6.1

Table Of Contents
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Verify that the virtual machine does not contain an independent disk.
An independent disk is excluded when you take a snapshot of the virtual machine. Linked clones that
are created or recomposed from the virtual machine will not contain the independent disk.
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If you plan to configure disposable data disks when you create linked-clone machines, remove default
user TEMP and TMP variables from the parent virtual machine.
You can also remove the pagefile.sys file to avoid duplicating the file on all the linked clones. If you
leave the pagefile.sys file on the parent virtual machine, a read-only version of the file is inherited by
the linked clones, while a second version of the file is used on the disposable data disk.
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Disable the hibernation option to reduce the size of linked-clone OS disks that are created from the
parent virtual machine.
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Before you take a snapshot of the parent virtual machine, disable searching Windows Update for device
drivers.
This Windows feature can interfere with the customization of linked-clone machines. As each linked
clone is customized, Windows might search for the best drivers on the Internet for that clone, resulting
in repeated searches and customization delays.
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In vSphere Client, disable the vApp Options setting on the parent virtual machine.
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On Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2008 R2, and Windows Server 2012 R2 machines, disable the
scheduled maintenance task that recovers disk space by removing unused features.
For example: Schtasks.exe /change /disable /tn "\Microsoft\Windows\AppxDeploymentClient\Pre-
staged app cleanup"
If left enabled, this maintenance task can remove the Sysprep customization script after the linked
clones are created, which would cause subsequent recompose operations to fail with customization
operation timeout errors. For more information, see the Microsoft KB article available at
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2928948.
You can deploy a linked-clone pool from the parent virtual machine.
What to do next
Use vSphere Client or vSphere Web Client to take a snapshot of the parent virtual machine in its powered-
down state. This snapshot is used as the baseline configuration for the first set of linked-clone machines that
are anchored to the parent virtual machine.
IMPORTANT Before you take a snapshot, completely shut down the parent virtual machine by using the Shut
Down command in the guest operating system.
Activating Windows on Linked-Clone Virtual Machines
To make sure that View Composer properly activates Windows 8 and Windows 7 operating systems on
linked-clone machines, you must use Microsoft volume activation on the parent virtual machine. The
volume-activation technology requires a volume license key.
To activate Windows 8 or Windows 7 with volume activation, you use Key Management Service (KMS),
which requires a KMS license key. See your Microsoft dealer to acquire a volume license key and configure
volume activation.
NOTE View Composer does not support Multiple Activation Key (MAK) licensing.
Before you create linked-clone machines with View Composer, you must use volume activation to activate
the operating system on the parent virtual machine.
Chapter 3 Creating and Preparing Virtual Machines
VMware, Inc. 47