Booting the system in vmware. VMWare Workstation virtual machine

Good afternoon!. Surely many of you, due to the power of modern computers, have on your personal computer various programs for virtualizing all kinds of systems. In the corporate segment, this is the hypervisor ESXI 5.5 and higher, and at home, this is Hyper-V on Windows 10 or Vmware Workstation 14. It is the latter that will be discussed; at the moment, the latest version is 14.1. Today I will tell you where to download and how it is done installing Vmware Workstation 14, step by step. So that you can create your own test site for testing or work.

What is Vmware Workstation 14

For people who are just getting acquainted with the Vmware Workstation product, I will tell you in a nutshell what kind of beast it is. Briefly and simply put, this is a program that is installed on operating systems of the Windows or Linux family so that separate, isolated OSes can be installed for further testing or work.

A simple example, I have Windows 8.1 installed locally, but this does not prevent me, using Vmware Workstation 14, from having Windows 10 installed, which I can break or study, without fear that I will break the main OS. Since essentially a virtual machine is just a file on a computer. I advise you to read more about virtual stands at this link.

Where to download Vmware Workstation 14

You can find the official website for downloading Vmware Workstation 14 at the link below:

https://www.vmware.com/ru/products/workstation-pro/workstation-pro-evaluation.html

As you can see there is a version for:

Windows
Linux

The Vmware Workstation 14 program itself is, of course, paid and at the link you will find a trial version, this is enough to install it and take a closer look.

What's new in Vmware Workstation 14

Let's quickly talk about the innovations in this version of the second class hypervisor. Support now available:

Windows 10 1803
Windows Server 1803
ESXI 6.5

Of course, this version also improves system hardware support. Includes compatibility with the latest processors, including Intel Kabylake and AMD Ryzen. Implemented support for UEFI Secure Boot for virtual systems, which increases security. Additionally, a Virtual NVMe virtual controller is included for fast SSD access (with support for vSAN testing).

VMware Workstation 14 has improved network management. New network settings allow you to simulate certain situations that will be useful during testing. To the previously existing functions for adjusting delay and packet loss, adjustment of distance and network quality has been added. This is required to check the fault tolerance of the applications being tested. Other additional options have also been added there, for example, setting the names of virtual network adapters, etc.

Added the function of scanning virtual machines to update resources. Systems located on local disks and USB drives, as well as remote ones, are supported. Added support for power operations and simple system power on/off for vSphere ESXi hosts. Remote management supports operations such as shutdown, reboot, shutdown, directly from VMware Workstation.

And that is not all. Among other things, the new version includes many different improvements: minor conveniences have been added, automatic virtual system disk cleaning has been implemented, the interface based on GTK+ 3 for GNU/Linux has been updated, bugs have been fixed, etc.

How to install Vmware Workstation 14 on Windows

And so, for example, I will install on Windows 8.1, since I have it, but it is no different if you had Windows 7 or 10. After downloading the archive from Vmware Workstation 14, you will get this file structure. Launch VMware-workstation-full-14.1.1-7528167.exe.

The installation wizard will start, which will begin to unpack the exe file

At the first step of the installation wizard, click Next.

We agree to the license agreement by checking the box "I accept the terms in the License Agreement"

You can install an additional driver for the keyboard by checking the box:

Enhanced Keyboard Driver (a reboot will be required to use this feature). This feature reguires 10MB on your host drive

The improved virtual keyboard feature provides better performance with international keyboards and keyboards with additional keys. This feature is only available for Windows host systems.

Uncheck both boxes:

Check for product updates on startup - check for updates after installation
Join the Vmware Customer Experience improvement Program - join the improvement program

In the next step, the installation wizard will prompt you to create shortcuts on the desktop and start menu.

The last step remains, to complete our installation procedure for Vmware Workstation 14 Pro, click the install button.

In a minute, the master will finish his work. Here you can exit it by clicking the Finish button, or install the Vmware Workstation 14 license key through the License button.

Installing a license key

If you have your own key, then copy it; if not, then generate it from a special file. Copy the key generated by the generator here.

If you skipped this step, don't worry, you'll have at least two more chances to do it. The first is when you launch the Vmware Workstation 14 hypervisor. The first window will require you to activate the product. As you can see, there is a trial, evaluation period for 30 days.

Today I will review the program Vmware Workstation 10 which will simulate another system on your PC or laptop. It doesn’t matter which one, from the Windows or Linux series, or maybe even one or the other. It all depends on needs and desires. But first, a little introductory text so that the uninformed reader understands what we are actually talking about!

