Creating Virtual Machines

Module 3

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You Are Here

1. Course Introduction 7. Virtual Machine Management

2. Software-Defined Data Center 8. Resource Management and
Monitoring
3. Creating Virtual Machines
9. vSphere HA and vSphere Fault
4. vCenter Server Tolerance
5. Configuring and Managing 10. Host Scalability
Virtual Networks
11. vSphere Update Manager and
6. Configuring and Managing Host Maintenance
Virtual Storage
12. Installing vSphere Components

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Importance
You can create a virtual machine in several ways. Choosing the correct
method can help you save time and make the deployment process
manageable and scalable.

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Module Lessons
Lesson 1: Virtual Machine Concepts
Lesson 2: Creating a Virtual Machine

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Lesson 1:
Virtual Machine Concepts

3-5
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Learner Objectives
By the end of this lesson, you should be able to meet the following
objectives:
• Identify the files that make up a virtual machine
• Compare virtual machine hardware version 11 to other versions
• Describe the components of a virtual machine
• Compare and contrast the types of virtual disk provisioning
• View the console of a virtual machine

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About Virtual Machine Files
A virtual machine consists of a set of related files.

Configuration file VM_name.vmx

Swap files VM_name.vswp
vmx-VM_name.vswp
BIOS file VM_name.nvram
Log files vmware.log
VM Template file VM_name.vmtx
folder Raw device map file VM_name-rdm.vmdk
Disk descriptor file VM_name.vmdk
Disk data file VM_name-flat.vmdk
Suspend state file VM_name.vmss
Snapshot data file VM_name.vmsd
Snapshot state file VM_name.vmsn
Snapshot disk file VM_name-delta.vmdk

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About Virtual Machine Virtual Hardware

2 IDE Up to 3 Up to 32 VMCI AHCI SATA

Parallel Ports Serial/Com ports Controller Controller
Controller
Devices 1 USB
Controller
20 Devices
Up to 10

NICs 1 Floppy Controller

2 Devices
Hardware Virtual Machine
3D
Up to 4 SCSI
Adapters

Up to
4 TB of RAM
15 Devices
per Adapter
Up to 128 vCPUs

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Virtual Hardware Versions
The virtual hardware version determines the operating system functions
that a virtual machine supports. Do not use a version that is higher than
supported by the VMware product.

Compatibility Hardware Version

VMware ESXi™ 6 and later 11

ESXi 5.5 and later 10

ESXi 5.1 and later 9

ESXi 5.0 and later 8

ESXi/ESX 4.0 and later 7

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About Virtual Hardware Version 11
Virtual hardware version 11 provides several features and benefits.
Features Benefits
xHCI controller updated to USB 3 support for Mac OS X 10.8, Windows Server 2012, and
version 1.0 Windows 8 operating systems.
Windows VMXNET3 driver Supports large receive offload, resulting in reduced associated CPU
support costs by reducing network packet processing.

Enhanced NUMA feature Hot-add local memory is distributed across all NUMA nodes.
Support for Windows 2000 and later, Linux kernels 2.4 and later,
Guest authentication
and Solaris operating systems.
Allows sharing of a folder between the virtual machine and the host
Host Guest File System
system. Use this driver if you plan to use the virtual machine with
(HGFS) shared folder driver
VMware WorkStation™, VMware Player™, or VMware Fusion®.
Hardware version 11 virtual machines can support up to 128 virtual
Increased vCPU capacity
CPUs.

Increased RAM capacity Hardware version 11 virtual machines support up to 4 TB of RAM.

Increased serial port Hardware version 11 virtual machines can be configured with
configuration up to 32 serial ports.

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About CPU and Memory
You can add, change, or configure CPU and memory resources to
improve virtual machine performance.
The maximum number of vCPUs that you can assign to a virtual
machine depends on:
• The number of logical CPUs on the host
• The host license
• The type of installed guest operating system

A virtual machine running on an ESXi 6 host can have up to 128 vCPUs.

Maximum memory size for a virtual machine depends on:
• The host’s physical memory
• The virtual machine's compatibility setting

The maximum memory size of a virtual machine

with ESXi 6 compatibility running on ESXi 6
is 4,080 GB.

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About Virtual Disks
A virtual machine usually has a least one virtual disk.

