Vmware Infrastructure 3 Quick Evaluator'S Guide: Transform It Infrastructure With Enterprise-Class Virtualization

VMware Infrastructure 3
Quick Evaluator’s Guide

Transform IT Infrastructure with Enterprise-Class Virtualization
-0-
VMware VMware Infrastructure 3 Evaluator’s Guide
Table of Contents
1 Getting Started .................................................................................................................................- 2 -
2 Evaluation Planning and Environment Setup ...................................................................................- 4 -
3 VMware Infrastructure Evaluation Setup ..........................................................................................- 7 -
3.1 Install the VirtualCenter Server and the VI Client ....................................................................- 7 -
3.2 Install VMware ESX Server 3 ................................................................................................- 14 -
3.3 Configure an ESX Server 3i server .......................................................................................- 20 -
4 Building the Virtual Datacenter .......................................................................................................- 22 -
4.1 Starting the VI Client and Logging On ...................................................................................- 22 -
4.2 Creating a Datacenter............................................................................................................- 22 -
4.3 Bringing Hosts Under VirtualCenter Management ................................................................- 23 -
5 Creating Virtual Machines ..............................................................................................................- 26 -
5.1 Creating Virtual Machines by Importing Virtual Appliances (Import) .....................................- 26 -
5.2 Creating Virtual Machines from Scratch (Create New) .........................................................- 29 -
5.3 Creating Virtual Machines from Existing Physical Servers ....................................................- 35 -
5.4 Creating Virtual Machines from Existing Virtual Machines (Clone) .......................................- 36 -
5.5 Creating Templates and Deploying Virtual Machines from Templates (Deploy from Template) . -
39 -
6 Managing Virtual Machines ............................................................................................................- 41 -
6.1 Managing Virtual Machines States ........................................................................................- 41 -
6.2 Edit Virtual Machine Settings and Add Virtual Machine Hardware Devices..........................- 41 -
6.3 Configure Network Connections ............................................................................................- 42 -
6.4 Configure Resource Pools on a Standalone Host .................................................................- 44 -
6.5 Schedule Tasks, View Events and Set Alarms......................................................................- 47 -
6.6 Monitor the Virtual Infrastructure ...........................................................................................- 48 -
7 Evaluate Specific Application Workloads within a VMware Virtual Machine..................................- 51 -
8 Next Steps ......................................................................................................................................- 52 -
9 About VMware ................................................................................................................................- 52 -

1 Getting Started
About this Guide

The document is intended to facilitate a self-guided, hands-on evaluation of VMware Infrastructure 3, consisting of
VirtualCenter 2.5 managing one or more physical servers with ESX Server 3.5 and ESX Server 3i version 3.5 in a
local storage environment i.e. the physical servers have storage such as SCSI or SATA disks attached to them.
Once the supporting hardware and software is on hand, the suggested walk-through scenario will typically take a few
days to complete depending on your evaluation objectives.
Conventions Used in this Guide

The following conventions are used in this guide.
Style Elements
Blue Used for cross-references and links
Courier Used for commands, filenames, directories, paths, user input
Bold Used for interactive interface objects, keys, buttons and items of interest
Italic Used for variables, parameters and web addresses
Additional Documentation Resources

Although the material presented in this document can all be found on the VMware Web site, this evaluation guide
attempts to consolidate the majority of the information into a single document to facilitate the evaluation process. For
further information and specific installation / configuration steps that are beyond the scope of this guide, the guide will
refer to documentation in the VMware Infrastructure 3 Online Library available at http://pubs.vmware.com/vi3 as
needed. The reference format will be Book > Chapter > Section. The Contents tab in the left pane of the Online
Library provides quick navigation to the referenced content.
Customer References
Over 20,000 VMware customers across all geographies and industries realize significant benefits from their VMware
Infrastructure 3 deployments. Visit our website at http://www.vmware.com/customers/ to find out how virtualization
makes IT infrastructure more manageable, flexible and reliable for a number of our customers.
VMware Infrastructure 3 Software Download and Evaluation Licensing

Before purchasing and activating licenses for your ESX Server 3.5 and VirtualCenter 2.5, you can install and run
evaluation modes of the software. When run in evaluation mode, intended for demonstration and evaluation
purposes, your ESX Server and VirtualCenter are completely operational immediately after installation, do not require
any licensing configuration, and provide full functionality of ESX Server and VirtualCenter for 60 days from the time
you first activate them.
VMware Infrastructure 3 installation images can be downloaded from http://www.vmware.com/download/vi/eval.html
and the ISO image files burned to CD-ROMs to support the installation. You will need to register as an evaluator with
a valid email address to get the binaries.
If you are using a physical server which has ESX Server 3i pre-installed on it for your evaluation, you may need to
download VirtualCenter 2.5 from the above site.
Help & Support During the Evaluation

The best source for support during a VMware Infrastructure 3 evaluation is to refer to the VMware online Knowledge
Base. The Knowledge Base contains hundreds of documented issues and typically offers workarounds or fixes that
can help you resolve your issue quickly. This online Knowledge Base is searchable and covers all the products that
VMware offers. The resources below are useful linksfor self-help tools and technical information:
• Support Knowledge Base – http://kb.vmware.com
• Product Information – http://www.vmware.com/products/
• General Product Documentation – http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs
• Solution Information – http://www.vmware.com/solutions/
• Technical Papers – http://www.vmware.com/resources/techresources/
• VMware Communities – http://communities.vmware.com
For press and analysts performing a VMware Infrastructure review, please contact your VMware Press and Analyst
Relations to request assistance. VMware press and analyst contact information is available at
http://www.vmware.com/news/pr_contacts.html.
Providing Feedback
We appreciate your feedback on the material included in this guide. In particular, we would be grateful for any
guidance on the following topics:
How useful was the information in this guide?

What other specific topics would you like to see covered?
Overall, how would you rate this guide?
Please send your feedback to the following e-mail address: docfeedback@vmware.com, with “VMware
Infrastructure 3 Evaluator’s Guide” in the subject line. Thank you for your help in making this guide a
valuable resource.
2 Evaluation Planning and Environment Setup
Quick Evaluation Scenario: This environment framework provides a quick path for demonstrating virtualization
benefits such as server consolidation, flexibility and ease of provisioning with a single server and local storage.
This evaluation scenario is recommended if you do not have access to shared storage for your evaluation.
For more information on how to evaluate VMware Infrastructure 3 in a shared storage environment, please use the
VMware Infrastructure 3 Comprehensive Evaluator’s guide at http://www.vmware.com/download/vi/eval.html
What to Expect – Quick Evaluation Scenario:
Figure 1: VMware Infrastructure Relationship View for the Quick Evaluation
Figure 1 shows an overview of the example VMware Infrastructure datacenter deployment used in the quick
evaluation. A single VirtualCenter Server with the default co-located VirtualCenter Server Database is managing a
single ESX Server host using local disk storage. Users access and manage the environment through the VMware
Infrastructure Client and the Web Access Client.
The quick evaluation will walk you through setting up the evaluation environment and then creating and managing
virtual machines to test server consolidation effectiveness and workload performance.
What You Need – Quick Evaluation Planning Worksheet

Below are tasks and reminders that should be completed before software installation.
Supported server system for installing VMware ESX Server- See ESX Server 3.x Systems Compatibility Guide
for a list of servers certified with ESX Server
Server contains VMware certified I/O adapters and has at least one LAN-connected certified NIC. See the ESX
Server 3.x I/O Compatibility Guide for a list of certified devices
Server system and I/O components are at latest BIOS / Firmware
Server has ample memory for virtual machine testing requirements (2GB minimum, preferably 3GB+)
Server contains ample SCSI, IDE or SATA local storage for ESX Server installation and Virtual Machine storage
(10GB minimum, 40GB recommended)
A Windows workstation / server for the VirtualCenter Server is available with network visibility of the physical
server that will have ESX Server installed. Note that to reduce the evaluation hardware required, the Virtual
Infrastructure Client can be installed and run on the same system as the VirtualCenter Server.
VirtualCenter can be installed onto 32-bit versions of Windows 2000 Pro SP4, Windows 2000 Server SP4, Windows
XP Pro (any SP level) or Windows 2003.
User has at least 2 IP addresses per physical server that is being virtualized. (VMware Infrastructure does
support DHCP, but static addresses are generally simpler to manage)
User has VMware install media These can be downloaded from

http://www.vmware.com/download/vi/eval.html
Or the user has the media available because ESX Server 3i is preinstalled on the server and VirtualCenter is
available on a DVD.)
User has all necessary operating system installation media, license keys and service packs to support operating
system installations on virtual machines (For example, Windows 2003 Server with Service Packs) See Guest
Operating System Installation Guide for a list of supported Operating Systems
Typical Quick Evaluation Timeline

