OK. 7. Insert the Windows NT CD when you are prompted. Click OK. 8. Reboot the guest operating system when you are prompted.
C H A P T E R 8 Configuring Devices Then choose the virtual device node where you want this device to appear in the virtual machine. A check box under Device status allows you to specify whether or not the device should be connected each time the virtual machine is powered on. Note: On a Windows host, the device should appear in the form CdRom0, Scanner0, Tape0 or Changer0. If you do not see a listing for the device, you may need to add the device to the virtual machine manually.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Generic SCSI on a Windows Host Operating System Using the SCSI Generic driver in Windows, GSX Server allows your guest operating system to operate generic SCSI devices — including scanners, tape drives and other data storage devices — in a virtual machine.
C H A P T E R 8 Configuring Devices scsiZ:Y.present = "true" scsiZ:Y.deviceType = "scsi-passthru" scsiZ:Y.fileName = "scsiX:Y" Define X, Y and Z as follows: • X is the SCSI bus the device uses on the host system. • Y is the target ID the device uses in the virtual machine and on the host. Use the same target ID in the virtual machine that the host already uses for the device to allow the device to work correctly. • Z is the SCSI bus the device uses in the virtual machine. 2.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide For example, if the problematic device is a CD-ROM drive, the entry in the configuration file might be: scsi0:4.fileName = "CdRom0" If the device on the host is located on bus 2 with target ID 4, you should change this line to: scsi0:4.fileName = "scsi2:4" The target ID the device uses in the virtual machine must be the same as the target ID the device uses on the host system. 4. You added a generic SCSI device to the virtual machine’s configuration file (.
C H A P T E R 8 Configuring Devices Each entry corresponds to a SCSI device, in the order specified in /proc/scsi/scsi, from the lowest device ID on the lowest adapter to the highest device ID on the lowest adapter, and so on to the highest device ID on the highest adapter. Do not enter /dev/st0 or /dev/scd0.
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CHAPTER Video and Sound 9 The following sections provide information on configuring the video display and sound for VMware GSX Server.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Setting Screen Color Depth in a Virtual Machine The number of screen colors available in the guest operating system depends on the screen color setting of the host operating system.
C H A P T E R 9 Video and Sound Changing Screen Color Depth in the Virtual Machine If you choose to change the color settings in the guest operating system, the approach you use depends on the combination of host and guest you are using. Follow the normal process for changing screen colors in your guest operating system. In a Windows guest, the Display Properties control panel offers only those settings that are supported.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Using Full Screen Mode on a Linux Host When you switch a virtual machine into full screen mode, GSX Server changes the full screen display resolution to better match the resolution set in the guest operating system. On a Linux host, GSX Server uses the VidMode or DGA2 extension from the XFree86 Project or Xfs from Xig to match the host resolution to the one requested by the guest running in the virtual machine.
C H A P T E R 9 Video and Sound Configuring Sound GSX Server provides a sound device compatible with the Sound Blaster AudioPCI adapter and supports sound in Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 and Linux guest operating systems. The GSX Server sound device is disabled by default and must be installed using the virtual machine settings editor (VM > Settings). Sound support includes PCM (pulse code modulation) output and input.
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CHAPTER 10 Performance Tuning for Virtual Machines The following sections offer suggestions for getting the best performance from VMware GSX Server and your virtual machines: • Allocating Memory to a Virtual Machine on page 340 • Improving Performance for Guest Operating Systems on page 343 339
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Allocating Memory to a Virtual Machine The following sections describe how you can allocate memory to a virtual machine: • Configuring Virtual Machine Memory from a Console on page 341 • Configuring Virtual Machine Memory from the Management Interface on page 342 GSX Server allows you to allocate a portion of the GSX Server host memory to each virtual machine. By adjusting this setting, you can affect the virtual machine’s performance.
C H A P T E R 1 0 Performance Tuning for Virtual Machines Configuring Virtual Machine Memory from a Console To set the size of an individual virtual machine’s memory from the VMware Virtual Machine Console, complete the following steps. 1. Connect to the virtual machine with a console. 2. Open the virtual machine settings editor (VM > Settings). The virtual machine settings editor opens with the Memory tab selected. 3. Allocate memory to the virtual machine.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Configuring Virtual Machine Memory from the Management Interface To set the size of an individual virtual machine’s memory from the VMware Management Interface, complete the following steps. 1. Connect to the virtual machine with the management interface. 2. On the Status Monitor page, choose Configure Hardware, then click Edit next to Processors and Memory. 3. Type the amount of memory to allocate to the virtual machine. The value must be a multiple of four.
