To create a clone using the Clone Virtual Machine wizard

If you want to make a linked clone, defragment the guest operating system’s drives before creating the linked clone. Use the tools in the guest operating system to run a defragmentation utility.

• Power off the virtual machine that you want to clone. You cannot create a clone from a virtual machine that is powered on or suspended.
• Click the name of a virtual machine you want to clone in the Favorites list or click the tab of a virtual machine in the summary window.
• From the Workstation menu bar, choose VM>Clone to open the Clone Virtual Machine wizard.
• On the Welcome page, click Next.
• On the Clone Source page, select the state of the parent from which you want to create a clone and click Next.

You can choose to create a clone from:

• The parent’s current state. Workstation creates a snapshot of the virtual machine before cloning it.
• Any snapshot of the parent. Select the snapshot name from a drop‐down menu of existing snapshots.
• On the Clone Type page, specify whether you want to create a linked clone or a full clone and click Next.
• On the Name of the New Virtual Machine page, enter a name and a path for the cloned virtual machine and click Finish.
• The default name and path are based on the original virtual machine name and location. You can type a new entry for name and path, or browse to a directory for
the clone files. The Clone Virtual Machine wizard displays a status page. A full clone can takemany minutes to create, depending on the size of the virtual disk that is being duplicated.
• Click Done to exit the Clone Virtual Machine wizard.

Samsung UNPACKED 2013 : Samsung Galaxy S 4 Launch Event Full

Samsung UNPACKED 2013 : Samsung Galaxy S 4 Launch Event Full.

Server virtualization benifits

  

There are many benefits to an IT organization or business when choosing to implement a server virtualization strategy. With the technology we have today, there's no reason to remain idle and simply watch the parade on the sidelines. If you are still waiting to get into the game, here are great reasons why you should be jumping into the server virtualization game with both feet. These are tried and true benefits that have withstood the test of time.

•  Reduce the data center footprint
• Save energy, go green
• Faster server provisioning
• Reduce Cost
• Increase uptime

Server virtualization has been a game-changing technology for IT, providing efficiencies and capabilities that just aren't possible when constrained within a physical world. And while server virtualization has continued to mature and advance itself, some virtualized organizations are still not taking full advantage of the offering -- stalling their virtual environment at something far less than the 100 percent virtualized data center of the hard-core virtual administrator.

 

Disaster recovery

A real advantage of undertaking DR in a virtual environment is that recovery procedures become less knowledge- and more process-based.

This is because the whole shebang – data, applications and operating system – is encapsulated into a virtual machine (VM) that is hardware-independent and data resides on shared storage. As a result, you can copy VMs and data by traditional backup for bare metal restore in a disaster scenario.

Or, better still, you canricate everything at regular, pre-defined intervals over a wide-area network to a second server and storage environment at a remote data centre and invoke failover. Upon failover, the replication process is halted to prevent data corruption and storage at the secondary site is designated as live. The hypervisor then scans the array for LUNs, sucks the VMs into inventory and turns them on in a pre-defined order so that they can be run up on local servers. Because the process is automated, it reduces the amount of day-to-day administration required to keep systems at remote sites configured correctly.

The process for recovering each of your VMs is the same so you generally have a much higher chance of success and you don't need a lot of technical skills to effect failover.

As long as one staff member understands the process and clearly documents it, you can gather the troops to work on other stuff such as internet connectivity to ensure you can recover within your SLAs. DR in a virtualised world is much easier if it all happens by disk-to-disk replication,"

Testing disaster recovery in a virtualised environment
Disaster recovery testing also becomes easier in a virtualised world. Cloned VMs can be used to test failover and bring the production environment up at a secondary site. This type of testing tends to be carried out infrequently with physical servers because of the time required and the disruption to the business.