Well, let's get started. Starting from this article, I will post at least three links to download the programs I write about here. I know that very often many people have problems with this. And therefore it is worth considering this point.

You can download Vmware Workstation 10 here:

nnm-club.me - torrent (requires registration on the torrent);

I installed the repack version for myself, and I will use it to conduct reviews. It all starts with downloading, then click on the exe file and carry out the standard installation procedure. I’ll make a small digression and tell you what requirements this program has for your system, that is, what resources should be on the computer for normal use Vmware Workstation 10.

System requirements:

Intel Core™ Solo x86 64-bit processor or equivalent, AMD Athlon™ 64 FX dual-core processor or equivalent
Clock speed 1.3 GHz or more
2 GB RAM minimum/4 GB RAM recommended

Also, your computer must have at least 10 GB of free hard drive space, but you will need to install another system that requires a certain amount of disk space.

Analysis of Workstation 10 menu controls

We see 5 main VM menu items, although the main ones are rather the two on the left, and the right three are sort of auxiliary. I will write a little about each of them. so that you understand why they are needed and how you can apply them for yourself.

Creating a new virtual machine- the most important thing for us, here we will create a new virtual machine, specify its system parameters and all sorts of little things.

Opening a virtual machine- this is one of the cool features of this program, you can export and then open your installed system on another computer. Actually, this is the window for opening it.

Connecting to a remote server— you can use a virtual machine not only on your computer but also on a remote server. And this is the actual button for connecting to a remote machine.

Physical machine virtualization— This is a quick and comfortable transition of your PC to a virtual environment. Although this is in the menu, it will not work for use with a 30-day trial or a broken repack. You need to register and obtain a license to download a special add-on that makes this transition.

Installing WIndows on a Workstation 10 Virtual Machine

We've sorted out the theoretical part and it's time to move on to the practice of installing the OS on a VM. Click on the icon for creating a new virtual machine. A window opens with the right to select the installation mode:

Normal mode
Selective

If you have not had experience with running a VM before, then use the normal mode, I will take it as an example. After clicking next, we move on to the next window, where you must carefully indicate the location from which our new OS will be installed. I advise you to read my post in order to have an idea of how this is done. I will install from an ISO image on my computer, you indicate what is relevant to you. If you also install from an image, then you must also specify the path to the disk image on your computer. If the path you specified matches, then you will be given an entry similar to the one in the screenshot below.

We go further, and as usual you will be asked for a key, as well as a personalized name and, if desired, a password for your future administrator account. Enter the data and continue. Now be careful, the program asks you to indicate the location where your new virtual machine will be installed; in simple terms, you indicate the disk where the free space for your virtual system will be taken from. The default drive is “C”, you can specify another one.

Now we indicate the maximum size for your VM, the default is 40 GB, and also check the box to split into several files or store data in one file. It also explains why this is needed. You decide and continue. You need to pay close attention to the following parameters already selected by default by the program.

512 MB of RAM is not enough for me and I want to add it, that’s what the button is for Equipment setup in which you specify the system parameters that will be available to your virtual machine. There you can edit the following parameters:

Memory (RAM)
Number of processors used
CD/DVD ROM
Network adapter
USB controller
Sound card
Printer
Display

Now that’s all, click ready and watch how your OS begins to install. I was also offered to add a WEB camera to the devices, this can be done later if desired. Well, the installation of the System itself is no different from any installation on a real Physical system; if you have difficulties with this, I above provided a link to an article about installing the system. So I make my own coffee, and you do what you prefer, we will continue after installing our system.

My installation is complete and I want to show you the main aspects when using the guest OS. Since it’s difficult to describe in words, I’ll take a screenshot and post it in this article.

With this, I will say goodbye to you, I wish you good luck and more knowledge in mastering new technologies.

With all respect, Andrew.

Virtual machines: several computers in one (+CD)

Gultyaev A.K.

Chapter 3

Virtual machinesVMware Workstation

Until Microsoft turned its attention to the virtual machine market, VMware was the undisputed leader in this market. However, it is still too early to say that the Virtual PC 2004 package has “relegated” VMware products to secondary roles. They remain very popular among users for three main reasons: due to truly successful technological solutions, due to the constant improvement of supported products and, most importantly, due to the support of a wide variety of types and versions of operating systems, both as hosts and as guests.

general characteristics

Currently, the VMware family of products designed for creating and managing virtual machines includes several representatives:

VMware Workstation is an application for “desktop” systems that provides the creation and management of “regular” virtual machines. Potential users of this product are software developers and testers, teachers and other IT specialists.