This section outlines a test plan for evaluating VMware Infrastructure 3 environment quickly with servers connected to
local storage. This timeline highlights the common tasks when setting up the VirtualCenter server, installing an ESX
Server 3 host (or configuring an existing ESX Server 3i host), creating virtual machines and managing the ESX
Server and the virtual machines from VirtualCenter. This list is to serve as a guideline only.
Evaluation Planning & Environment Setup

Timeline: Complete prior to software installation
Verify that your hardware meets the requirements in the VMware compatibility guides
Confirm that target ESX Server and VirtualCenter Server systems have network connectivity
Confirm that target ESX Server has access to a supported storage device
Confirm access to installation media, documentation, web support forums, etc
ESX Server & VirtualCenter Installation & Overview

Timeline: Week 1: Day 1
Install VirtualCenter Server on the designated server
Install ESX Server 3 on the designated server host (or configure an existing ESX 3i host)
Place ESX Server host under VirtualCenter management
Optionally install Virtual Infrastructure Client on other management workstations
Virtual Machine Functional Testing

Timeline: Week 1
Import an existing virtual appliance
Create a new virtual machine from scratch
Install the virtual machine operating system using local media or operating system ISO image
Power on the virtual machine and install VMware Tools in the virtual machine
Configure and test basic network connectivity of a virtual machine
Explore virtual machine management settings and virtual hardware options
Clone an existing virtual machine to create a new one
Exploring VirtualCenter Management Features

Timeline: Week 2
Create a template from a virtual machine
Deploy and customize the template as a new virtual machine
Create a scheduled task
Create an alert
Use VMware Converter to export an existing virtual machine
Application Functional & Load Testing

Timeline: Week 3
Install target test applications in virtual machine
Configure application settings in virtual machines per your standard process
Application functional test: Application starts without errors and functions as it does on a physical server
Simulate actual “real world” load on application in the virtual machine
Monitor virtual machine performance with existing performance tools such as PerfMon
Monitor virtual machine performance using VirtualCenter
Have and end user test core functionality of applications in a virtual machine
3 VMware Infrastructure Evaluation Setup
3.1 Install the VirtualCenter Server and the VI Client

The following steps provide a straightforward installation of the VirtualCenter Server software into a Windows
environment. A single installer package contains the VirtualCenter Server and VI Client as well as other optional
components such as VMware Update Manager, VMware Capacity Planner, VMware License Server and VMware
Converter.
You can install the VMware Infrastructure client and VirtualCenter server components separately or on the same
Windows system. You can also repeat this installation to install just the VirtualCenter client on other computers for
ease of access during the evaluation.
This evaluation will use the default Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express database for demonstration and evaluation
purposes. Note that for production environments, VMware recommends using an Oracle or SQL Server database for
higher performance.
To install the VirtualCenter Server and VI Client on your system:
1. As Administrator on the Windows system, insert
the installation CD or manually select and run
the installer. When the VMware Infrastructure
Management Installer screen is displayed, click
Next. An Introduction page appears. This page
describes the benefits of installing VirtualCenter
Server.
2. Click Next. The license agreement appears.

Select I accept the terms in the license
agreement, and click Next.
3. The Customer Information page appears. Type

your user name and company name, and click
Next. The Installation Type page appears.
4. Accept the default installation type

VirtualCenter Server and Infrastructure
Client to install all VirtualCenter components
as well as the VI Client. Click Next. The
database selection page appears.
5. On the database selection page, leave the

Use an existing database checkbox
unselected. The VMware Infrastructure
Management Installer will install Microsoft SQL
Server 2005 Express database for you to
support the evaluation.
6. On the License Server page, check the I

would like to evaluate the product first
check box to run VMware Infrastructure 3 in
evaluation mode for 60 days.
7. For the Administrator login and password,

enter the username and password that you use
when you log into the system on which you are
installing VMware Infrastructure. Click Next.
The Installation Summary page appears.
8. Click Install to begin the installation.

Installation might take several minutes.
Multiple progress bars appear during
installation of the selected components.
9. For each component that you are installing, enter

the port and proxy information that you want to use
or accept the default information shown on screen.
Click Next to continue through the screens.
10. Click Finish to complete the VMware Infrastructure

Management installation. The selected
VirtualCenter components are installed on your
system. The VirtualCenter Server is installed as a
service that automatically starts on the system, and
the VI client is an application with a shortcut
available on the desktop. We will access the
VirtualCenter environment via the VI Client once an
ESX Server host is installed.
Note that the VI Client can additionally be installed from any Windows client. Simply open a Web browser and go
to the URL for either the VirtualCenter Server or an ESX Server host. The VMware Infrastructure Client is
available at this URL for download. Download and install the VMware Infrastructure Client.
Also, note that all the clients and servers must be able to communicate over the network, so if firewalls are
present between the VirtualCenter Server, managed ESX Server hosts and Virtual Infrastructure clients, ports
will need to be opened to allow communication. Refer to the Installation Guide > Chapter 6 Installing VMware
Infrastructure Management > Configuring Communication between VirtualCenter Components to configure
firewall ports.
Install the Microsoft Sysprep Tools

If you plan to customize a Windows guest operating system following a virtual machine cloning or a deployment from
a template, you must first install the Microsoft Sysprep tools on your VirtualCenter Server machine. Microsoft includes
the Sysprep tool set on the installation CD ROM discs for Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows 2003. It also
distributes Sysprep from the Microsoft Web site. To perform a Windows customization, you must install the Sysprep
tools either from your installation disc, or from the Microsoft download package. You must install the correct version
of the Sysprep tools for each operating system you want to customize. Also, ensure that the password for the local
administrator account on the virtual machine is set to blank (““). If the password for the local administrator account on
the virtual machine is not set to blank, you will have to access the virtual machine console and login as an
administrator to enable the Sysprep to continue.
During customization, VirtualCenter searches for the Sysprep package corresponding to your guest operating
system. If VirtualCenter does not find any Sysprep tools, the Windows virtual machine customization does not
proceed.
To install the Microsoft Sysprep tools from a Microsoft Web site download:
1. Download the Sysprep package from the Microsoft download center. Make sure that you download the
correct version for the guest operating system you want to customize.
2. Click Next to continue.
3. Click I agree to accept the terms and conditions.
4. Click Download.
5. Save the file to your local disk.
6. Open and expand the .cab file, using a tool such as Winzip.exe or another tool capable of reading Microsoft
CAB files.
7. Extract the files to the provided directory. The following Sysprep support directories were created during
VirtualCenter installation:
C:\<ALLUSERSPROFILE>\Application Data\Vmware\VMware VirtualCenter\sysprep
...\1.1\
...\2k\
...\xp\
...\svr2003\
...\xp-64\
...\svr2003-64\
where <ALLUSERSPROFILE> is usually \Documents And Settings\All Users\. This is where vpxd.cfg
is also located. Select the subdirectory that corresponds to your operating system.
8. Click OK to expand the files. After you have extracted the files from the .cab file, you should see:
...\<guest>\deptool.chm
...\<guest>\readme.txt
...\<guest>\setupcl.exe
...\<guest>\setupmgr.exe
...\<guest>\setupmgx.dll
...\<guest>\sysprep.exe
...\<guest>\unattend.doc
where <guest> is 2k, xp, svr2003, xp 64, or svr2003 64.
To install the Microsoft Sysprep tools from the Windows operating system CD:
1. Insert the Windows operating system CD into the CD ROM drive (often the D: drive.)
2. Locate the DEPLOY.CAB file in the CD directory, \Support\Tools.
3. Open and expand the DEPLOY.CAB file, using a tool such as Winzip.exe or another tool capable of
reading Microsoft CAB files.
4. Extract the files to the directory appropriate to your Sysprep guest operating system. The following
Sysprep support directories were created during VirtualCenter installation:
C:\<ALLUSERSPROFILE>\Application Data\Vmware\VMware VirtualCenter\sysprep
...\1.1\
...\2k\
...\xp\
...\svr2003\
...\xp-64\
...\svr2003-64\
where <ALLUSERSPROFILE> is usually \Documents And Settings\All Users\. This is where
vpxd.cfg is also located. Select the subdirectory that corresponds to your operating system.
5. Click OK to expand the files. After you have extracted the files from the .cab file, you should see:
...\<guest>\deptool.chm
...\<guest>\readme.txt
...\<guest>\setupcl.exe
...\<guest>\setupmgr.exe
...\<guest>\setupmgx.dll
...\<guest>\sysprep.exe
...\<guest>\unattend.doc
where <guest> is 2k, xp, svr2003, xp 64, or svr2003 64.
6. Repeat this procedure to extract Sysprep files for each of the Windows guest operating systems
(Windows 2000, Windows XP, or Windows 2003) you plan to customize using VirtualCenter.
You are now ready to customize a new virtual machine with a supported Windows guest operating system
when you clone an existing virtual machine.
3.2 Install VMware ESX Server 3