 

VMware's Site Recovery Manager (SRM) tool makes it even easier to test. SRM integrates with the storage management layer and automates cross-site failover. It also generates reports for auditing purposes. You need to test that failover works, and it's an ongoing thing so we revisit it every month to see that everything's working as it should be and SRM helps because it allows you to do a 'fire-drill' failover. Failover  takes less than 60 minutes, which is within the organisation's recovery time objective of 12 hours.

  

Installing a Guest Operating System (New Virtual Machine)

A new virtual machine is like a physical computer with a blank hard disk. Before you can use it, you need to partition and format the virtual disk and install an operating system. The operating system’s installation program might handle the partitioning and formatting steps for you. Installing a guest operating system inside your VMware Workstation virtual machine is essentially the same as installing it on a physical computer

 

To install a guest operating system 

1. Start VMware Workstation.
2. Insert the installation CD ROM or floppy disk for your guest operating system.
3. In some host configurations, the virtual machine cannot boot from the installation CD ‐ROM. You can work around that problem by creating an ISO image file from the installation CD ‐ROM. Use the virtual machine settings editor (choose VM>Settings ) to connect the virtual machine’s CD drive to the ISO image file, and power on the virtual machine. If the operating system spans several CDs, when you are prompted to insert the second CD: Disconnect from the current image by choosing VM>Removable Devices>CD ‐ROM>Disconnect

• Edit the CD settings by choosing VM>Removable Devices>CD‐ROM>Edit.
• For Use ISO image file, click Browse, and select the ISO image for the second CD.
• In the Device Status area, select the Connected check box and click OK.
• In the guest operating system, click OK or otherwise respond to the prompt so that installation can continue. Repeat this process for additional CDs.

   6. Click the Power On button to power on your virtual machine.

   7. Follow the instructions provided by the operating system vendor.

Create New Virtual Machine using custom setup

Before You Begin

As you complete the New Virtual Machine wizard, you are prompted to make decisions about many aspects of the virtual machine. This section provides information about the issues involved so that you can determine which choices you want to make before running the wizard. 

 

To create a virtual machine by using the custom setup

• Start VMware Workstation.
• Choose File>New>Virtual Machine, to start the New Virtual Machine wizard and click Next.
• In the Select the Appropriate Configuration page, select Custom and click Next.
• On the Choose the Virtual Machine Hardware Compatibility page, specify whether you want to create a Workstation 4, 5, or 6 virtual machine and click Next.
• When you make a selection from the Hardware Compatibility list, you will see a list of other VMware products and versions that are compatible with your selection. You will also see a list of features that will not be available for that version.
• On the Select a Guest Operating System page, select the operating system(Including the version) that you intend to install in the new virtual machine and click Next. For more information, see “ My other post Guest Operating System Selection”.
• On the Name the Virtual Machine page, select a name and folder for the virtual machine and click Next.
• The name you enter here is used if you add this virtual machine to the VMware Workstation Favorites list. This name is also used as the name of the folder where all the files associated with this virtual machine are stored. Each virtual machine should have its own folder. For more information, see “ blog post Virtual Machine Location”. If you are creating a Workstation 5 or 6 virtual machine, on the Processor Configuration page, select the number of processors for the virtual machine and click Next.
• On the Memory for the Virtual Machine page, either adjust the memory settings or accept the default setting and click Next
• On the Network Type page, configure the networking capabilities of the virtual machine and click Next
• On the Select I/O Adapter Types page, select the type of SCSI adapter you want to use with the virtual machine and click Next.
• On the Select a Disk page, select whether to create an IDE or SCSI disk and click Next.
• On the Select a Disk Type page, select whether to create an IDE or SCSI disk and click Next. The wizard recommends the best choice based on the guest operating system you selected. All Linux distributions you can select in the wizard use SCSI virtual disks by default, as do several newer Windows operating systems and 64‐bit operating systems.
• (Linux hosts only) Also on the Select a Disk Type page, if you want to exclude disks from snapshots, in the Mode section, select Independent for the mode and choose one of the following options:
• Persistent – Changes are immediately and permanently written to the disk.
• Nonpersistent – Changes to the disk are discarded when you power off or revert to a snapshot.
• On the Specify Disk Capacity page, enter the size of the virtual disk, specify the way you want the disk space allocated, and click Next.
• On the Specify Disk File page, enter the location of the virtual disk’s files and click Finish.