VMware ACE is an application for desktop systems that provides the creation of secure virtual machines (ACE stands for Assured Computing Environment). Each VM created using VMware ACE is equipped with individual administration tools and protection against unauthorized access. The main contingent of users are employees of enterprises, each of whom needs to create their own secure environment on a physical computer common to everyone.

VMware GSX Server is an enterprise-level server application designed for creating a virtual enterprise infrastructure, testing distributed applications, etc.

VMware ESX Server is a server solution designed to create a virtual data storage infrastructure.

As in the second chapter of the book, we will be primarily interested in the tool for creating “desktop” virtual machines, namely VMware Workstation. The book presents the latest commercial version of the product - VMware Workstation 5.0. At the same time, a beta version of VMware Workstation 5.5 is available for review on the VMware website.

Features of workVMwareWorkstation

Each virtual machine created using VMware Workstation is a standalone computer with its own hardware resources, some of which are emulated in software, and some of which are “borrowed” from the host computer.

The virtual computer parameters are saved in a special VMX configuration file (in text format). This file (like other files that define the operation of the VM), if necessary, can be transferred to another host computer in order to reproduce the parameters of the virtual machine. However, VMware does not include standard means of connecting such “foreign” VMs to the console. To bypass this limitation, you can use some tricks, which are described in the “Creating and configuring a virtual machine” section.

Unlike Virtual PC, the name of the configuration file created by VMware does not match the name of the VM, but is determined by the type of guest OS specified during the creation of the VM. For example, the configuration files of all VMs running Windows 98 guest OS are called win98.vmx. The same applies to virtual hard disk file names: for Windows 98, they are all called Windows 98.vmdk. For this reason (as well as for some other reasons), the files of each VM must be placed in a separate folder.

The list of operating systems that can be installed on VMware virtual machines as guests is very extensive:

from the Windows family: Windows 3.1x, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, as well as MS-DOS 6.22;

from the Linux family: Mandrake Linux (versions 8.0 to 9.2 inclusive), Red Hat Linux (versions 7.0 to 9.0 inclusive), Red Hat Enterprise Linux (versions 2.1 and 3.0), Red Hat Linux Advanced Server 2.1, SuSE Linux (versions with 7.3 to 9.0 inclusive), SuSE Linux Enterprise Server (7 and 8), Turbolinux 7, Turbolinux Workstation 8, Turbolinux Enterprise Server 8;

from the Novell NetWare family: NetWare Server (versions 4.2, 5.1, 6.0, 6.5);

FreeBSD OS (versions 4.0, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, 4.6.2, 4.8 and 5.0).

Due to such “versatility” of the VMware package, its developers were unable to optimize the standard VM configuration for all guest OSes. Therefore, for most of them, after installation you have to perform additional configuration of the VM (in particular, manually install the most suitable versions of drivers for some devices). Fortunately, the VMware Workstation distribution includes a help file, install.chm, which contains detailed information about the installation features of all of the listed guest OSes.

Looking ahead a little, we note that the specified reference book can be opened directly from the VMware console window by selecting the Guest Operating System Install Guide command from the Help menu.

The following operating systems can be used as a host OS:

from the Windows family: Windows 2000 Professional, Windows 2000 Server Service Pack 3 or 4, Windows 2000 Advanced Server, Windows XP (Home or Professional editions), Windows Server 2003 (Web Edition, Standard Edition, Enterprise Edition);

from the Linux family: Mandrake Linux (versions 8.2 and 9.0), Red Hat Linux (almost all versions supported as guest OSes) and SuSE Linux (versions 7.3 to 9.1 inclusive); For more information about supported Linux kernel versions, visit the VMware website.

A virtual machine typically uses devices that connect to a real computer, such as printers, modems, and external storage devices (including CD/DVD readers and writers). Devices connected to the USB port are fully supported: you can use two USB 1.1 ports per VM if this interface is supported by the host and guest OS. Devices with a SCSI interface (including scanners and tape drives) are also supported. True, as an “intermediary” between physical devices of this type connected to the host computer and the VM, a special driver (SCSI Generic driver) is required, which is additionally installed on the guest OS.

VMware, like Virtual PC 2004, allows you to allocate up to 3.6 GB of RAM to each VM (with the capacity of the real RAM of the host computer limited to 4 GB).