Sample virtual disk definition:

Virtual disk size: 8 GB
Datastore: MyVMFS
Virtual disk node: 0:0
Virtual storage adapter: LSI Logic SAS
Virtual disk files: Server1.vmdk and Server1-flat.vmdk
Default disk mode: Snapshots allowed
Optional disk mode: Independent: Persistent or Nonpersistent
Disk provisioning policy: Thick Provision Lazy Zeroed, Thick Provision
Eager Zeroed, or Thin Provision

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About Thick-Provisioned Virtual Disks
Thick provisioning uses all the
defined disk space at the creation
of the virtual disk:
Host
• Virtual machine disks consume all
the capacity, as defined at creation,
regardless of the amount of data in
the guest operating system file Thick Thin Thin
system.
Eager zeroed or lazy zeroed: Virtual
Disks
• Every block in an eager zeroed
thick-provisioned disk is prefilled
with a zero.
• Every block in a lazy zeroed thick-
provisioned disk is filled with a zero
Datastores
when data is written to the block.

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About Thin-Provisioned Virtual Disks
Thin provisioning enables virtual
machines to use storage space as
needed:
• Thin-provisioned virtual machine Host
disks consume only the capacity
needed to hold the current files.
• A virtual machine sees the full
allocated disk size at all times. Thick Thin Thin

You can mix thick and thin formats.

Virtual
Full reporting and alerts help Disks
manage allocations and capacity.
More efficient use of storage:
• Virtual disk allocation: 140 GB
• Available datastore capacity: 100 GB
Datastores
• Used storage capacity: 80 GB

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About Virtual Networks
A virtual network is a network of virtual machines running on a physical
machine. The virtual machines are logically connected so that they can
send and receive data with each other.
When you configure networking for a virtual machine, you select or
change:
• The network adapter type
• The network connection
• Whether to connect to the network when the virtual machine powers on

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About Network Adapters
When you configure a virtual
machine, you can add network
adapters (NICs) and specify
the adapter type. Whenever
possible, select VMXNET3.
Supported network adapter types:
• Flexible: Can function as either a
Vlance or VMXNET adapter.
• E1000-E1000E: High-performance adapter available for only some guest
operating systems.
• VMXNET, VMXNET2, and VMXNET3 are VMware drivers that are available
only with VMware Tools.
• SR-IOV passthrough: The virtual machine and the physical adapter exchange
data without using the VMkernel as an intermediary.
– Limited guest operating system support

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About Miscellaneous Devices
A virtual machine must have a vCPU and virtual memory. The addition of
other virtual devices makes the virtual machine more useful.
CD/DVD drive:
• Connect to CD, DVD, or ISO image.

USB 3.0:
• Smart-card readers

Floppy drive:
• Connect a virtual machine to
a floppy drive or a floppy image.
Generic SCSI devices:
• A virtual machine can be
connected to additional SCSI
adapters.
vGPUs:
• Enable a virtual machine to use
GPUs on the physical host for
high-computation activities.

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About the Virtual Machine Console
The virtual machine console provides the mouse, keyboard, and screen
features to control the virtual machine.

vSphere Web Client

vSphere Client

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Review of Learner Objectives
You should be able to meet the following objectives:
• Identify the files that make up a virtual machine
• Compare virtual machine hardware version 11 to other versions
• Describe the components of a virtual machine
• Compare and contrast the types of virtual disk provisioning
• View the console of a virtual machine

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Lesson 2:
Creating a Virtual Machine

3-20
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Learner Objectives
By the end of this lesson, you should be able to meet the following
objectives:
• Create, provision, and remove a virtual machine
• Explain the importance of VMware Tools
• Describe how to import a virtual appliance OVF template
• Discuss how to use VMware vCloud® Air™ to create a virtual machine from a
template

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About Provisioning Virtual Machines
You can create virtual machines in several ways:
• Use the New Virtual Machine wizard to create virtual machines.
• Deploy virtual machines, virtual appliances, and vApps stored in Open Virtual
Machine Format (OVF).
• Use a CentOS, Linux, or Windows template in a vCloud Air catalog to create
virtual machines.

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Creating Virtual Machines with the New Virtual Machine
Wizard
You can use the New Virtual Machine wizard in the vSphere Web Client
to create a virtual machine.