C H A P T E R 1 0 Performance Tuning for Virtual Machines Improving Performance for Guest Operating Systems The tips in this section help you make adjustments to improve performance for particular guest operating systems running inside a virtual machine.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Visual Effects The fade effects that Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 use when displaying menus can be somewhat slow and make the virtual machine seem less responsive. To disable the fade effects, right-click the guest operating system desktop, then choose Properties > Appearance > Effects (on Windows XP or Windows Server 2003) or Properties > Effects (on Windows 2000) and deselect the Use transition effects for menus and tool tips check box.
C H A P T E R 1 0 Performance Tuning for Virtual Machines performance for some functions. You can install VMware Tools by choosing VM > Install VMware Tools. DMA Mode for IDE Disks Windows 95 OSR2 and higher (including Windows 98) can use direct memory access (DMA) for faster IDE hard disk access. However, DMA may not be enabled by default. You can turn on DMA access using the guest operating system’s Device Manager. 1. Right-click My Computer and choose Properties from the pop-up menu. 2.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Linux Guest Operating System Performance Tips This section offers advice for configuring a Linux guest operating system for better performance inside a GSX Server virtual machine. Note: This document pertains to the guest operating system that is running inside a GSX Server virtual machine. It does not describe actions that should be taken on Linux running on the host computer.
CHAPTER Glossary 11 Add Hardware Wizard — A point-and-click interface for adding virtual hardware to a virtual machine. To launch the wizard, power off the virtual machine, open the virtual machine settings editor, then click Add. It prompts you for information for configuring the hardware, suggesting default values in most cases. See also Virtual machine settings editor. Bridged networking — A type of network connection between a virtual machine and the rest of the world.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide translation (NAT) networking configurations. For instance, different virtual machines can be connected to the host by separate networks or connected to each other and not to the host. Any network topology is possible. EULA — The end user license agreement. Existing partition — A partition on a physical disk in the host machine. See also Physical disk. Full screen mode — A display mode in which the virtual machine’s display fills the entire screen.
C H A P T E R 1 1 Glossary Legacy virtual machine — A virtual machine created under an earlier version of GSX Server, ESX Server or Workstation. See also Current virtual machine. Network address translation (NAT) — A type of network connection that allows you to connect your virtual machines to an external network when you have only one IP network address, and that address is used by the host computer. If you use NAT, your virtual machine does not have its own IP address on the external network.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide Preallocated disk — A type of virtual disk where all disk space for the virtual machine is allocated at the time the disk is created. This is the default type of virtual disk created by GSX Server. Quick switch mode — A display mode in which the virtual machine’s display fills most of the screen. In this mode, tabs at the top of the screen allow you to switch quickly from one running virtual machine to another. See also Full screen mode. Raw disk — See physical disk.
C H A P T E R 1 1 Glossary drives or CD-ROM drives. See also Shrink. Virtual disk — A virtual disk is a file or set of files that appears as a physical disk drive to a guest operating system. These files can be on the host machine or on a remote file system. When you configure a virtual machine with a virtual disk, you can install a new operating system into the disk file without needing to repartition a physical disk or reboot the host. Virtual disks can be preallocated or growable.
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide VMware Registration Service — The service VMware GSX Server employs for managing connections to virtual machines and the management interface. This process is known as vmware-serverd on Linux hosts. VMware Tools — A suite of utilities and drivers that enhances the performance and functionality of your guest operating system.
Index Symbols .bmp 105 .cfg 36, 37 .dsk 37 .log 37 Assign IP address 250 MAC address 255 Autofit 127 Automatic bridging 242 .png 105 B .REDO 37 Basic disks on Windows host 213 .sav 37 BIOS file in virtual machine 36 provided in virtual machine 24 .std 37 .vmdk 36, 110, 165 .vmsn 37 .vmss 37 Boot loader (LILO) 201, 204, 215 Boot manager 201 .
