Specifications

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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.
To preserve the state of the virtual machine so you can return to the same state
repeatedly, take a snapshot. For details, see Taking Snapshots on page 153.
The speed of the suspend and resume operations depends on how much data has
changed while the virtual machine has been running. In general, the first suspend
operation takes a bit longer than subsequent suspend operations do.
When you suspend a virtual machine, a file with a .vmss extension is created. This
file contains the entire state of the virtual machine. When you resume the virtual
machine, its state is restored from the .vmss file. The .vmss file cannot be used to
resume a virtual machine again from the original suspended state.
Note: You should not change a configuration file after you suspend a virtual
machine, since the virtual machine does not resume properly if the configuration file
is inconsistent with the suspended virtual machine. Also, you should not move any
physical (raw) disks that the virtual machine uses. If you do, the virtual machine
cannot access its virtual disks when it resumes.
To suspend a virtual machine:
1. If your virtual machine is running in full screen mode, return to window mode by
pressing the Ctrl-Alt key combination.
2. Click Suspend on the VMware Virtual Machine Console toolbar.
3. When GSX Server has completed suspending the virtual machine, it is safe to
close the console.
File > Exit
To resume a virtual machine that you have suspended:
1. Launch the VMware Virtual Machine Console and choose a virtual machine you
have suspended.
2. Click Resume on the console toolbar.