This section describes how to install the ESX Server software on your server machine using the graphical installer.
Note that when installing ESX Server on IDE/ATA or SATA drives, keep in mind the following considerations.
• For IDE/ATA RAID: Make sure that your controller for an IDE/ATA RAID is included in the supported
hardware. Do not use IDE/ATA RAIDs to store virtual machines. Virtual machines must be stored on VMFS
partitions configured on a SCSI or SATA drive, a SCSI RAID, or a SAN. VMFS refers to the VMware file
system used by ESX Server.
• For SATA drives: Ensure that your SATA drives are connected through supported SAS controllers. Do not
use SATA disks to create VMFS datastores shared across multiple ESX Server hosts.
To install ESX Server:
1. Verify the network cable is plugged into your primary Ethernet adapter. The ESX Server installer needs a
live network connection to properly detect certain network settings, such as the machine name under DHCP.
Also, if the ESX Server is connected to a SAN, VMware recommends temporarily disconnecting the ESX
Server from the SAN prior to installation to avoid the risk of accidentally overwriting the data on a shared
LUN.
2. Power on the machine with the VMware ESX Server CD in the CD drive. The ESX Server begins its boot
process until the mode selection page appears. If this page does not appear, reboot the machine and press
the key required to enter your machine’s BIOS Setup page. This key is often F1, F2, or F10. Set the CD
drive as the first boot device and reboot the machine.
3. Press Enter to start the graphical installer. A
series of installation messages scroll past
until the CD Media Test page appears.
4. Click Test to have the installer inspect the

installation CD media for errors. If you click
Skip, continue now with Step 5. If you click
Test, a progress bar appears. The CD
media is being tested for errors. When
testing is complete, a Media Check Result
dialog box appears. Click OK. The Welcome
page appears. Click Next.
5. The Select Keyboard page appears.

Select your keyboard language from
the list, and click Next.
6. The Mouse Configuration page

appears. Select your mouse. Mouse
configuration is not a critical setting.
After ESX Server is installed, the
setting is ignored. The X Window
System is not supported from the
service console. When you have
selected your mouse, click Next.
7. Accept the VMware license

agreement. You cannot install this
product unless you accept the license
agreement. Read through the end
user license agreement and select I
accept the terms of the license
agreement. Click Next. If any drives
or LUNs are not already initialized, a
warning dialog box appears and
offers to initialize the drive. If you do
not have data on the drive, click OK
to allow partitioning to occur. You
must initialize the target installation
drive to use it during installation. You
do not need to initialize any other
drives or LUNs that are currently
unreadable.
8. Accept Recommended as the

partitioning option. This option
configures default partitions for you,
based on the capacity of the hard
drive. Select the local volume on which
to install the ESX Server software. If
you want to preserve any existing
VMFS partitions with existing virtual
machines, select Keep virtual
machines and the VMFS that
contains them. This usually applies
only if you are installing on top of a
previous version of ESX Server.
9. WARNING - This is your last

opportunity to cancel and return to
your previous configuration. When you
click Next, the installer begins
partitioning and formatting the file
system. A warning dialog box appears.
Click Yes to continue with your
partitioning selection.
10. The installer will display the

recommended partitioning for your
review. You do not need to change
anything on this page. To continue,
click Next.
11. Accept the default to boot the ESX

Server from a drive (install on the MBR
of the drive). Verify that the same local
volume you selected on the Partitioning
Options screen is selected in the drop-
down menu of the radio button. If your
local volume is not selected, select to
edit the bootloader configuration and
select the correct drive. This drive must
match the first boot device set in the
host BIOS. If these settings do not
match, the host cannot boot into the
ESX Server software. Booting from a
partition is used for legacy hardware that
stores BIOS information in the MBR.
Click Next to continue the installation.
12. Configure the network settings.

a. Select the network interface for
use by the ESX Server console.
Virtual machine network traffic
shares this network adapter
until you configure a virtual
switch for another network
adapter. You can configure
other network adapters at a
later time from the VI Client.
b. Configure the ESX Server host
network IP address. VMware
recommends that you use a
static IP address to simplify
client access. If you do not have
the required network
configuration information, see
your network administrator for
assistance.
c. Enter the ESX Server host name. Type the complete machine name, including the domain where
appropriate. This option is available only if you have opted to use a static IP address. VI Clients can
use either the host name or the IP address to access the ESX Server host.
d. If your network requires a VLAN ID, enter a VLAN ID.
e. Keep Create a default network for virtual machines selected to create a default port group for
virtual machines. Your virtual machines will share a network adapter with the service console,
which is fine for an evaluation purposes but not the recommended configuration for optimum
security. If you do not select this option, create a network connection for your virtual machines as
described in the Server Configuration Guide.
f. Click Next.
13. Set your time zone. Click Next.
14. Enter a root password. Type the

same password into both fields and
click Next. The root password must
contain at least six characters. A
warning appears if the passwords do
not match.
15. Confirm your installation

configuration, and click Next.
16. Progress bars appear to show the

status of the installation, and a dialog
box informs you when the installation
completes.
17. Click Finish to exit.
18. Once the installation is complete, the server

will restart and boot ESX Server
automatically. If your ESX Server is shut
down, you must manually restart it. To
shutdown or reboot an ESX Server, select
the ESX Server in the Virtual Infrastructure
Client’s inventory panel and choose Reboot
or Shut Down from the main or right-click
pop-up menu.
Refer to the Installation Guide > Chapter 7

Installing VMware ESX Server Software if
needed for more information on installing ESX
Server.
3.3 Configure an ESX Server 3i server

An ESX Server 3i host is a physical server that contains an ESX Server image preinstalled as firmware in the factory.
By attaching a monitor to the host, you can access the direct console for initial configuration and troubleshooting of
the ESX Server software.
When you power on the ESX Server 3i host for
the first time, the host enters a boot up phase
during which system network and storage
devices are configured with defaults. The
default behavior for networking is for the
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)
to configure IP. The default behavior for
storage is for all visible blank local disks to be
formatted with the virtual machine file system
(VMFS) so that virtual machines can be stored
on the disks. After the host completes the
boot up phase, the direct console appears on
the attached monitor. Using a keyboard
attached to the host, you can examine the
default network configuration applied during
the boot up phase and change any settings as needed.
If you initially boot the ESX Server 3i host with no network attached or no DHCP server available, the software
assigns a default IP address of 192.168.0.2. If this is the case, you can use this default address to connect initially
and then configure a static network address. If you are not local to the host, you can use the VI Client to configure
static IP settings. If you are local to the host, you can use the direct console to configure static IP settings, including
the IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway.
Selecting the Boot Device for ESX Server 3i
The basic input/output system (BIOS) boot configuration determines which mode your server boots into. You always
have the choice to boot into ESX Server 3i mode or into another mode. For ESX Server 3i, the boot device is the
USB flash. Generally, the USB flash device is listed first in the BIOS boot settings on the machine that hosts ESX
Server 3i. The ability to change the boot setting is helpful if you have other supported operating systems on the host.
You can change the boot setting by configuring the boot order in the BIOS during startup or by selecting a boot
device from the boot option menu.
Some ESX Server 3i hosts might not be preconfigured in the BIOS to boot into ESX Server 3i mode. To configure the
boot setting for ESX Server 3i mode, press the key required to enter your host’s BIOS Setup page while the ESX
Server 3i host is powering on. Depending on your server hardware, the key might be <F1>, <F2>, <F10>, <F11>,
<F12>, or DEL. Select the USB flash device and move it to the first position in the list.
Configuring ESX Server 3i using the Direct Console
We recommend powering on the host with no network cables connected to initially configure the server. You can then
use the direct console to configure the administrative password and configure a static IP address. The direct console
is similar to the BIOS of a computer interface with a keyboard-only user interface. To navigate and perform actions in
the direct console, press the directional arrows, Enter key, and spacebar.
1. Boot the ESX Server 3i with only a keyboard and monitor connected to access the direct console. Press
<F2> to access the initial setup menu.
2. To set an administrative password, select Configure Root Password from the direct console and enter the
new password. The administrative username for the ESX Server 3i host is root. By default, the
administrative password is null, meaning there is no administrative password.
3. To configure static IP settings, select Configure Management Network and then IP Configuration to
update the IP Address, Subnet Mask and Default Gateway values.
4. To configure DNS settings, select Configure Management Network and DNS Configuration to specify the
Primary Server, Alternate Server and Hostname.
5. Connect a network cable to the host and use the direct console to perform some simple network connectivity
tests. Select Test Management Network and press Enter to start the test. The ESX Server 3i host pings
the default gateway, the primary DNS nameserver, the secondary DNS nameserver and then resolves the
DNS host name to test your network configuration.
6. Once the networking is successfully configured, you will be able to connect to the host remotely using the VI
Client.
4 Building the Virtual Datacenter
4.1 Starting the VI Client and Logging On