The wizard sets up the files needed for your virtual machine. Now that the virtual machine is created, continue on with “See how to install a Guest Operating System post in this blog ”

To set up shared folders for a virtual machine - VMware

Using Shared FoldersWith shared folders you can easily share files among virtual machines and the host computer. You choose a directory on the host or on a network directory that is accessible to the host, and you give it the name you want to use on the guest. To use shared folders, you must have the current version of VMware Tools installed in the guest operating system and you must configure your virtual machine settings to specify which directories are to be shared. 
You can use shared folders with virtual machines running the following guest operating systems and on all supported host systems:

• Windows Server 2003
• Windows XP
• Windows 2000
• Windows NT 4.0
• Windows Vista
• Linux with a kernel version of 2.4 or higher
• Solaris x86 10
• Solaris x86 10 Update 1
• Solaris x86 10 Update 2
• Solaris x86 10 Update 3

The shared folders can be in the host computer’s file system or they can be network directories accessible from the host computer.

To set up shared folders for a virtual machine
Start Workstation and select the virtual machine. The virtual machine can be either powered on or powered off.

• Choose VM>Settings. The virtual machine settings editor opens. 
• Click the Options tab, and select Shared Folders. Click Add 
• On Windows, clicking Add starts the Add Shared Folder wizard. On Linux, it opens the Shared Folder Properties dialog box.

Use the following information to help you complete the wizard or Properties dialog box:

• Name – Name that appears inside the virtual machine Host folder – Path on the host to the directory that you want to share. Enabled or Enable this share – You might want to add a folder to the list without enabling it immediately. In this case, deselect this option to disable the shared folder without deleting it from the virtual machine configuration. You can then enable the folder at any time by selecting the check box next to its name in the list. You can alternatively select its name in the list, click Properties, and enable the folder in the Properties dialog box.
• Read‐only – Select this option to prevent the virtual machine from changing the contents of the shared folder in the host file system. 
• Access to files in the shared folder is also governed by permission settings on the host computer. To change these properties, use the Properties dialog box. On Windows, after you select Shared Folders on the Options tab, click Properties.
• After the shared folder is created, on the Shared Folders settings panel, use one of the check boxes in the Folder Sharing section to enable shared folders for this virtual machine. Select Enabled until next power off or suspend if you want to enable folder sharing temporarily, until you shut down, suspend, or restart the virtual machine. You need to select either this option or Always enabled if you want to enable or disable specific folders in the Folders section.

Access the enabled shared folder on the guest operating system: 

On a Windows guest operating system, map a network drive to the Shared Folders directory.
On Linux, shared folders appear under /mnt/hgfs. On Solaris, shared folders appear under /hgfs.

Transferring Files and Text Between the Host and Guest

Using Drag and Drop -Transferring Files and Text Between the Host and Guest

To use the drag‐and‐drop feature, make sure you have VMware Tools installed on the virtual machine. With this feature, you can move files and directories easily between Linux and Windows hosts and Linux, Windows, and Solaris 10 guests, but not between Windows 95 and Windows 98 guests.

Linux hosts and guests must be running X Windows. Solaris 10 guests must be running an Xorg X server and JDS/Gnome. 

You can drag and drop files or folders from a file manager, such as Windows Explorer, on the host to a file manager in the virtual machine and vice versa. You can also drag files from a file manager to an application that supports drag and drop, or from applications such as zip file managers that support drag‐and‐drop extraction of individual files. You can also drag and drop files from one virtual machine to another. 

When you drag a file or folder from host to virtual machine or from virtual machine to host, Workstation copies the file or folder to the location where you drop it. This means, for example, that if you drop a file on the desktop icon of a word processor, the word processor opens with a copy of the original file. The original file does not reflect any changes you make to the copy. 

