Specifications

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118
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 powering on, powering off,
suspending, resuming and resetting. These options are analogous to the power
operations on a physical computer.
If VMware Tools is running, you can run scripts when you change the power state of a
virtual machine. For more information, see Executing Scripts When the Virtual
Machine’s Power State Changes on page 76.
When you reset a virtual machine, you can choose either to restart the guest
operating system, which gracefully closes applications and restarts the guest
operating system, or to reset the virtual machine, which is the same as pressing the
reset button on a physical computer.
Similarly, when you power off the virtual machine, you can choose either to shut
down the guest operating system, which gracefully closes applications and shuts the
guest operating system down, or to turn off the virtual machine, which is the same as
pressing the power button on a physical computer.
All the power options are available on the Power menu. The menu items may not be
available, depending upon the current power state of the virtual machine. For
example, if the virtual machine is powered off, you cannot select any power off,
suspend, resume or reset options.
For the purpose of running scripts in the guest operating system, the commands on
the Power menu take precedence over how the toolbar power buttons are
configured.
For example, if the Suspend toolbar button is configured to run a script when you
suspend the virtual machine, and you do not want to run the script, choose Power >
Suspend. Similarly, if the Suspend toolbar button is not configured to run a script, and