6.7

This topic describes how to assign the VM storage policy when you create a virtual machine. For
information about other deployment methods that include cloning, deployment from a template, and so
on, see the vSphere Virtual Machine Administration documentation.
You can apply the same storage policy to the virtual machine configuration file and all its virtual disks. If
storage requirements for your virtual disks and the configuration file are different, you can associate
different storage policies with the VM configuration file and the selected virtual disks.
Procedure
1 Start the virtual machine provisioning process and follow the appropriate steps.
2 Assign the same storage policy to all virtual machine files and disks.
a On the Select storage page, select a storage policy from the VM Storage Policy drop-down
menu.
Based on its configuration, the storage policy separates all datastores into compatible and
incompatible. If the policy references data services offered by a specific storage entity, for
example, Virtual Volumes, the compatible list includes datastores that represent only that type of
storage.
b Select an appropriate datastore from the list of compatible datastores.
The datastore becomes the destination storage resource for the virtual machine configuration file
and all virtual disks.
c If you use the replication service with Virtual Volumes, specify the replication group.
Replication groups indicate which VMs and virtual disks must be replicated together to a target
site.
Option Description
Preconfigured replication group Replication groups that are configured in advance on the storage side.
vCenter Server and ESXi discover the replication groups, but do not manage
their life cycle.
Automatic replication group Virtual Volumes creates a replication group and assigns all VM objects to this
group.
3 Change the VM storage policy for the virtual disk.
Use this option if requirements for storage placement are different for virtual disks. You can also use
this option to enable I/O filter services, such as caching and replication, for your virtual disks.
a On the Customize hardware page, expand the New hard disk pane.
b From the VM storage policy drop-down menu, select the storage policy to assign to the virtual
disk.
c (Optional) Change the storage location of the virtual disk.
Use this option to store the virtual disk on a datastore other than the datastore where the VM
configuration file resides.
vSphere Storage
VMware, Inc. 261