Initially, the application opens using a copy of the file that is stored in your temp directory. On Windows, this is the file specified in the %TEMP% environment variable, and on Linux and Solaris, it is the /tmp/VMwareDnD directory. To protect any changes you make, choose File>Save As from the application’s menu and save the file in a different directory. Otherwise, it can be overwritten or deleted by mistake.

To prevent files from accidentally being transferred between the virtual machine and the host, turn off this feature, as described in the following procedure.

To enable or disable drag and drop for a virtual machine

Make sure VMware Tools is installed on the virtual machine. 

• Start Workstation and select the virtual machine. The virtual machine can be either powered on or powered off. 
• Choose VM>Settings. 
• The virtual machine settings editor opens. 
• Click the Options tab, and select Guest Isolation. 
• To enable or disable the setting, use the check box called Enable drag and drop to and from this virtual machine and click OK. 

Cloning a Virtual Machine

Creating Clones -Cloning a Virtual Machine

The Clone Virtual Machine wizard guides you through the process of making a clone. You do not need to locate and manually copy the parent virtual machine files. The Clone Virtual Machine wizard automatically creates a new MAC address and other unique identifiers for the clone.

To create a clone using the Clone Virtual Machine wizard
If you want to make a linked clone, defragment the guest operating system’s drives before creating the linked clone. Use the tools in the guest operating system to run a defragmentation utility.

• Power off the virtual machine that you want to clone. You cannot create a clone from a virtual machine that is powered on or suspended.
• Click the name of a virtual machine you want to clone in the Favorites list or click the tab of a virtual machine in the summary window.
• From the Workstation menu bar, choose VM>Clone to open the Clone Virtual Machine wizard.
• On the Welcome page, click Next.
• On the Clone Source page, select the state of the parent from which you want to create a clone and click Next.
• You can choose to create a clone from:
• The parent’s current state. Workstation creates a snapshot of the virtual machine before cloning it.
• Any snapshot of the parent. Select the snapshot name from a drop‐down menu of existing snapshots.
• On the Clone Type page, specify whether you want to create a linked clone or a full clone and click Next.
• On the Name of the New Virtual Machine page, enter a name and a path for the cloned virtual machine and click Finish.
• The default name and path are based on the original virtual machine name and location. You can type a new entry for name and path, or browse to a directory for the clone files.
• The Clone Virtual Machine wizard displays a status page. A full clone can take many minutes to create, depending on the size of the virtual disk that is being duplicated.
• Click done to exit the Clone Virtual Machine wizard.

steps to add, assign, remove, unassign, and change the licenses of ESXi 5.x and vCenter Server 5.x.

You can add any number of licenses to the vSphere 5.x inventory. When assigning licenses in 5.x products, you can create a relationship between an asset and a license key. Each asset can be licensed by one and only one license key or it can be unlicensed as an Evaluation Mode.

Note: To perform these steps, your vSphere Client needs to be connected to the vCenter Server.

Adding License Keys

To add licenses:

1. Log in to the vSphere Client.
2. Click Home.
3. Under the Administration section, click the Licensing icon.
4. Click Manage vSphere Licenses.
5. Enter the License Key in the Enter new vSphere license keys field (one per line).
6. Include labels for new license keys as necessary.
7. Click Add License Keys.
   
   After clicking Add License Keys, you can review the license keys you added, capacity counts, expiration dates, and labels associated with the license keys.
   
8. Click Next to assign the license keys.

Assigning License Keys

To assign licenses to the vCenter Server or the ESXi host:

1. Log in to the vSphere Client.
2. Click Home.
3. Under the Administration section, click the Licensing icon.
4. Choose Evaluation Mode and expand the list. Find the product you want to license.
5. Right-click on the product and click Change License Key.
6. Assign a key from list that was entered previously on Manage License window.
7. Click OK.
8. Verify that the product is licensed now.

Note: When the cursor is hovered over a license key in the Manage vSphere Licenses wizard displays a tool tip with all of the asset's information.