Configuration, virtual machine 351 Configure automatic bridging 242 devices in virtual machine 141 DHCP on Linux host 251 DHCP on Windows host 252 DHCP settings 245 display resolution on a Linux host 336 generic SCSI device 325, 326 host virtual network mapping 244 memory size 340 NAT 272 NAT on Linux host 278 networking 242 parallel port 290 parallel port on a Linux host 292 screen colors 334 second bridged network on a Linux host 258 serial port 296 sound 337 USB controller 320 virtual Ethernet adapter 23
Disks (continued) persistent mode 165 physical 349 plain 163 preallocated 162 See also Virtual disk shrinking 105, 168, 195 size 162 virtual 162, 351 virtual disk files 36 virtual disk manager 191 virtual disk size in new virtual machine 39 adding virtual adapter 238 See Network virtual adapter 230 Event log 31 Existing disk, using in a virtual machine 163 Expand virtual machine screen size 127 F FAT file system 201 Fault tolerance 242 Display color depth 334 fitting virtual machine to window 127 fitting
Generic SCSI adding to virtual machine 326 avoiding concurrent access on a Linux host 331 on a Linux host 330 on a Windows host 328 permissions 331 virtual machine devices 325 Windows NT driver 325 Windows Server 2003 driver 325 Gigabit Ethernet 230, 238 Graphics support in virtual machine 24, 334 Growable disk 163 GSX Server host powering virtual machines on and off 122 Guest operating system defined 15, 348 installing 56 supported 27 Image file floppy 25 ISO 24, 187 Independent disks 164 Install guest op
Linux keyboard mapping 310 supported guest operating systems 28 VMware Tools for 71 Lock files 167 Log files console installation 33 GSX Server installation 33 virtual machine 31, 37 virtual machine event log 31 VMware Authorization Service 32 VMware Management Interface 32 VMware Registration Service 32 VMware Virtual Machine Console 31 LSI Logic SCSI adapter in virtual machine 46 M MAC address 255 Map key code 312 keyboard 310 keysym 312 Memory allocating to virtual machine 44 available in virtual machine
Network (continued) NAT 232, 269 NAT as firewall 276 NAT device 230 NAT subnet 251 packet filtering 254 promiscuous mode on a Linux host 267 routing between two host-only networks 264 routing on a Linux host 256 Samba 280 second bridged network on a Linux host 258 specifying in virtual machine 45 switch 229 teamed NICs 243, 244, 259 Token Ring 233, 234 troubleshooting DHCP on a Linux host 257 two host-only networks 261 using Gigabit Ethernet 230, 238 virtual DHCP server 233, 234 virtual Ethernet adapter 230
Physical disk (continued) controlling access 200 defined 349 do not use Windows dynamic disks 213 installing guest operating system on 220 SCSI issues 214 using in a virtual machine 163 using in new virtual machine 39 Ping 271 Plain disk 163 Power buttons for a virtual machine 101 Preallocated disk 162 adding to virtual machine 48, 54 defined 350 virtual machine to state in snapshot 153 Resume defined 350 snapshot compared to repeatable resume 158 virtual machine 121, 150 Return See Revert to snapshot Reve
SCSI (continued) connecting to generic SCSI device 325 devices in virtual machine 24 disk geometry 217 driver for Windows NT guest 325 driver for Windows Server 2003 guest 214, 325 driver for Windows XP guest 214, 325 drivers 218 generic SCSI on a Linux host 330 generic SCSI on a Windows host 328 permissions for a generic SCSI device on a Linux host 331 virtual disk 47 Serial connection between host application and virtual machine 300 between two virtual machines 303 to a serial port on the host 296 Serial
Start suspended virtual machine 121, 150 virtual machine 107, 110 VMware Tools 104 U Undoable mode compared to snapshot 159 Status bar, hide 128 Undoable mode, compared to snapshot 158 Stop virtual machine 121 Uninstall host virtual adapter 247 Subnet changing settings 245 in NAT configuration 251 on host-only network 251 Unplug USB devices 324 Support resources, technical 29 Supported guest operating system 27 Supported partition 350 Suspend defined 350 virtual machine 121, 150 SVGA in a Windows 95
Virtual machine capturing screen shot of 105 constituent files 36 creating 35 current 114 defined 351 installing software in 139 legacy 113 log 31 moving between VMware products 114 platform specifications 24 power buttons 101 powering off when host shuts down 122 powering on when host starts up 122 private 37 resuming 121, 150 running off CD-ROM/DVD-ROM discs 130 shutting down 121 special power options 118 starting 107, 110 suspending 121, 150 taking and restoring snapshot 129 window size 127 VMware guest
configuring 336 vmware-authd See VMware Authorization Service Z vmware-config-tools.
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