The VI Client is the interface to VirtualCenter Server and hosts. That is, you can connect to and manage the
VirtualCenter Server with the VI Client, and you can also connect to individual hosts with the VI Client. The interface
displays different options depending on which type of server you are connected to. If you are connected to
VirtualCenter Server, you can manage the VirtualCenter Server as well as all of the hosts and virtual machines being
managed by it. If you are connected to an individual host, the VirtualCenter Server options do not display. Connect to
your host through VirtualCenter to have an aggregated datacenter-level view of multiple ESX Server hosts. When you
manage your ESX Server hosts through VirtualCenter Server, the users who can log on to the VirtualCenter Server
are users in the Windows domain. When you first log on to the VirtualCenter Server, all users in the Windows
Administrators group are assigned VirtualCenter Administrator privileges by default. You, as a VirtualCenter
Administrator, need to explicitly grant permissions for all other VirtualCenter users and user groups.
To start the VI Client and log on:
1. To launch the VI Client, double click a shortcut, or choose the application through
Start>Programs>VMware>VMware Infrastructure Client. The VI Client logon dialog box appears.
2. Type the host name or IP address of the VirtualCenter
server you previously installed.
3. To log on to a VirtualCenter Server, enter an
appropriate Windows domain user name and password.
If this is the first time you are logging on, log on as
Windows Administrator so you can set permissions for
other users. If you want to later log in to an individual
ESX Server host, enter a user name that will be
accepted by this host. If this is the first time you are
logging on to an ESX Server, log on as root. For the
purposes of this evaluation, you only need to log into
the VirtualCenter server.
4. Click Log In.
4.2 Creating a Datacenter

If you are loggin in for the first time, the VI Client opens to the Getting Started tab with no ESX Server hosts under
management. The Getting
Started tab is designed to
provide new users with
background information and
suggestions for next steps.
Experienced users can
select to close the tab if
desired to simplify the user
interface.
The next step is to create a
datacenter and bring one or
more ESX Server hosts
under VirtualCenter
management. You can then
create virtual machines and
determine how you want to
organize virtual machines
and manage resources.
Datacenters serve as
containers for your hosts,
virtual machines, resource pools, and clusters. Use datacenters to create organizational structures so that you can
dedicate virtual configurations to specific departments, build isolated virtual environments for testing, or otherwise
organize your environment.
To create a datacenter:
1. Click Inventory in the
navigation bar to display the
inventory panel.
2. Right click the Hosts &
Clusters folder icon in the
inventory panel, and choose
New Datacenter from the
pop up menu. A datacenter
icon is added to the
inventory.
3. Type a name for your
datacenter such as Eval
Datacenter. If you want to
further subdivide the
datacenter, you can create
folders and folder hierarchies
for specific host or resource
groups. The method for
creating folders is similar to
the method you used to create your datacenter—just choose New Folder instead of New Datacenter.
4.3 Bringing Hosts Under VirtualCenter Management

ESX Server hosts serve as the virtualization platform for the virtual machines you create. Hosts provide the CPU and
memory resources to your virtual machines, give virtual machines access to storage, and offer network connectivity.
You manage your hosts through the VI Client, connected either directly to each individual host, or indirectly to a group
of hosts through a connection to a VirtualCenter Server. When you use the VI Client to connect to your ESX Server
hosts directly, you manage each of them individually as a standalone host. When you access your host through the
VirtualCenter connection, you register each host with VirtualCenter to manage the entire infrastructure of your hosts
as a group.
To add a host to the inventory:
1. Click Inventory in the navigation bar to display
the inventory panel.
2. Right click the datacenter you just created, and
choose Add Host. The Add Host Wizard
appears.
3. Type the Host Name of the host on the
Connection Settings page. Note that ESX
Server or ESX Server 3i must be installed on
the machine you wish to add to VirtualCenter.
4. Type root in the Username field, and type the
root password in the Password field.
5. Click Next, and review the information on the

Host Summary page. Click Next again.
6. Accept the default to not Enable Lockdown

Mode on the host. Click Next to continue.
7. Select a datacenter or a folder from the Virtual

Machines and Templates inventory as the
location of the host’s virtual machines. Click
Next.
8. Review the information on the final page of the

Add Host Wizard, and click Finish.
After you close the wizard, VirtualCenter Server performs the following:
• Searches the network for the host and determines whether the host has any virtual machines.
• Connects the host. If the wizard can’t connect the host, it doesn’t add the host to the inventory.
• Verifies that the host is not already being managed by another datacenter. If so, VirtualCenter displays a
message. If VirtualCenter can connect to the host but for some reason cannot maintain the connection, the
host is added in a disconnected state. This occurs, for example, if the host is already being managed by
another VirtualCenter Server.
• Reads the number of processors on the host and allocates the appropriate number of licenses. The number
of processors is stored in the VirtualCenter database and is verified during each host reconnection and
VirtualCenter startup.
• Verifies that the host version is supported. If not, VirtualCenter checks to see if the host can be upgraded to
a supported version. If the host can be upgraded, the VI Client prompts you to perform an upgrade. After this
sequence completes successfully, the host appears in the VI Client inventory panel.
9. Once the host is

added to the
datacenter, it is
available to support
virtual machines.
Next, we will import
a virtual appliance
and create a virtual
machine from
scratch.
5 Creating Virtual Machines

The VI Client provides several ways to create virtual machines:
• Import – You can import previously created virtual machines such as virtual appliances
• Create New – You can manually configure entirely new virtual machines.
• Convert physical machines to virtual – You can convert existing physical Windows-based machines to
virtual machines using the “convert” functionality in VirtualCenter or using VMware Converter.
• Clone – You can create exact replicas of existing virtual machines.
• Deploy from Templates – You can create virtual machines from templates that provide a base
configuration which you can customize.
For each type of creation process, a wizard guides you through the steps to produce a complete and working virtual
machine.
For new users, we recommend that you use the “import” or “create new” options to create your initial virtual
machines.
5.1 Creating Virtual Machines by Importing Virtual Appliances (Import)

A virtual appliance is a pre-built, pre-configured and ready-to-run software application packaged with the operating
system inside a virtual machine. Virtual appliances are changing the software distribution paradigm because they
allow application builders to choose the best operating system for their application and deliver a turnkey software
service to the end user. This new approach to software distribution combines the simple deployment of software with
the benefits of a pre-configured device. For solution providers, building a virtual appliance is simpler and more cost
effective than building a hardware appliance. For end users, virtual appliances allow for a more consistent, highly-
utilized operating environment.
Many VMware partners build virtual appliances to distribute evaluation software and full production software to their
customers. VMware virtual appliance partners range from small to large software vendors to solution providers that
have delivered their products as traditional hardware appliances. All of these partners wanted to make it easy to
download and install a complete, production-ready solution stack that has been pre-installed and pre-configured on
an optimized configuration of the underlying operating system. These production-ready virtual appliances that our
partners have developed are available at http://www.vmware.com/appliances/directory/. To create a new virtual
machine using a virtual appliance, download the virtual appliance and point to the virtual disk file rather than creating
a new one when creating the virtual machine.
To import a virtual appliance:
1. In the VI Client, choose File > Virtual
Appliance > Import. The Import
Virtual Machine wizard is displayed.
2. Select Import from VMTN from the
following options:
a. Import from Disk – Browse
your file system for an
appliance.
b. Import from URL – Specify
a URL to an appliance
located on the internet.
c. Import from VMTN – Select
from VMware appliances
available on the VMTN Web
site.
3. Select Browser Appliance – 288MB and the Virtual Machine Details page is displayed. Click Next.
4. If license agreements are packaged with the appliance, the End User License Agreement page is
displayed. Agree to accept the terms of the licenses and click Next.
5. (Optional) Edit the name and select a
datacenter. A default name might be
provided. You can optionally edit the
name. The name can be up to 80
characters long and can contain
alphanumeric characters and the
underscore ( _ ) and hyphen ( )
characters. It should also be unique
within the virtual machine folder.
Names are case sensitive. Click
Next.
6. Choose your local datastore for the

virtual machine, and click Next. The
virtual machine configuration file and
virtual disk files are stored on the
datastore. Choose a datastore large
enough to accommodate the virtual
machine and all of its virtual disk files.
7. (Optional) If your virtual infrastructure

contains multiple networks, map
each network specified in the OVF
file to a network in your
infrastructure. Click Next.
8. Review your settings and click
Finish. The progress of the import
task is displayed in the VI Client
Status panel.
9. Once the virtual appliance

has finished downloading,
it will show up as an
available virtual machine
in the inventory panel
under the host. Right-click
on the virtual machine and
select Power On.
10. Switch to the Console tab

for the virtual machine to
see it boot up. This is a
simple virtual appliance
that let’s you browse the
Internet securely using the
Mozilla Firefox web
browser.
5.2 Creating Virtual Machines from Scratch (Create New)