Removing License Keys

To remove license keys:

1. Log in to the vSphere Client.
2. Click Home.
3. Under the Administration section, click the Licensing icon.
4. Click Manage vSphere Licenses.
5. Click Next twice.
6. Choose the license key you want to remove.
7. Click Next to proceed to the confirm changes page.You can review your changes on the Confirm Changes page before applying them to your inventory.
8. Click Finish to apply all of the changes.

Changing License Keys

To license your product with a different license key:

1. Log in to the vSphere Client.
2. Click Home.
3. Under the Administration section, click the Licensing icon.
4. Expand the product you want to change the license for.
5. Right-click on the product and choose Change License Key.
6. Choose the license you want to use to license the product.

Note: From this dialog, you can place a product in Evaluation Mode during the first 60 days.

Licensing a standalone ESXi host

To license a standalone ESXi 5.x (vSphere Hypervisor):

1. Log in to the ESXi host using vSphere Client.
2. Click the Configuration tab.
3. Click Licensed Features under Software.
4. Click Edit under Licensed Features.
5. Select Assign a new license key to this host.
6. Press Enter and enter the License Key.
7. Click OK.

Licensing vCenter Server

To license vCenter Server 5.x:

1. Log in to the vSphere Client.
2. Click Home.
3. Under the Administration section, click vCenter Server settings.
4. Select Assign a new license key to this vCenter Server and click OK.
5. Enter the license key for the vCenter Server and, if necessary, include labels.
6. Click Next and Finish.

Evaluation

In the evaluation mode, you can access and use all features of ESX. The evaluation period is 60 days and begins as soon as you power on the ESX machine. To make full use of the evaluation period, make an early decision on whether to use evaluation mode. If you do not enter a vSphere license key during installation, ESX is installed in the evaluation mode.

Note: Select the evaluation option to enable the evaluation mode. You do not receive a license key for evaluating vSphere.

Configuring vCenter Server to use the legacy license server

The legacy License Server is required to manage your ESX 3.x host machines on the vCenter Server 4.x and the vCenter Server 5.x. You may use an existing VMware License Server or install and configure a new instance of a VMware License Server. VMware License Server versions can be downloaded here.

To configure the legacy VMware License Server information in vCenter Server:

1. From the vSphere Client, click Administration > vCenter Server Settings.
2. Choose Licensing.
3. In the License Server section, enter the Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) or the IP address of the legacy VMware License Server. Acceptable formats for entering the FQDN/IP address are:
   • abcd@vmware.com:27000
   • 27000@10.16.16.1
     
     Optionally, specify the port where the legacy VMware License Server is running.
     
     Note: If you do not specify the port when configuring the legacy VMware License Server, the default port, 27000, is entered automatically.
     
4. Select Reconfigure ESX 3 hosts using license servers to use this server.
   
   Note: If you do not select Reconfigure ESX 3 hosts using license servers to use this server, the licensing settings on the ESX host remain unchanged.
   
5. Click OK to save your changes.

Notes:

• vCenter Server 5.0 is compatible with ESX/ESXi 3.5 Update 5 and later releases, whereas vCenter Server 5.1 is not compatible with any of the ESX/ESXi 3.x versions. For more information, see the VMware Product Interoperability Matrixes.
• You must license the ESX host using a centralized license file uploaded on a licenses server. For more information on how to upload a centralized license file on a license server, see Installing licenses for ESX Server 3.x (1001383).
• You can use another license server to manage the ESX/ESXi 3.x hosts, but the licensing information is not communicated to vCenter Server 4.x. The total number of licenses consumed and available on the license server are summarized on the License reporting portal.
• For more information on how to generate a Centralized License file, see Creating a Single Host and Centralized License file in the VI3 License Portal (1005132).

You can add any number of licenses to the vSphere 5.x inventory. When assigning licenses in 5.x products, you can create a relationship between an asset and a license key. Each asset can be licensed by one and only one license key or it can be unlicensed as an Evaluation Mode.