Working with virtual disks

VMware's capabilities for working with virtual hard disks are numerically superior to those of Virtual PC 2004. In particular, you can connect up to four virtual hard disks with an IDE interface and up to seven disks with a SCSI interface to each VM.

VMware offers two modes for allocating physical disk space for virtual disk files, similar to using fixed-size disks and dynamic disks in Virtual PC.

When connecting CD/DVD devices to the VM via the IDE or SCSI interface, the available number of virtual hard disks is reduced accordingly. That is, for example, when you include one IDE CD/DVD device in the VM configuration, you can connect no more than three virtual hard disks with an IDE interface to the VM.

The first of these modes assumes that all the requested space is allocated immediately when creating a virtual disk (in the future, for brevity, we will call such disks fixed).

When using the second mode, the size of the virtual disk file increases gradually as new data is written to the disk and programs are installed. We will call disks created using this method dynamic.

It should be noted that in reality, information about each virtual disk in VMware is stored not in one file, but in at least two. The first of these files is not a data store, but a descriptor, and, as shown in Fig. 3.1, contains information about the disk (disk size, its geometry, etc.) and links to data files (the link to the data file is highlighted in the figure).

Rice. 3.1. Contents of the virtual disk descriptor file

There can be either one or several data files. This is due to the fact that VMware can create “multi-volume” disks. The size of each volume in this case will not exceed 2 GB. The reason is that not all file systems are able to handle larger files (for example, FAT16 cannot). When the virtual disk size exceeds the 2 GB limit, VMware automatically creates a new volume. The user decides whether the disk needs to be divided into volumes. The name of each data file must include a suffix such as -s001, -s002, etc. For example, the first data file for a virtual disk with a Windows 98 guest OS is called Windows 98 -s001.vmdk.

You can connect a physical hard drive of the host computer or one of the partitions of this disk to the VM as a hard disk (a similar feature based on the use of a linked disk is also available in Virtual PC). In VMware, such a physical disk attached to a VM is called Raw Disk (in this case, this term can be translated as “raw disk”). The effect of using raw disks occurs in cases where several system partitions with different operating systems are created on a physical disk (that is, when the host computer is configured for multi-boot). A raw disk allows you to run one of the “real” alternative operating systems from under another real OS using the boot.ini boot file.

VMware Workstation only supports booting from a raw disk that is connected to the VM via the IDE interface. It is not possible to boot a guest OS from a disk that has a SCSI interface. In addition, partitions on which Windows Server 2003 or Windows XP are installed cannot be used as a raw disk. The use of dynamic volumes as raw disks, used in Windows 2000, Windows XP Professional and Windows Server 2003 for software implementation of RAID technology, is also not supported.

VMware implements a rollback mechanism (restoring some previous state of the VM and its disks), which differs from that used in Virtual PC. This mechanism is based on the creation of so-called snapshots(snapshot) of the virtual machine. This snapshot can be created at any time while working with VMware. You can then return to the locked state. All changes made in the past period will be canceled. If you wish, you can exclude any of the virtual disks from the “group snapshot”. More information about working with images is described in the “Working with a virtual machine” section.

The procedure for configuring virtual disks of various types is discussed in more detail in the “Creating and configuring a virtual machine” section.

Installation and configurationVMwareWorkstation

Installing VMware Workstation requires a slightly more thoughtful and attentive attitude from the user than installing Virtual PC. This is explained by the fact that at the final stage of installing VMware, some basic parameters of future virtual machines are configured.

System requirements

The minimum requirements that the technical specifications of a host computer intended for installing VMware must meet depend on the range of guest operating systems for the virtual machines.

To operate VMware Workstation itself, the following computing resources are required:

processor with x86 architecture and a clock frequency of at least 500 MHz:

Intel: Celeron, Pentium II, Pentium III, Pentium 4, Pentium M (including computers with Centrino mobile technology), Xeon (including the Prestonia model);

AMD: Athlon, Athlon MP, Athlon XP, Duron, Opteron;

Multiprocessor systems and (as an experiment) AMD64 Opteron, Athlon 64 or Intel IA-32e CPU are also supported;

the minimum required RAM capacity is 128 MB (preferably 256), without taking into account the needs of the host and guest OS, as well as active applications of these OS;

the amount of free space on the hard drive depends on the host OS used: for Windows OS - 100 MB, for Linux OS - about 20 MB;

additionally about 1 GB is required for each guest OS and its applications;

Super VGA video adapter with a color depth of at least 8 bits (16 recommended);

physical drives support IDE and SCSI hard drives, as well as CD-ROM/RW and DVD-ROM/RW devices (both in read and write modes).