The VI Client provides a simple and flexible user interface from which you can create
new virtual machines through manual configuration, from templates, or by cloning
existing virtual machines. All virtual machines are created in place using a wizard that
guides you through the steps to produce a complete and working virtual machine.
The typical path shortens the process by skipping some choices that rarely need
changing from their defaults. The figure to the right summarizes the typical virtual
machine path.
To create a virtual machine from the VI Client:

1. Click Inventory in the navigation bar, and expand the inventory as needed.
2. In the inventory list, select the managed host or cluster to which you want to add the new virtual machine.
3. From the File menu, choose
New>Virtual Machine. The New
Virtual Machine wizard appears. Select
Typical, and click Next.
4. The Name and Folder page appears:

a. Type a name in the Virtual
Machine Name field for your
virtual machine. This name
appears in the VI Client
inventory. It is also used as
the name of the virtual
machine’s files. Avoid
spaces and special
characters when naming
virtual machines.
b. To set the inventory location
for your virtual machine,
select a folder or the root of
a datacenter from the list
under Virtual Machine
Inventory Location list. Click
Next.
5. The Datastore page appears. Select

a datastore in which to store the
virtual machine files, and click Next.
6. On the Guest Operating System

page:
a. Under Guest Operating
System, select the operating
system family (Microsoft
Windows, Linux, Novell
NetWare, Solaris, or Other).
Note that selecting the
operating system doesn’t
automatically install it inside
the virtual machine being
created.
b. Choose the version from the
drop down menu, and click
Next. VirtualCenter does not
install the guest operating
system. The New Virtual
Machine Wizard uses this
information to select appropriate default values, such as the amount of memory needed.
7. If the host is multiprocessor and the

guest operating system supports
SMP, the Virtual CPUs page
appears. Choose the number of
virtual processors in the virtual
machine from the drop down list, and
click Next.
8. The Memory page appears. Click any

of the colored arrows to set the
memory size, and click Next. You can
also drag the slider or select the
number using the up and down
arrows.
9. The Network page appears. Choose network connections:

a. Select the number of NICs
you want to connect to.
b. For each NIC, use the
Network pull down menu to
choose one of the port
groups that are configured
for virtual machine use on
the host. If no virtual
machine port groups are
configured, a warning dialog
box appears, and you cannot
configure any virtual network
cards.
c. For each NIC that you do not
want the virtual network
adapter to connect when the
virtual machine is powered
on, deselect the Connect at
Power On check box.
d. Click Next.
10. The Virtual Disk Capacity page

appears. Enter the disk size in
megabytes (MB) or gigabytes (GB) in
the Disk Size field, and click Next.
The virtual disk should be large
enough to hold the guest operating
system and all of the software that
you intend to install with room for data
and growth.
11. The Ready to Complete page is

displayed. Review your choices, and
click Finish.
12. At this point, the new virtual machine

is like a physical computer with a
blank hard disk. Before you can use
your new virtual machine, you must
partition and format the virtual disk
and then install a guest operating
system and VMware Tools. The
operating system’s installation
program can handle the partitioning
and formatting steps for you. Installing
a guest operating system inside your
virtual machine is essentially the
same as installing it on a physical
computer. The basic process to install
a typical operating system is to insert
the installation CD-ROM for your
guest operating system and power on
the virtual machine. Right-click on the
new virtual machine and select Edit
Settings to open the Virtual Machine
Properties window.
13. If you are installing from a CD-ROM, insert the disk into the VI Client or ESX Server drive.
14. Select CD/DVD Drive 1. Select one of

the following options:
a. Client Device – Select this
option to connect the virtual
CD ROM device to a
CD ROM device on the
machine from which you are
running the VI Client.
b. Host Device – Select this
option to connect the virtual
CD ROM device to a device
on the ESX Server host
machine on which this virtual
machine is located. Choose
the device from the drop down
menu.
c. Datastore ISO File – Select

this option to connect the
virtual CD ROM device to an
ISO file on a datastore. This is
a faster alternative to installing
from CD-ROM. Click Browse to
locate and select the file.
Check Connect at power on
to make it available to the
virtual machine at boot.
15. Click OK.

16. Right-click on your new

virtual machine and select
Power On. Select the
Console tab to see the
virtual machine’s display. If
you are installing from local
media in the VI Client, click to
Connect CD/DVD in the
toolbar. Note that you might
need to change the boot
order in the virtual machine
BIOS so that the virtual
machine attempts to boot
from the CD/DVD device
before trying other boot
devices. To do so, press F2
when prompted during virtual
machine startup. Once the
installation CD is running,
follow the instructions provided by the operating system vendor to complete the installation. Note that when
working with virtual machines in the console, additional commands such as sending a Ctrl-Alt-Del are
available by right clicking on the virtual machine in the Inventory panel. Also, pressing Ctrl-Alt releases the
mouse focus from the console window.
17. The final step is to install

VMware Tools. VMware
Tools is a suite of utilities
that enhances the
performance of the virtual
machine’s guest operating
system and improves
management of the virtual
machine. Although the
guest operating system can
run without VMware Tools,
you lose important
functionality and
convenience. The installers
for VMware Tools for
Windows, Linux, and
NetWare guest operating
systems are built into ESX
Server as ISO image files.
With the guest operating system running, right-click on the virtual machine and select to Install / Upgrade
VMware Tools to launch the installer. Follow the instructions to complete the typical installation.
18. Once the installation is complete, be sure to enable time

synchronization between the virtual machine and the ESX
Server. In the VM Console, double-click the VMware Tools icon
in the system tray to open the options tab and enable time
synchronization.
5.3 Creating Virtual Machines from Existing Physical Servers
Conversion of physical machines to virtual machines can be done using VMware Converter. We recommend that
users new to virtualization create new virtual machines from scratch initially or import virtual appliances from
http://www.vmware.com/appliances/
For users familiar with virtualization, physical to virtual machine conversion can be performed in the following
steps:
1. Download VMware Converter onto the physical server being converted (source) or onto a different server
with network access to the source physical server as well as the virtualized server where the virtual machine
will be placed. (destination)
2. Launch the conversion wizard which will guide a user through the conversion specifics
3. Configure the newly created virtual machine once conversion is complete.
For more information, refer http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/converter_pubs.html

5.4 Creating Virtual Machines from Existing Virtual Machines (Clone)

A clone is a copy plus customization of a virtual machine. When you create a clone, VirtualCenter provides an
option to customize the guest operating system of that virtual machine. You can place the new clone on any host
within the same datacenter as the original virtual machine.
To clone a virtual machine:
1. Select the source virtual
machine and shut down
the guest if it is running.
2. To start the Clone a Virtual

Machine wizard, right-click on
the source virtual machine and
select Clone. The Clone
Virtual Machine Wizard
appears. Enter a virtual
machine name, select a
location, and click Next.
3. Select a host or cluster on which

to run the clone, and click Next.
4. Select the datastore location

where you want to store the
virtual machine files, and click
Next.
5. The Select Guest