Note: To perform these steps, your vSphere Client needs to be connected to the vCenter Server.

Adding License Keys

To add licenses:

1. Log in to the vSphere Client.
2. Click Home.
3. Under the Administration section, click the Licensing icon.
4. Click Manage vSphere Licenses.
5. Enter the License Key in the Enter new vSphere license keys field (one per line).
6. Include labels for new license keys as necessary.
7. Click Add License Keys.
   
   After clicking Add License Keys, you can review the license keys you added, capacity counts, expiration dates, and labels associated with the license keys.
   
8. Click Next to assign the license keys.

Assigning License Keys

To assign licenses to the vCenter Server or the ESXi host:

1. Log in to the vSphere Client.
2. Click Home.
3. Under the Administration section, click the Licensing icon.
4. Choose Evaluation Mode and expand the list. Find the product you want to license.
5. Right-click on the product and click Change License Key.
6. Assign a key from list that was entered previously on Manage License window.
7. Click OK.
8. Verify that the product is licensed now.

Note: When the cursor is hovered over a license key in the Manage vSphere Licenses wizard displays a tool tip with all of the asset's information.

Removing License Keys

To remove license keys:

1. Log in to the vSphere Client.
2. Click Home.
3. Under the Administration section, click the Licensing icon.
4. Click Manage vSphere Licenses.
5. Click Next twice.
6. Choose the license key you want to remove.
7. Click Next to proceed to the confirm changes page.You can review your changes on the Confirm Changes page before applying them to your inventory.
8. Click Finish to apply all of the changes.

Changing License Keys

To license your product with a different license key:

1. Log in to the vSphere Client.
2. Click Home.
3. Under the Administration section, click the Licensing icon.
4. Expand the product you want to change the license for.
5. Right-click on the product and choose Change License Key.
6. Choose the license you want to use to license the product.

Note: From this dialog, you can place a product in Evaluation Mode during the first 60 days.

Licensing a standalone ESXi host

To license a standalone ESXi 5.x (vSphere Hypervisor):

1. Log in to the ESXi host using vSphere Client.
2. Click the Configuration tab.
3. Click Licensed Features under Software.
4. Click Edit under Licensed Features.
5. Select Assign a new license key to this host.
6. Press Enter and enter the License Key.
7. Click OK.

Licensing vCenter Server

To license vCenter Server 5.x:

1. Log in to the vSphere Client.
2. Click Home.
3. Under the Administration section, click vCenter Server settings.
4. Select Assign a new license key to this vCenter Server and click OK.
5. Enter the license key for the vCenter Server and, if necessary, include labels.
6. Click Next and Finish.

Evaluation

In the evaluation mode, you can access and use all features of ESX. The evaluation period is 60 days and begins as soon as you power on the ESX machine. To make full use of the evaluation period, make an early decision on whether to use evaluation mode. If you do not enter a vSphere license key during installation, ESX is installed in the evaluation mode.

Note: Select the evaluation option to enable the evaluation mode. You do not receive a license key for evaluating vSphere.

Configuring vCenter Server to use the legacy license server

The legacy License Server is required to manage your ESX 3.x host machines on the vCenter Server 4.x and the vCenter Server 5.x. You may use an existing VMware License Server or install and configure a new instance of a VMware License Server. VMware License Server versions can be downloaded here.

To configure the legacy VMware License Server information in vCenter Server:

1. From the vSphere Client, click Administration > vCenter Server Settings.
2. Choose Licensing.
3. In the License Server section, enter the Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) or the IP address of the legacy VMware License Server. Acceptable formats for entering the FQDN/IP address are:
   • abcd@vmware.com:27000
   • 27000@10.16.16.1
     
     Optionally, specify the port where the legacy VMware License Server is running.
     
     Note: If you do not specify the port when configuring the legacy VMware License Server, the default port, 27000, is entered automatically.
     
