6.1

Configure a Parent Virtual Machine to Use Local Storage
When you prepare a parent virtual machine for View Composer, you can configure the parent virtual
machine and linked clones to store virtual-machine swap files on the local datastore. This optional strategy
lets you take advantage of local storage.
In this procedure, you configure local storage for the virtual-machine swap files, not the paging and temp
files in the guest OS. When you create a linked-clone pool, you also can redirect guest OS paging and temp
files to a separate disk. See “Worksheet for Creating a Linked-Clone Desktop Pool,” on page 61.
Prerequisites
Prepare the parent virtual machine to meet the requirements of the View Composer service. See “Prepare a
Parent Virtual Machine,” on page 45.
Procedure
1 Configure a swapfile datastore on the ESXi host or cluster on which you will deploy the linked-clone
pool.
2 When you create the parent virtual machine in vCenter Server, store the virtual-machine swap files on
the swapfile datastore on the local ESXi host or cluster:
a In vSphere Client, select the parent virtual machine.
b Click Edit Settings and click the Options tab.
c Click Swapfile location and click Store in the host's swapfile datastore.
For detailed instructions, see the VMware vSphere documentation.
When you deploy a pool from this parent virtual machine, the linked clones use the local ESXi host's
swapfile datastore.
Keep a Record of the Parent Virtual Machine's Paging-File Size
When you create a linked-clone pool, you can redirect the linked clones' guest OS paging and temp files to a
separate disk. You must configure this disk to be larger than the paging file in the guest OS.
When a linked clone that is configured with a separate disk for the disposable files is powered off, View
replaces the temporary disk with a copy of the original temporary disk that View Composer created with
the linked-clone pool. This feature can slow the growth of linked clones. However, this feature can work
only if you configure the disposable-file disk to be large enough to hold the guest OS's paging files.
Before you can configure the disposable-file disk, you must know the maximum paging-file size in the
parent virtual machine. The linked clones have the same paging-file size as the parent virtual machine from
which they are created.
As a best practice, you can remove the pagefile.sys file from the parent virtual machine before you take a
snapshot, to avoid duplicating the file on all the linked clones. See “Prepare a Parent Virtual Machine,” on
page 45.
NOTE This feature is not that same as configuring local storage for the virtual-machine swap files. See
“Configure a Parent Virtual Machine to Use Local Storage,” on page 49.
Procedure
1 In vSphere Client, right-click the parent virtual machine and click Open Console.
2 Select Start > Settings > Control Panel > System.
3 Click the Advanced tab.
Chapter 3 Creating and Preparing Virtual Machines
VMware, Inc. 49