Customization Option page
appears. If you earlier installed
the Microsoft Sysprep tools for
this guest operating system, you
can choose to customize the
guest operating system using the
wizard. If not, the guest operating
system will not be customized
following cloning. Click Next.
6. If you installed the Sysprep tools and

selected to customize the guest
operating system, the Windows Guest
Customization Wizard appears and
asks for the following customization
information and offers to save the
choices as a reusable configuration
file:
a. Registration Information
b. Computer Name
c. Windows License
d. Administrator Password
e. Time Zone
f. Run Once Commands
g. Network Configuration
h. Workgroup or Domain Configuration
i. Operating System Options
7. Review your selections, and

click Finish. On the Ready
to Complete New Virtual
Machine page, you can
select the check box to
power on the new virtual
machine after creation. After
you click Finish, you cannot
use or edit the virtual
machine until the task
completes. If the task
involves the creation of a
virtual disk, it could take
several minutes to complete.
You can switch to the Tasks
& Events tab for the new
virtual machine to monitor
the progress of the task.
5.5 Creating Templates and Deploying Virtual Machines from Templates (Deploy
from Template)
Virtual machines can be converted into templates to speed the creation of additional virtual machines. A good
practice to expedite server provisioning is to convert golden ‘master copy’ virtual machines (with freshly installed
operating systems or operating systems and configured applications) into templates.
To convert an existing virtual machine to a template:
1. Select the virtual machine you want to convert into a template and shut it down if it is running.
2. Right-click on the virtual machine and
select Convert to Template.
VirtualCenter marks that virtual
machine as a template and displays
the task in the Recent Tasks pane.
3. Note that if you are in the Hosts and
Clusters view of the Inventory panel,
the virtual machine converted to a
template will disappear from view.
You can access it by viewing the
Virtual Machines tab of the host or
datacenter, or by switching the
inventory view to Virtual Machines
and Templates using the Inventory
dropdown.
4. For clarity, right-click on the new virtual machine template and rename it to include Template in the
name.
To deploy a new virtual machine from a template, right-click the template and choose Deploy Virtual Machine
from this Template. Name the new virtual machine and select its location (datacenter, host, folder, resource pool,
etc.) and the datastore for its virtual disk files. Optionally select to customize the guest operating system to
customize the virtual machine’s hostname, networking, licenses and administrative credentials.
To deploy a new virtual machine from a template:
1. Select the datacenter that contains the template, and click the Virtual Machines tab. The virtual
machines and templates associated with the datacenter appear in the datacenter panel.
2. Right click the template, and choose
Deploy Virtual Machine from this
Template. The Deploy Template
wizard appears.
3. Give the new virtual machine a name,
select a location, and click Next. The
name can be up to 80 characters long
and can contain alphanumeric
characters and the underscore ( _ )
and hyphen ( ) characters. It should
also be unique across all templates
and virtual machines in the
datacenter. Names are
case insensitive: the name my_vm
is identical to My_Vm .
4. On the Host / Cluster page, select the host on which you want to store the template and click Next.
5. Choose a datastore for the virtual machine, and click Next. You are choosing the datastore in which to
store the files for the virtual machine. You should choose one that is large enough to accommodate the
virtual machine and all of its virtual disk files so that they can all reside in the same place.
6. On the Select Guest Customization Option page, perform one of these actions:
a. If you do not want to customize your guest operating system, select Do not customize and
click Next.
b. If you want to customize your guest operating system, click one of the other selections as
appropriate.
7. On the Ready to Complete window, review the information for your new virtual machine, select the
Power on the new Virtual Machine after creation check box if you want to power on the virtual
machine immediately, and click Finish. After you click Finish, you cannot use or edit the virtual
machine until the task completes. This might take several minutes. The virtual machine is added to the
datastore.
6 Managing Virtual Machines
6.1 Managing Virtual Machines States

To change the state of virtual machines in inventory, either right-click on the virtual machine or select a command in
the toolbar. The basic power state options for virtual machines include:
• Power on – Powers up the virtual machine and boots the guest operating system if the guest operating
system is installed.
• Power off – Powers down the virtual machine. The virtual machine does not attempt to shut down the guest
operating system gracefully.
• Suspend – Pauses the virtual machine activity. All transactions are frozen until you issue a resume
command.
• Resume – Allows virtual machine activity to continue and releases the suspended state.
• Reset – Shuts down the guest operating system and restarts it. If the guest operating system does not
support this operation, VMware Tools must be installed.
The following power options perform extra functions in addition to the basic virtual machine power operations.
VMware Tools must be installed in the virtual machine to perform these functions.
• Shut down guest – Shuts down the guest operating system. If the guest operating system automatically
powers off after shutting down, the virtual machine also powers off.
• Restart guest – Shuts down and restarts the guest operating system without powering off the virtual
machine.
6.2 Edit Virtual Machine Settings and Add Virtual Machine Hardware Devices
The Virtual Machine Properties editor and the Add Hardware wizard allow you to edit and configure your existing
virtual machines. These activities are typically performed after you create the virtual machine and install the guest
operating system. The Virtual Machine Properties Editor allows you to change nearly every characteristic of your
virtual machine that you choose when you create the virtual machine. To edit an existing virtual machine
configuration:
1. From the VI Client inventory, select the virtual machine you want to customize.
2. Power off the virtual machine. You cannot edit most virtual machine properties if the virtual machine is
powered on.
3. Right-click on the virtual machine and click Edit Settings. The Virtual Machine Properties dialog box is
displayed.
4. Select one of the following tabs according to
the settings you want to change:
a. Hardware – To add, edit, or remove
hardware from your virtual machine.
The devices that can be added are
serial ports, parallel ports, floppy
drives, DVD/CD-ROM drives,
Ethernet adapters, hard disks and
SCSI devices.
b. Options – To edit power
management settings and other
options.
c. Resources – To edit CPU, memory,
disk, and advanced resource
settings for this virtual machine.
5. Make changes as needed, and click OK.
You can configure additional virtual hardware for your virtual machine as needed. The following hardware devices
can be added:
• Serial Port
• Parallel Port
• Floppy Drive
• DVD/CD ROM Drive
• Sound card
• Ethernet Adapter
• Hard Disk
• SCSI Controller
To add a hardware device:
1. From the Hardware tab, and click Add to display the Add Hardware Wizard.
2. Select the type of device you want to add, and click Next.
3. Follow the steps in the wizard to add the device.
Adjust these settings and add devices as needed to evaluate their impact on the virtual machines. Refer to the Basic
System Administration Guide > Chapter 12 Configuring Virtual Machines if needed for more information.
6.3 Configure Network Connections

Networking for the service console, which runs the management services, is set up by default during the installation
of ESX Server. As you selected the default option during ESX Server installation to create a port group for virtual
machines, you do not need to configure networking for your virtual machines. However, in this default configuration,
virtual machine network traffic shares a network adapter with the service console. For security and other reasons,
VMware recommends that virtual machine traffic not share a network adapter with the service console in production
environments.
To create or add a virtual network for a virtual
machine:
1. Select the ESX Server host from the
inventory panel and click the
Configuration tab. Click on Networking
to display the existing virtual switches.
This example shows a virtual switch
named vSwitch0 that is handling
management traffic for the service
console, NFS access for the VMkernel
and network traffic for four virtual
machines.
2. On the right side of the screen, click Add

Networking to create a new internal-only
virtual switch to handle network traffic between
two virtual machines on the host. The Add
Network Wizard appears. As a connection
type, select Virtual Machine, which is the
default. Click Next.
3. The Network Access page

appears. Virtual machines
reach physical networks
through uplink adapters. A
vSwitch is able to transfer data
to external networks only when
one or more network adapters
(vmnics) are attached to it.
When two or more adapters
are attached to a single
vSwitch, they are transparently
teamed. Select Create a
virtual switch. You can create
a new vSwitch with or without
Ethernet adapters. If you
create a vSwitch without
physical network adapters, all
traffic on that vSwitch will be
confined to that vSwitch. No
other hosts on the physical
network or virtual machines on
other vSwitches will be able to send or receive traffic over this vSwitch. This is desirable if you want a group
of virtual machines to be able to communicate with each other but not with other hosts or with virtual
machines outside the group. In this case, we want to create an internal only network so deselect any vmnic
adapters that are checked. Changes are reflected in the Preview pane.
4. Click Next. The Connection
Settings page appears.
Provide a network label for the
new virtual switch. Click Next
again to view the Ready to
Complete summary and click
Finish to create the new
internal-only virtual switch.
Virtual machines can now be
connected to this virtual switch,
and they will be able to
communicate with other virtual
machines on the same switch.
Refer to the Server Configuration
Guide for more information on network
configuration.
6.4 Configure Resource Pools on a Standalone Host