4. Select Reconfigure ESX 3 hosts using license servers to use this server.
   
   Note: If you do not select Reconfigure ESX 3 hosts using license servers to use this server, the licensing settings on the ESX host remain unchanged.
5. Click OK to save your changes.

Notes:

• vCenter Server 5.0 is compatible with ESX/ESXi 3.5 Update 5 and later releases, whereas vCenter Server 5.1 is not compatible with any of the ESX/ESXi 3.x versions. For more information, see the VMware Product Interoperability Matrixes.
• You must license the ESX host using a centralized license file uploaded on a licenses server. For more information on how to upload a centralized license file on a license server, see Installing licenses for ESX Server 3.x (1001383).
• You can use another license server to manage the ESX/ESXi 3.x hosts, but the licensing information is not communicated to vCenter Server 4.x. The total number of licenses consumed and available on the license server are summarized on the License reporting portal.
• For more information on how to generate a Centralized License file, see Creating a Single Host and Centralized License file in the VI3 License Portal (1005132).

Hardware and Firmware requirements for installing VM with 64-bit guest OS.

VMware's virtual machine monitor has traditionally used segmentation to provide isolation between the guest operating system and the virtual machine monitor. This is necessary because the guest operating system and virtual machine monitor share the linear address space.

To determine whether or not your CPU is suitable for running 64-bit guest operating systems, VMware distributes a free utility. You can download the tool from VMware web site: Processor Check for 64-Bit Compatibility .

Note: This utility is provided without support from VMware and does not require ESX/ESXi, VMware Server or VMware Workstation to perform the check.
ESX/ESXi, VMware Workstation, Player, and VMware Server require a 64-bit CPU to run a 64-bit guest operating system.

VMware Fusion requires a 64-bit processor to run a 64-bit guest operating system or to run any Mac OS Guest. Mac OS Guests require hardware virtualization (VT), which VMware supports only on 64-bit processors. The Intel Core Solo and Core Duo processors are 32-bit, but the Core 2 Duo and newer processors are 64-bit.
 

Additional Information

Note: The information supplied in this section applies to older product versions.

Workstation 5.5 - 6.x, Player, and VMware Server 1.x support virtual machines with 64-bit guest operating systems only on host machines that have one of these supported 64-bit processors:

• AMD Athlon 64, revision D or later
• AMD Opteron, revision E or later
• AMD Turion 64, revision E or later
• AMD Sempron, 64-bit-capable, revision D or later (experimental support)
• Intel EM64T VT-enabled processors (experimental support)

Note: In shopping for a processor that is compatible with Workstation or VMware Server 64-bit guests, you may be unable to determine the revision numbers of a given vendor's offering of AMD Athlon 64, Opteron, Turion 64, or Sempron processors. At this time, the only reliable way to determine whether or not any of these processors is a revision supported by VMware software is by noting the manufacturing technology (CMOS). Any of the AMD Athlon 64, Opteron, Turion 64, or Sempron processors whose manufacturing technology is 90nm SOI (.09 micron SOI) is compatible with Workstation or VMware Server 64-bit guests. Using this information, you should be able to determine — with the help of your vendor, or from the AMD web site — whether a particular Athlon 64 or Opteron processor model is compatible with Workstation or VMware Server 64-bit guests.
Note: The preceding link was correct as of June 21, 2012. If you find the link is broken, provide feedback and a VMware employee will update the link.

AMD

Segmentation support is missing from the initial AMD64 processors (that is, revision C and earlier) while running in long mode. As a result, AMD64 processors prior to revision D do not have an efficient mechanism for isolating the virtual machine monitor from 64-bit guest operating systems. A limited form of segmentation was reintroduced in long mode, in revision D AMD64 processors. As a result, AMD64 processors must be revision D or later to run 64-bit guest operating systems.
Note: Because AMD Opteron and Turion processors do not ship in revision D, AMD Opteron and Turion 64 processors must be revision E or later to run 64-bit guest operating systems.
When reading AMD's documentation, revisions may be given in decimal format (rather than hexadecimal format). For example, Revision F may also be referred to as Revision 15.

