For more information about the VMware Management Interface, go to www.vmware.com/support/gsx3/doc/.


Creating a New Virtual Machine from the Management Interface
Creating a New Virtual Machine from the Management Interface

You can create new virtual machines from the VMware Management Interface. The process sets up a new configuration for each virtual machine you create in this fashion. You do not need to use the New Virtual Machine Wizard in order to do this.

You can create virtual machines remotely. The virtual machines you create are located on the host to which you are currently logged in.

By default, the floppy and CD-ROM drives, if present on the host, are enabled automatically, but you can disable them.

As with any other virtual machine, you can change any configuration settings on the Hardware and Options tabs in the virtual machine's details page in the management interface.

On Linux hosts, before you begin configuring your virtual machine, check the following items and make any necessary adjustments to the configuration of your host operating system.

  • The real time clock function must be compiled into your Linux kernel.

  • The parallel port "PC-style hardware" option (CONFIG_PARPORT_PC) must be built and loaded as a kernel module (that is, it must be set to "m").

    Creating a Virtual Machine
    Creating a Virtual Machine

    The Add Virtual Machine wizard guides you through the basic steps needed to create a virtual machine on your server. Any user who has an account on the host may log in to the wizard and create a virtual machine. If you are logged in as administrator or root, you may wish to log out at this point, then log in again as a user authorized to manage the new virtual machine.

    To create a virtual machine from the VMware Management Interface, complete the following steps.

    1. On the Status Monitor page, click Add Virtual Machine. The Add Virtual Machine wizard starts.
    2. In the Guest Operating System list, select the guest operating system for the new virtual machine. A display name for the operating system appears in the Display Name field, a default path to the configuration file appears in the Location field.

      You can find detailed installation notes for each guest operating system in the VMware Guest Operating System Installation Guide available on the Help menu and the VMware Web site at www.vmware.com/support/guestnotes/doc/.

      If you want, you can change the display name for the new virtual machine. In the Display Name field, type a descriptive name of the new virtual machine. This name appears in the Display Name column in the management interface and in the VMware Virtual Machine Console. Be sure to enter a name that allows you to distinguish this virtual machine from others you have created or plan to create.

      If you want, you can change the path to the new virtual machine. In the Location field, type the path to the new virtual machine's configuration file on the host machine.

      Each virtual machine must have its own directory. All associated files, such as the configuration file and the disk files, are placed in this directory.

      When you are ready to proceed, click Next.

    3. Allocate memory to the virtual machine. The default setting in the Memory entry field depends on the guest operating system you have selected. You may need to change it to meet the demands of applications you plan to run in the virtual machine. The amount of memory you specify must be a multiple of 4. You may change this setting later, on the virtual machine's Memory tab in the management interface. See Configuring a Virtual Machine's Memory.

      For background on allocating memory to virtual machines, see www.vmware.com/support/gsx3/doc/performance_mem_size_gsx.html.

      After you make your selection, click Next. The Disk page appears.

    4. Choose the type of virtual disk you want to add to the virtual machine.

      The setup process allows you to create one virtual disk for your virtual machine. You can add more virtual disks later, using the virtual machine's Hardware in the management interface. See Configuring a Virtual Machine's Virtual Disks.

      • To create a new virtual disk, decide whether you want the disk to be IDE or SCSI. Then under IDE type or SCSI type, click Blank. The Virtual Disk Configuration page appears. Specify the following:
      1. In the Disk File field, enter the location and name of the virtual disk.
      2. In the Capacity field, specify the size of the virtual disk in Gigabytes (GB).
      3. Specify the virtual device node in the Virtual IDE Node or Virtual SCSI Node list as appropriate.
      4. Decide if you want to make this virtual disk an independent disk. Under Disk Mode, check Independent, then check Persistent or Nonpersistent.
      5. Decide if you want to preallocate the virtual disk space. Allocating all the space at the time you create the virtual disk gives somewhat better performance and ensures you do not run out of disk space on the host, but it requires as much disk space as the size you specify for the virtual disk. You cannot shrink a preallocated disk. To preallocate the virtual disk, check the Allocate all disk space now check box.

        A preallocated virtual disk is needed for clustering virtual machines. For more information about clustering, see www.vmware.com/support/gsx3/doc/ha_configs_gsx.html.

        If you do not preallocate the disk, the virtual disk's files start small and grow as needed, but they can never grow larger than the size you set here.

        You may also specify whether you want the virtual disk created as one large file or split into a set of 2GB files. You should split the virtual disk it is stored on a FAT32 file system. To do this, check Split into 2 GB files.

        Note: A new virtual machine with a blank virtual disk is like a new computer with a blank hard disk. You must install a guest operating system before you can use the virtual machine. See www.vmware.com/support/guestnotes/doc/index.html and the GSX Server release notes for details on installing specific guest operating systems.

        • To add an existing virtual disk, decide whether disk is IDE or SCSI. Then under IDE type or SCSI type, click Blank. The Virtual Disk Configuration page appears. Specify the following:
      6. In the Disk File field, enter the location for the virtual disk.
      7. Specify the virtual device node in the Virtual IDE Node or Virtual SCSI Node list as appropriate.
      8. Decide if you want to make this virtual disk an independent disk. Under Disk Mode, check Independent, then check Persistent or Nonpersistent.
    5. After you finish configuring the virtual disk, click Next. GSX Server creates the virtual machine.

      The new virtual machine appears on the Status Monitor page.

      You can change any of the default settings GSX Server assigned to the virtual machine (such as the network adapter and any removable devices) or configuration items you specified as you create the virtual machine. To change any hardware, see Configuring a Virtual Machine's Hardware.