Hands-On Virtual Computing
Chapter 2
Working with VMware Workstation
Objectives
• Install VMware Workstation 6.5 on Windows and
Linux
• Add virtual machines to the administrative console
• Use the VMware administrative console menus
• Perform common tasks on virtual machines
• Use VMware Converter
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Installing VMware Workstation 6.5
• VMware Workstation 6.5
– Includes both standard and silent installation methods
• Standard method
– Wizard takes you through each installation step and
select options
• Silent method
– Useful when you need to automate VMware
Workstation 6.5 installations on several computers
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Performing a Standard Installation
• To prepare for the process:
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Ensure computer meets minimum requirements
Note the VMware Workstation serial number
Uninstall any existing VMware products
Determine installation path
Decide whether to disable the CD autorun feature on
your host computer before installation
– Determine whether you want to use the typical or
custom installation method
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Performing a Standard Installation
(continued)
• Activity 2-1: Performing a Standard Installation of
VMware Workstation
• Time Required: 15 minutes
• Objective: Perform a standard installation of VMware
Workstation 6.5.
• Requirements: The VMware Workstation setup file
and serial number you obtained in Chapter 1
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Performing a Silent Installation
• With a silent installation
– You can set installation parameters ahead of time
from an administrative computer
• Msiexec.exe
– Automates installation on a different host computer
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Performing a Silent Installation
(continued)
• Activity 2-2: Performing a Silent Installation of
VMware Workstation
• Time Required: 10 minutes
• Objective: Use Microsoft Installer to perform a silent
installation of VMware Workstation
• Requirements: Completion of Activity 2-1
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Installing VMware Workstation in
Linux
• Advantage of VMware Workstation
– Being able to run virtual machines on a Linux host
• Microsoft Virtual PC 2007
– Limited to running on a Windows host
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Installing VMware Workstation in
Linux (continued)
• Activity 2-3: Installing VMware Workstation on
Ubuntu Linux
• Time Required: 15 minutes
• Objective: Install VMware Workstation 6.5 on a
Linux host computer
• Requirements: The Linux version of the VMware
Workstation 6.5 installation file (downloaded from
the VMware Web site in Chapter 1), a serial number,
and Ubuntu Linux installed on a host computer
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Adding Virtual Machines to the
Administrative Console
• Administrative consoles
– Can be used to create virtual machines, configure
settings, and manage virtual machine operations
• VMware Workstation
– Has GUI administrative console
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Starting the Administrative Console
• To open the administrative console
– Use one of the shortcuts added during installation
• Read the license information and accept the
license agreement
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Creating Virtual Machines
• Before creating a virtual machine, consider:
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Type of OS virtual machine will run
Name and location of virtual machine files
Amount of memory to assign to the virtual machine
Network connectivity options
Type of virtual disk adapter (SCSI or IDE)
Disk type (fixed or dynamic)
Maximum disk size
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Creating Virtual Machines (continued)
• Custom options
– Select hardware compatibility option for the virtual
machine
– Select an installation method for the guest OS
– Select virtual machine name and storage location for
the configuration and data files
– Select number of processors and amount of memory
to allocate to the virtual machine
– Select network connection type for the virtual
network adapter
– Change I/O adapter type for IDE and SCSI adapters
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Creating Virtual Machines (continued)
• Custom options (continued)
– Select virtual disk type
– Enter maximum disk size and select an option for how
the disk space will be allocated
– Enter name of the virtual disk file
– Review the settings you selected
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Creating Virtual Machines (continued)
• Activity 2-4: Creating a Virtual Machine for Windows
Server 2008
• Time Required: 10 minutes
• Objective: Create a virtual machine for a later
installation of Windows Server 2008
• Requirements: Completion of Activity 2-1 or 2-3
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Creating Virtual Machines with Easy
Install
• VMware Workstation 6.5 users
– Can use the new Easy Install feature to automate
installation of a recent Windows or Linux OS while
creating a virtual machine
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Creating Virtual Machines with Easy
Install (continued)
• Activity 2-5: Installing Ubuntu Linux with Easy Install
• Time Required: 30 minutes
• Objective: Perform an automated installation of
Ubuntu Linux on a virtual machine
• Requirements: Completion of Activity 2-1 and the
Ubuntu Linux ISO image file
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Adding Existing Virtual Machines to
the Administrative Console
• Reasons for adding an existing virtual machine to the
administrative console
– Running a virtual appliance
– Moving a virtual machine to another computer
– Distributing a virtual machine to multiple hosts
• To move or distribute a virtual machine
– Copy virtual machine files to new hosts
– Add virtual machine to administrative console
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Adding Existing Virtual Machines to
the Administrative Console (continued)
• Activity 2-6: Adding an Existing Virtual Machine to
the Administrative Console
• Time Required: 15 minutes