You can use resource pools to hierarchically partition available CPU and memory resources. Each standalone host
and each DRS cluster has an (invisible) root resource pool that groups the resources of that host or cluster. The root
resource pool is not displayed because the resources of the host (or cluster) and the root resource pool are always
the same. If you don’t create child resource pools, only the root resource pools exist.
Users can create child resource pools of the root resource pool or of any user created child resource pool. Each
child resource pool owns some of the parent’s resources and can, in turn, have a hierarchy of child resource pools to
represent successively smaller units of computational capability. A resource pool can contain child resource pools,
virtual machines, or both. This creates a hierarchy of shared resources. The resource pools at a higher level are
called parent resource pools, while the resource pools and virtual machines that are at the same level are called
siblings.
In this figure, RP QA is the parent resource
pool for RP QA UI. RP Marketing and
RP QA are siblings. The three virtual
machines immediately below RP Marketing
are also siblings. For each resource pool,
you can specify reservation, limit, shares,
and whether the reservation should be
expandable. The resource pool resources
are then available to child resource pools
and virtual machines.
When you create a child resource pool, you are prompted for the following resource pool attribute information. The
system uses admission control to make sure you can’t allocate resources that aren’t available.
CPU Resources Shares Number of CPU shares the resource pool has with respect to the
parent’s total. Sibling resource pools share resources according to
their relative share values bounded by the reservation and limit. You
can choose Low, Normal, or High, or choose Custom to specify a
number that assigns a share value.
Reservation Guaranteed CPU allocation for this resource pool.
Expandable Use this check box to indicate that, if virtual machines are powered on
Reservation in this resource pool, and the reservations of the virtual machines
combined are larger than the reservation of the resource pool, the
resource pool can use a parent’s or ancestor’s resources. Default is
selected.
Limit Upper limit for the amount of CPU the host makes available to this
resource pool. Default is Unlimited. To specify a limit, deselect the
Unlimited check box and type in the number
Memory Resources Shares Number of memory shares the resource pool has with respect to the
parent’s total. Sibling resource pools share resources according to
their relative share values bounded by the reservation and limit. You
can choose Low, Normal, or High, or choose Custom to specify a
number that assigns a share value.
Reservation Guaranteed memory allocation for this resource pool.
Expandable Use this check box to indicate that more than the specified reservation
Reservation should be allocated if resources are available in a parent.
Limit Upper limit for this resource pool’s memory allocation. Default is
Unlimited. To specify a different limit, deselect the Unlimited check
box.
Let’s create two resource pools on the evaluation server to demonstrate how they work. We’ll create a Test Resource
Pool with a low priority access to CPU resources and then a Production Resource Pool with a high priority access to
CPU resources. To create a resource pool:
1. Right-click on the
intended parent ESX
Server host in the
Inventory panel and
select New Resource
Pool.
2. In the New Resource Pool dialog box, enter the name Test
Resource Pool and change the CPU Resource Shares from
Normal to Low. Notice that the Shares value changes from 4,000 to
2,000 as low provides half the resources of normal. Click OK.
VirtualCenter creates the resource pool and displays it in the
inventory panel.
3. Right-click on the host ESX Server host again and select to create
another resource pool. This time, name the resource pool
Production Resource Pool and change the CPU Resource
Shares from Normal to High. Notice that the Shares value doubles
from 4,000 from to 8,000 to provide double the resources of a normal
share. With a total of 10,000 shares across the two pools, the virtual
machines in the Test Resource Pool will only be able to access 20%
(2,000 of 10,000) of the available CPU resources if the Production
Resource Pool is using the other 80% (8,000 shares of 10,000). As
the CPU Resources is not limited in the configuration, if the virtual
machines in the Production Resource Pool are only using 60% of the
available CPU Resources, the Test Resource Pool will be able to
access the remaining 40% of CPU Resources so that no compute
cycles are wasted.
When you create a new virtual machine, the Virtual Machine Wizard allows you to add it to a resource pool as part of
the creation process. You can also add an already existing virtual machine to a resource pool as described below.
To add an existing virtual
machine to a resource pool:
1. Select the virtual
machine from any
location in the
inventory. The virtual
machine can be
associated with a
standalone host, a
cluster, or a different
resource pool.
2. Drag the virtual
machine (or
machines) to the
desired resource pool
object.
Go ahead and drag some of your virtual machines into the Production Resource Pool with a high share of resources
and others into the Test Resource Pool with a low share of CPU resources. When you move a virtual machine to a
new resource pool:
• The virtual machine’s reservation and limit do not change.
• If the virtual machine’s shares are high, medium, or low, %Shares adjusts to reflect the total number of
shares in use in the new resource pool.
• If the virtual machine has custom shares assigned, the share value is maintained. If the virtual machine
would receive a very large percentage of total shares, a warning is displayed.
• The information displayed in the Resource Allocation tab about the resource pool’s reserved and unreserved
CPU and memory resources changes to reflect the reservations associated with the virtual machine (if any).
If a virtual machine is powered on, and the destination resource pool does not have enough CPU or memory to
guarantee the virtual machine’s reservation, the move fails because admission control does not allow it. An error
dialog box explains the situation. The dialog box compares available and requested resources, so you can consider
whether an adjustment would resolve the issue.
6.5 Schedule Tasks, View Events and Set Alarms

Tasks are planned activities such as powering on or off a
virtual machine, cloning a virtual machine, or adding a virtual
machine to a resource pool. These activities can be scheduled
or initiated manually. Tasks generate event messages that
indicate any issues associated with the task. You can
schedule tasks to occur at designated times. Each scheduled
task option runs the corresponding wizard for the task and
adds a scheduling time option at the end of the wizard.
Schedule a few tasks to evaluate by selecting File > New >
Scheduled Task from the menu.
Alarms send notification

messages when selected events
occur to or on hosts or virtual
machines. Alarms indicate the
status levels of an object or
collection of objects in the
hierarchy. Alarms can be defined
at all hierarchical levels, including
folders, datacenters, clusters,
resource pools, hosts, and virtual
machines. Alarms are inherited
from parent levels and cannot be
changed or overridden at a child
level. When you add new alarms
to any object you contribute to
the collection of alarms that are in force at any of its child levels. When an alarm is created, VirtualCenter verifies the
user permissions to perform the actions on the relevant datacenters, hosts, and virtual machines. After the alarm is
created, the alarm is performed even if the creating user no longer has permission to create the alarm. Alarms are
applied to either hosts or virtual machines. Each alarm has a triggering event such as CPU usage is above 90% or
state is off and a notification method such as send an email notification, send an SNMP notification trap, or run a
script. To view the default alarms for your installation, select Hosts & Clusters from the Inventory panel and then
select the Alarms tab. Right-click and select to Edit Settings to see how the alarm is triggered and view and view
the available configuration settings.
Create several alarms to evaluate by selecting File > New > Alarm.
6.6 Monitor the Virtual Infrastructure

You can collect performance statistics for all hosts, clusters, virtual machines, resource pools, and in your
environment. This includes statistical data on CPUs, disks, networks, and the like. VirtualCenter uses statistic
counters to query each entity and writes the data to the VirtualCenter database. To ensure performance is not
impaired when collecting and writing the data to the database, VirtualCenter performs cyclical queries rather than
performing one single query. It also uses collection levels to determine how many statistic counters to use while
querying for data. Combined, collection intervals and collection levels enable you to control how statistics are
collected across your environment. For more information on monitoring virtual machine performance, see Basic
System Administration > System Administration > Setting Up and Monitoring Performance Statistics and
Resource Maps in the VI3 documentation.
After you add hosts to VirtualCenter and create and power on virtual machines, you can customize and monitor your
environment using the Performance tab and Global and Inventory Maps.
The Performance tab is available
when you select a cluster, resource
pool, host, or virtual machine from the
inventory panel. The Performance tab
displays the selected object’s
resource performance in graph and
list form. Performance views show
graphs for resources specific to the
selected inventory object. A stacked
graph is another way to view the
statistical information. With virtual
machines running, click on the
Performance tab for the datacenter,
host server and virtual machine to
monitor their performance.
Experiment with changing the
statistics collection interval, changing
the performance counters, and
exporting the performance chart data
to Excel.
You can also export performance data to Excel files for later evaluation
and comparison using the Inventory > Virtual Machine > Report
Performance option.
The Maps feature of the VI Client provides a visual understanding of the relationships between the virtual and
physical resources available in VirtualCenter. Maps of the items within VirtualCenter are available in the Inventory
through the Maps tabs for hosts, virtual machines, networks, and datastores, (Inventory Maps) and through the Maps
button in the navigation bar (Global Maps).
Global maps are accessible from the
button in the VI Client toolbar and provide
a high-level view of the relationships
between all physical and virtual elements
in the entire VirtualCenter environment. By
selecting or deselecting the boxes on the
side of the inventory, you can see which
clusters or hosts are most densely
populated, which networks are most
critical, and which storage devices are
being utilized (or not). Physical, Virtual,
and Custom map types exist for both
inventory maps and global maps. They
constrain and filter information on a
VirtualCenter-wide level for the global
maps. Click the Maps button in the
navigation bar to view a global map.
Inventory maps are accessible from the inventory view and show a selected item's relevant host, virtual machine,
network, and storage relationships. This makes it easy to understand what items are affected or attached to the item
in question. These maps appear for
folders, datacenters, clusters, resource
pools, and hosts. Physical, Virtual, and
Custom map types exist for both inventory
maps and global maps. They constrain
and filter information on an item-specific
level for the Inventory maps. The Maps
tab is available when you select folders,
datacenters, clusters, resource pools,
hosts, or virtual machines from the
inventory panel of the navigation bar. Click
Inventory in the navigation bar and select
the Inventory Hosts and Clusters or Virtual
Machines and Templates options. Select a
folder, datacenter, cluster, resource pool,
or host inventory object. Click the Maps
tab to view an inventory map.
VMotion resource maps appear only in the
tabs for virtual machines selected in the
inventory. In addition to visual
representations of the resources (hosts,
datastores, and networks) associated with
a virtual machine, these maps display
which hosts in a virtual machine’s cluster
or datacenter are candidate hosts to which
a virtual machine can migrate. Though the
VMotion map is not the last word on
whether VMotion is possible, it provides
information about which hosts are heavily
loaded, which are connected to all the
same resources that the target virtual
machine is connected to, and which hosts
have compatible CPU and software with
the target virtual machine. Click Inventory
in the navigation bar and select the
Inventory Hosts and Clusters or Virtual Machines and Templates options. Select a virtual machine. Click the Maps
tab to view a VMotion map.
7 Evaluate Specific Application Workloads within a VMware

