5.0

Limitations of Moving a Virtual Machine to a Different Host
You should be aware of certain limitations before you move a virtual machine to a different host system.
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The guest operating system might not work correctly if you move a virtual machine to a host system that
has significantly different hardware, for example, if you move a virtual machine from a 64-bit host to a
32-bit host or from a multiprocessor host to a uniprocessor host.
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Player 3.x and later virtual machines support up to eight-way virtual symmetric multiprocessing (SMP)
on multiprocessor host systems. You can assign up to eight virtual processors to virtual machines running
on host systems that have at least two logical processors. If you attempt to assign two processors to a
virtual machine that is running on a uniprocessor host system, a warning message appears. You can
disregard this message and assign two processors to the virtual machine, but you must move it to a host
that has at least two logical processors before you can power it on.
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You can move a virtual machine from a 32-bit host to a 64-bit host. You cannot move a virtual machine
from a 64-bit host to a 32-bit host unless the 32-bit host has a supported 64-bit processor.
Configure a Virtual Machine for Compatibility
When you create a virtual machine that you intend to distribute to other users, you should configure the virtual
machine for maximum compatibility with all expected host systems. Users might be limited in their ability to
make changes in a virtual machine so that it is compatible with their host systems.
Procedure
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Install VMware Tools in the virtual machine.
VMware Tools significantly improves the user’s experience working with the virtual machine.
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Determine which virtual devices are actually required, and do not include any that are not needed or
useful for the software you are distributing with the virtual machine.
Generic SCSI devices are typically not appropriate.
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To connect a physical device to a virtual device, use the Auto detect options when you configure the virtual
machine.
The Auto detect options allow the virtual machine to adapt to the user’s system, and they work whether
the host operating system is Windows or Linux. Users who have no physical device receive a warning
message.
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To connect a CD-ROM or floppy to an image file that you ship with the virtual machine, make sure the
image file is in the same directory as the virtual machine.
A relative path, rather than an absolute path, is used.
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For both a physical CD-ROM and an image, provide two virtual CD-ROM devices in the virtual machine.
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Choose a reasonable amount of memory to allocate to the virtual machine.
For example, if the host system does not have enough physical memory to support the memory allocation,
the user cannot power on the virtual machine.
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Choose a reasonable screen resolution for the guest.
A user is likely to find it easier to increase the resolution manually than to deal with a display that exceeds
the user’s physical screen size.
Getting Started with VMware Player
70 VMware, Inc.