• Objective: Add an existing virtual machine to the
administrative console, and practice removing and
adding tabs
• Requirements: Completion of Activities 2-4 and 2-5
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Using the Administrative Console
Menus
• File Menu Options
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New
Open and Close
Import or Export
Connect to ACE Management Server
Map or Disconnect Virtual Disks
Add to Favorites or Remove from Favorites
Exit
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The Edit Menu
• Preferences dialog box includes the following tabs:
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Workspace
Input
Hot Keys
Display
Tools
Memory
Priority
Devices
Lockout
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The View Menu
• Options include:
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Full Screen
Quick Switch
Unity
Current View
Autofit Window
Autofit Guest
Fit Window Now or Fit Guest Now
Go to Home Tab
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The Help Menu
• Contains options for:
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Searching help topics
Viewing user manual
Checking for updates
Entering the serial number
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The Help Menu (continued)
• Activity 2-7: Working with the Administrative Console
Menus
• Time Required: 15 minutes
• Objective: Practice using menu options in the
VMware Workstation administrative console
• Requirements: Completion of Activities 2-4 and 2-5
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VM Menu Options: Always Available
(continued)
• Options include:
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ACE
Snapshot
Clone
Message Log
Settings
Power
Replay
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VM Menu Options: Available When
the Virtual Machine Is Powered On
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Removable Devices
Install VMware Tools
Send Ctrl+Alt+Del
Grab Input
Capture Screen
Capture Movie
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VM Menu Options: Available When
the Virtual Machine Is Powered Off
• Upgrade or Change Version
• Connected Users
• Delete from Disk
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VM Menu: The Settings Option
• Settings in the Options tab
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General
Power
Shared Folders
Snapshot/Replay
Guest Isolation
Tools
Remote Display
Unity
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VM Menu: The Settings Option
(continued)
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Activity 2-8: Working with Menu Options
Time Required: 15 minutes
Objective: Practice using options in the VM menu
Requirements: Completion of Activity 2-5
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Working with Virtual Machines
• Working with VMware Key Combinations
– Key combinations are a handy way to communicate
with a virtual machine
• Table 2-3
– Summarizes common VMware key combinations
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Configuring Virtual Machine Power
Options
• To configure a virtual machine’s power options
– Click a virtual machine tab to make it active
– Click VM, Settings from the menu to open the Virtual
Machine Settings dialog box
– Click the Options tab, then click Power on the left to
display the options listed in Table 2-4
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Stopping Virtual Machines
• Options in the VM, Power menu
– Suspend
– Reset
– Power Off
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Configuring Virtual Machine Memory
Size
• When a virtual machine is powered off
– You can set the amount of RAM it uses
• You should have enough physical RAM so that each
virtual machine has:
– 128 to 256 MB for Windows XP or
– 512 MB to 1 GB for Windows Vista
• To change the RAM amount
– Double-click Memory in the Devices pane of the virtual
machine’s tab
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Working with CD/DVD-ROM Drives
and ISO Image Files
• To connect your virtual machine’s CD/DVD-ROM
device to an ISO image file while the virtual machine
is running or powered off
– Click the virtual machine tab to make it active
– In the Connection section, click the Use ISO image file
option button
– Navigate to the location of the ISO image file, and
double-click the file
– Save your changes and return to the administrative
console
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Installing a Guest OS
• When installing an OS on a new virtual machine
– You can use a CD or an ISO image file
• Installing an OS on a physical computer (with a
blank hard drive)
– Requires installation from physical media
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Installing a Guest OS (continued)
• Activity 2-9: Installing Windows Server 2008 on an
Existing Virtual Machine
• Time Required: 30 minutes
• Objective: Perform a manual installation of
Windows Server 2008 on an existing virtual
machine
• Requirements: Completion of Activity 2-4 and the
Windows Server 2008 ISO image file
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Installing VMware Tools
• VMware Tools
– Consists of utilities and drivers installed in the guest
OS that improve performance
– Available for Linux
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Installing VMware Tools (continued)
• Activity 2-10: Installing VMware Tools on a
Windows Virtual Machine
• Time Required: 15 minutes
• Objective: Install VMware Tools on an existing
virtual machine
• Requirements: Completion of Activity 2-9
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Adding a Virtual Hard Disk
• Activity 2-11: Adding a Hard Disk to a Windows
Virtual Machine
• Time Required: 15 minutes
• Objective: Use the administrative console to add a
hard disk to a virtual machine
• Requirements: Completion of Activity 2-9
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Using Unity View
• Unity view
– New feature in VMware Workstation 6.5
– Allows you to separate applications from a virtual
machine
– Allows you to access the guest OS Start menu
directly from the host OS
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Using Unity View (continued)