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New Virtual Machine Wizard

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Installing the Guest Operating System
Installing a guest operating system in your virtual machine is like
installing it on a physical computer.

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Deploying OVF Templates
You can deploy any virtual machine or a virtual appliance stored in OVF.
Virtual appliances are:
• Preconfigured virtual machines
• Usually designed for a single purpose, for example, a safe browser or firewall
• Available from the VMware Solution Exchange

vSphere Web

Client

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Deploying a Virtual Machine in vCloud Air
vCloud Air is a secure, hybrid cloud service built on the vSphere
foundation:
• vCloud Air is available in the following infrastructure-as-a-service subscription
service types:
– Dedicated Cloud
– Virtual Private Cloud and Virtual Private Cloud OnDemand
– Disaster Recovery
• vCloud Air includes a catalog that is populated with CentOS, Linux, and
Windows templates that you can use to create virtual machines.
• Your organization also has its own catalog, My Catalog, which can contain your
customized templates.
• In vCloud Air, end users select from catalogs to add virtual machines.
• You can use virtual machines as desktop or workstation environments, as
testing environments, or to consolidate server machines to supply what the end
user sees as My Catalog.
• Go to http://vcloud.vmware.com for more information.

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About VMware Tools

VMware Tools is a suite of utilities that enhance the performance of the

virtual machine’s guest operating system.

VMware Tools benefits: VMware Tools features:

• Device drivers: • Shared folders between host and
– SVGA display guest file systems
– VMXNET/VMXNET3 • Copying and pasting text, graphics,
– Balloon driver for memory and files between the virtual
management machine and the host or client
– Sync driver for quiescing I/O desktop
• Increased graphics performance • Time synchronization

• Improved mouse performance • Ability to shut down the virtual

machine

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Removing a Virtual Machine
You can remove a virtual
machine in two ways:
• Remove from the inventory:
– This type of removal unregisters
the virtual machine.
– The virtual machine’s files remain
on the disk.
– The virtual machine can later be
registered (added) to the
inventory.
• Delete from disk:
– All virtual machine files are
permanently deleted from the
virtual machine datastore.

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Troubleshooting OS Installation Failures on ESX/ESXi Hosts
Problems:
• The installation of a 64-bit operating system cannot start.
• The installation of a 64-bit guest operating system stops responding at the
Setup is starting the Windows screen.
• The installation of a 64-bit operating system cannot complete.
Resolutions:
1. Verify that that the guest operating system that you are attempting to install is
fully certified by VMware.
2. Verify that your ESX/ESXi host meets the hardware and firmware
requirements for running 64-bit virtual machines.
3. If your ESX/ESXi host uses Intel processors, verify that virtualization
technology is enabled in the BIOS.
4. Verify that the correct guest operating system is selected.

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Troubleshooting VMware Tools Installation Problems
Problem:
• VMware Tools installation on a guest operating system displays error
messages or stops responding before completion.
Resolutions:
1. Verify that the guest operating system is supported by VMware.
2. Verify that the correct guest operating system is selected.
3. Verify that the correct ISO image is being loaded.
4. Verify that the VMware Tools ISO image is not corrupted.
5. If installing on a Windows operating system, verify that you are not
experiencing problems with the Windows registry.

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Lab 3: Working with Virtual Machines
Create and prepare virtual machines for use
1. Create a Virtual Machine
2. Install a Guest Operating System in a Virtual Machine
3. Identify the Virtual Machine’s Disk Format and View Storage Metrics
4. Install VMware Tools on a Virtual Machine Installed with a Windows OS
5. Prepare Your Virtual Machine for Upcoming Labs

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Review of Learner Objectives
You should be able to meet the following objectives:
• Create, provision, and remove a virtual machine
• Explain the importance of VMware Tools
• Describe how to import a virtual appliance OVF template
• Discuss how to use VMware vCloud® Air™ to create a virtual machine from a
template

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Key Points
• Virtual machines can be provisioned using various methods:
– You can use the New Virtual Machine wizard in the vSphere Client or the vSphere
Web Client to create virtual machines.
– You can create a virtual machine by deploying an OVF template.
– You can use vCloud Air to create a virtual machine from a template.
• VMware Tools increases the performance of the virtual machine’s guest
operating system.
Questions?

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