For more information about AMD64, see http://www.amd.com/us/products/technologies/64-bit-computing/Pages/64-bit-computing.aspx .
Note: The preceding link was correct as of June 21, 2012. If you find the link is broken, provide feedback and a VMware employee will update the link.

Intel

Intel CPUs require EM64T and VT support in the chip and in the BIOS.
Note: If VT is enabled on an ESX host, the vmx flag is found in /proc/cpuinfo.
Intel EM64T CPUs do not have segmentation support in long mode. If the Intel EM64T CPU is VT-capable, it comes with hardware virtualization support (Intel's Virtualization Technology). This hardware virtualization support allows VMware to work around the lack of segmentation, making it possible to run 64-bit guest operating systems on Intel EM64T VT-capable CPUs.
Notes:

• Firmware/BIOS support is required to enable Intel Virtualization Technology. Some systems (particularly laptops) do not have the necessary firmware/BIOS support to enable Intel Virtualization Technology, and cannot run 64-bit guest operating systems.
• In multi-processor systems, all processors must support compatible VT implementations. At a minimum, all processors must implement the same VMCS revision ID. In multi-processor systems with mixed processor steppings, 64-bit guest operating systems may not be supported.
• Many servers that include CPUs with VT support might ship with VT disabled by default, and VT must be enabled manually. If your CPUs support VT but you do not see this option in the BIOS, contact your system vendor to request a BIOS version that lets you enable VT support.

 

Reported issues and resolution :: installation of Windows 8 and Server 2012 on ESXi or ESX

Symptoms
Windows 8 / Windows Server 2012 fails to boot or install on any version of ESXi or ESX
Windows 8 / Windows Server 2012 is not working
You cannot use Windows 8 / Windows Server 2012 in ESXi or ESX

Resolution
Note: Windows 8 / Windows Server 2012 will not be supported on ESXi/ESX 4.0 or 4.1.
Windows 8 / Windows Server 2012 is fully supported for ESXi 5.1 and ESXi 5.0 Patch 2.

For more information, see:What’s New in VMware vSphere 5.1 VMware Blog
Guest OS customization of Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 may not complete (2037366)

Note: The information below relates only to pre-release versions of Windows 8 / Windows Server 2012. For full support please install the GA version.

Consider this guidance, which is based on testing Windows 8 / Windows Server 2012 up to build 8224:Windows 8 Developer Preview / Windows Server 2012 Release Candidate does not boot on ESXi 5.0. To resolve this issue, you must install patch ESXi500-201112001 (Patch 02):

Download and install ESXi500-201112001 (Patch 02). For more information, see VMware ESXi 5.0, Patch Release ESXi500-201112001 (2007680).
Create a new virtual machine configured for either Windows 7 or Windows 2008 R2.
Enable 3D graphics or do not install VMware's WDDM video driver.
Install Windows 8 / Windows Server 2012 from Media.
Install VMware Tools.

Note: VMware does not recommend installing VMware's WDDM video driver. Use the default VESA driver.

If you experience a black screen after installing VMware's WDDM video driver in a virtual machine with Windows 8 / Windows Server 2012, enable 3D graphics or reinstall the operating system and VMware Tools without VMware's WDDM video driver.

VMware does not currently recommend using USB xHCI with Windows 8 / Windows Server 2012. To work around this issue, remove the USB xHCI controller or use the USB EHCI+UHCI controller.

Note: Any changes to the virtual hardware must be preceded by a full shutdown on the command line (shutdown /s /t 0 /full). Otherwise, the Windows 8 / Windows Server 2012 hibernate-shutdown may not fully detect hardware changes and you may experience a blue diagnostic screen or triple fault at boot.

The vmxnet3 virtual NIC does not work in a Windows 8 / Windows Server 2012 virtual machine with ESXi 5.0. To work around this issue, use e1000e or e1000 NICs.