• Activity 2-12: Using Unity View to Share
Applications with the Host
• Time Required: 15 minutes
• Objective: Use Unity view in VMware Workstation
6.5 to access virtual machine applications from the
host computer
• Requirements: Completion of Activities 2-9 through
2-11
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Using Snapshots in VMware
Workstation
• Snapshots
– Used to save a virtual machine’s current state so
that you can return to it later
• To take a snapshot
– Select VM, Snapshot, Take Snapshot from the menu
• To view all existing snapshots
– Select VM, Snapshot, Snapshot Manager from the
menu
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Using Snapshots in VMware
Workstation (continued)
• Activity 2-13: Working with Snapshot Manager
• Time Required: 15 minutes
• Objective: Use Snapshot Manager to restore a
virtual machine to previous saved states
• Requirements: Completion of Activity 2-9
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Transferring and Sharing Files with the
Host Computer in VMware Workstation
• Three ways to transfer files between a virtual
machine and the host computer
– Dragging and dropping files
– Using shared folders
– Mapping virtual disks
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Transferring and Sharing Files with the
Host Computer in VMware Workstation
(continued)
• Activity 2-14: Sharing Virtual Machine Files with
Shared Folders
• Time Required: 15 minutes
• Objective: Use shared folders to transfer files
between a virtual machine and a host computer
• Requirements: Completion of Activity 2-10
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Transferring and Sharing Files with the
Host Computer in VMware Workstation
(continued)
• Activity 2-15: Sharing Virtual Machine Files with a
Mapped Virtual Disk
• Time Required: 15 minutes
• Objective: Use the mapping feature to access
virtual disk files when the virtual machine is
powered off
• Requirements: Completion of Activity 2-11
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Configuring Virtual Network Options
• NAT
– Default virtual network configuration
• Virtual network adapter
– Connected to an internal virtual network (VMnet8)
that includes itself and the host computer
• Bridged network option (VMnet0)
– Provides a connection between the virtual network
adapter and the host computer’s physical network
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Configuring Virtual Network Options
(continued)
• Time Required: 15 minutes
• Objective: Determine IP addresses of virtual
machines and verify communication between them
and the host computer
• Requirements: Completion of Activities 2-4 and 2-9
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Cloning Virtual Machines in VMware
Workstation
• Linked clone
– Changes made to the cloned virtual machine are
stored in files on the host computer
• Full clone
– A complete copy of the parent virtual machine
– Can operate independently of the parent machine’s
files
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Cloning Virtual Machines in VMware
Workstation (continued)
• Activity 2-17: Cloning the UbuntuVM Virtual
Machine
• Time Required: 15 minutes
• Objective: Create a clone of an existing virtual
machine
• Requirements: Completion of Activity 2-5; access
to a classroom network containing a shared virtual
machine directory or the sample virtual machine
files downloaded from this book’s Web site
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Configuring Ports
• VMware Workstation
– Provides support for a USB 2.0 controller
• By default
– A virtual machine has no COM or LPT ports
• When adding a port
– You can have the output sent to a text file on the
host computer’s hard drive
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Working with Floppy Disks and Floppy
Image Files
• By default
– VMware attempts to detect the floppy drive and
assign it to the virtual machine
• Virtual floppy drive
– Can be assigned to an image file
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Using VMware Converter
• VMware Converter
– Powerful tool for converting virtual machines created
with other virtualization software to VMwareformatted machines
– You can create a virtual machine from a physical
computer
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Using VMware Converter (continued)
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Activity 2-18: Importing a Physical Computer as a
Virtual Machine
Time Required: 15 minutes
Objective: Use VMware Converter to create a
virtual machine from a physical computer
• Requirements: Completion of Activity 2-9; a volume
license key to run the virtual machine you create
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Summary
• VMware Workstation 6.5
– Has many new features, including Easy Install for
installing a guest OS automatically and Unity view
• The VMware File menu contains options to:
– Create new virtual machines, open existing
machines
• Edit menu
– Gives you access to the Preferences dialog box
• VMware Workstation
– Includes support for up to 10 virtual networks
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Summary (continued)
• The Virtual Machine Settings dialog box
– Contains Hardware and Options tabs
• When creating a virtual machine, you need to
– Select the OS version, amount of RAM, disk adapter
type (SCSI or IDE), and disk size type
• Floppy drive
– Can be used by only one virtual machine at a time
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Summary (continued)
• Snapshots
– Can be used to save a virtual machine state and
then revert to it later
• With VMware Converter, you can
– Create VMware virtual machines from physical
computers
– Convert virtual machines created with other
virtualization software to VMware-compatible
machines
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Summary (continued)
• VMware Server and ESX Server
– Server virtualization products that optimize virtual
server performance
• Virtual Server 2005
– Free server virtualization product that runs on host
computers using Windows XP and later
• Hyper-V
– Microsoft’s latest server virtualization software that
ships with Windows Server 2008
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