Virtual Machine
With VMware Infrastructure installed and configured, your evaluation of specific application workloads is at this point
self-directed. You could, for example, convert several production systems from your IT infrastructure and consolidate
them onto one host server to test their relative performance individually and under consolidated load. With any of
these virtual machines, you can click through the full menu structure of the Virtual Infrastructure Client and test out
the other configuration properties and actions available. Keep in mind that you can refer to the full user
documentation for more information or to support evaluation steps not addressed in this guide.
For additional context, below is a list of applications that VMware customers commonly deploy within virtual
machines. These are all good candidates to evaluate for consolidation onto virtual infrastructure.
Software Categories Software Products
Web Services Microsoft IIS, Netscape, Apache, Allaire Coldfusion

Application Servers BEA WebLogic, IBM WebSphere, .ASP
Enterprise Messaging Microsoft Exchange, Lotus Notes, Groupwise, Sendmail, Other POP & IMAP
services
Database Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, IBM DB2
File and Print Services Microsoft, Novell, Samba/CIFS, NFS
Remote Session Access Citrix MetaFrame, Windows Terminal Services
Enterprise Applications SAP, Siebel, Peoplesoft, J.D. Edwards, Microsoft Great Plains, Oracle
Applications
Business Integration Microsoft BizTalk, IBM MQSeries
Helpdesk Applications Remedy
System Management HP Openview, Tivoli, MS Systems Management Server, VMware
VirtualCenter
Backup Services Veritas BackupExec, Veritas NetBackup, Tivoli Storage Manager, CA
ArcServe, CommVault Galaxy, Legato Networker, HP Data Protector
Network Services Windows NT / 2000 Domain Controllers, MS Active Directory, Sun One
Directory Server, LDAP, WINS, DHCP, DNS
Firewall / Proxy Services Squid, Netscape Proxy Server, Microsoft ISA
Custom Developed & Custom NT and Linux applications
Legacy Applications
Development and Rational TestSuite, Microsoft Visual Studio, IBM VisualAge, Mercury
Quality Assurance Interactive
8 Next Steps
If you would like to purchase, evaluate or get
more information about VMware
Infrastructure, VMware has a global network
of solutions providers who are ready to help
you. If you'd like to contact VMware directly,
you can reach a sales representative at 1-
877-4VMWARE (650-475-5000 outside
North America) or email
sales@vmware.com. When emailing, please
include the state, country and company
name from which you are inquiring. You can
also visit our online store at
http://www.vmware.com/vmwarestore/.
9 About VMware
VMware (NYSE:VMW) is the global leader in
virtual infrastructure software for industry-standard systems. Organizations of all sizes use VMware solutions to
simplify their IT, fully leverage their existing computing investments and respond faster to changing business
demands. VMware is based in Palo Alto, California and majority-owned by EMC Corporation (NYSE:EMC). For
more information, visit www.vmware.com.
© 2007 VMware. All rights reserved.
VMware, Inc. 3401 Hillview Ave Palo Alto CA 94304 USA Tel 877-486-9273 Fax
650-427-5001 www.vmware.com
© 2007 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved. Protected by one or more of U.S. Patent Nos. 6,397,242,
6,496,847, 6,704,925, 6,711,672, 6,725,289, 6,735,601, 6,785,886, 6,789,156, 6,795,966, 6,880,022,
6,961,941, 6,961,806, 6,944,699, 7,069,413; 7,082,598 and 7,089,377; patents pending.

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Vmware Infrastructure 3 Quick Evaluator'S Guide: Transform It Infrastructure With Enterprise-Class Virtualization

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VMware Infrastructure 3

Quick Evaluator’s Guide

2 Evaluation Planning and Environment Setup ...................................................................................- 4 -

3 VMware Infrastructure Evaluation Setup ..........................................................................................- 7 -

3.1 Install the VirtualCenter Server and the VI Client ....................................................................- 7 -

3.2 Install VMware ESX Server 3 ................................................................................................- 14 -

3.3 Configure an ESX Server 3i server .......................................................................................- 20 -

4 Building the Virtual Datacenter .......................................................................................................- 22 -

4.1 Starting the VI Client and Logging On ...................................................................................- 22 -

4.2 Creating a Datacenter............................................................................................................- 22 -

4.3 Bringing Hosts Under VirtualCenter Management ................................................................- 23 -

5 Creating Virtual Machines ..............................................................................................................- 26 -

5.1 Creating Virtual Machines by Importing Virtual Appliances (Import) .....................................- 26 -

5.2 Creating Virtual Machines from Scratch (Create New) .........................................................- 29 -

5.3 Creating Virtual Machines from Existing Physical Servers ....................................................- 35 -

6 Managing Virtual Machines ............................................................................................................- 41 -

6.1 Managing Virtual Machines States ........................................................................................- 41 -

6.3 Configure Network Connections ............................................................................................- 42 -

6.4 Configure Resource Pools on a Standalone Host .................................................................- 44 -

6.5 Schedule Tasks, View Events and Set Alarms......................................................................- 47 -

6.6 Monitor the Virtual Infrastructure ...........................................................................................- 48 -

7 Evaluate Specific Application Workloads within a VMware Virtual Machine..................................- 51 -

8 Next Steps ......................................................................................................................................- 52 -

9 About VMware ................................................................................................................................- 52 -

About this Guide

Conventions Used in this Guide

Italic Used for variables, parameters and web addresses

Additional Documentation Resources

VMware Infrastructure 3 Software Download and Evaluation Licensing

Help & Support During the Evaluation

 How useful was the information in this guide?

2 Evaluation Planning and Environment Setup

What to Expect – Quick Evaluation Scenario:

Figure 1: VMware Infrastructure Relationship View for the Quick Evaluation

What You Need – Quick Evaluation Planning Worksheet

User has VMware install media These can be downloaded from

Typical Quick Evaluation Timeline

Evaluation Planning & Environment Setup

ESX Server & VirtualCenter Installation & Overview

Virtual Machine Functional Testing

Exploring VirtualCenter Management Features

Use VMware Converter to export an existing virtual machine

Application Functional & Load Testing

3 VMware Infrastructure Evaluation Setup

3.1 Install the VirtualCenter Server and the VI Client

2. Click Next. The license agreement appears.

3. The Customer Information page appears. Type

4. Accept the default installation type

5. On the database selection page, leave the

6. On the License Server page, check the I

7. For the Administrator login and password,

8. Click Install to begin the installation.

9. For each component that you are installing, enter

10. Click Finish to complete the VMware Infrastructure

Install the Microsoft Sysprep Tools

3.2 Install VMware ESX Server 3

4. Click Test to have the installer inspect the

5. The Select Keyboard page appears.

6. The Mouse Configuration page

7. Accept the VMware license

8. Accept Recommended as the

9. WARNING - This is your last

10. The installer will display the

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