If you plan to run several VMs with different OSes simultaneously, then their requirements for RAM capacity must, of course, be summed up.VMwareWorkstation

Installation procedure

The size of the VMware Workstation 5.0 distribution is about 60 MB.

You can begin the installation procedure in one of two ways:

by manually launching the Setup.exe file;

by specifying this file as an installation file in the Add or Remove Programs window.

In both cases, a wizard will start, using the Windows Installer installation program in its work. version number.exe). For the evaluation version of VMware Workstation to be fully functional, you must obtain the appropriate registration key from the developer's website.

After you accept the license agreement, you will need to determine whether you need shortcuts to launch VMware from the desktop, taskbar, and Start menu. In the next step, you can select the installation directory for VMware Workstation (by default, the program is installed on the system drive in the Program Files folder).

After selecting the installation directory, click the Next button.

After this, the installer will scan the host OS parameters and may not like some of them. For example, if the AutoRun function for CD/DVD disks is enabled on the host computer, a warning will appear on the screen that it can lead to unpredictable effects when the host OS interacts with the virtual machine (Fig. 3.2). Therefore, it is better to allow the installation program to disable this function (leaving the Yes disable autorun checkbox in its original position).

Once you have decided on the autorun feature, click the Install button.

Rice. 3.2. The VMware Workstation installation wizard suggests disabling the CD/DVD autorun feature

During the installation of VMware Workstation on the host OS, auxiliary drivers (necessary, in particular, for working with USB and SCSI devices) are also installed. If you install VMware Workstation in Windows XP SP1/2, some of these drivers may not be tested for compatibility with Windows XP, which the installation program will warn you about (Figure 3.3).

Rice. 3.3. Some of the installed drivers may not be tested for compatibility with Windows XP

Since VMware software products work very correctly, you can safely continue with the installation.

Before completing its work, the wizard will prompt you to enter registration information (user name, organization name, product serial number).

The installation procedure ends with the creation of the corresponding program group in the Start menu, which includes two shortcuts (Fig. 3.4):

Manage Virtual Networks - a shortcut to launch the panel for configuring the basic parameters of virtual networks created by VMware (this panel is discussed in the section “Networking capabilities of VMware Workstation virtual machines”);

VMware Workstation - a shortcut to launch the VMware Workstation control panel (analogous to the VM console used in Virtual PC).

Rice. 3.4. Software group for running VMware Workstation components

To increase the efficiency and convenience of working with VMware, it is recommended that after creating a VM and installing a guest OS on it, install the VMware Tools package of additional tools. Installation of a set of extensions is carried out for each of the virtual machines individually, so a description of this step is given in the “Creating and configuring a virtual machine” section.

As mentioned above, the VMware installer uses the Windows Installer service. Thanks to this, if VMware program files are damaged or deleted, you can restore the functionality of the application without reinstalling it. To do this you need to do the following.

Rice. 3.5. VMware program in the Add or Remove Programs window

1.Launch the Add or Remove Programs component, select the appropriate item in the list of applications and click the Change button (Fig. 3.5).

2. Make sure that the Repair switch is selected in the window that opens, and click the Next button (Fig. 3.6).

3.In the next installation wizard window, click the Install button.

Rice. 3.6. The first step in VMware recovery

To remove VMware Workstation from the host computer, you need to run the Add or Remove Programs component, select the appropriate item in the list of applications and click the Remove button.

SettingsVMwareWorkstation

When you launch VMware Workstation for the first time, two windows appear on the screen: in the foreground is a window with “everyday tips,” and behind it is the main VMware Workstation window. We can completely do without advice from VMware developers, so let’s move on directly to working with the main window (Fig. 3.7).

Its interface is described in sufficient detail in the section “Creating and configuring a virtual machine,” and now we will focus on only one menu of this window - Edit, or more precisely, on the Preferences command of this menu.

This command provides access to the main parameters of VMware, which are distributed across seven tabs of the dialog box (Fig. 3.8).

indicate the need to store a list of VMs that worked in the previous session by checking the Remember opened virtual machines between sessions checkbox; in this case, the next time you start VMware, the right side of the main window will present tabs for all VMs that remained open when the previous session ended;

Rice. 3.7. VMware Workstation main window in its original state

Rice. 3.8. VMware Workstation Configuration Window

The first tab, Workspace, allows you to:

select the default folder used to store data about created virtual machines (in the initial state, this is the My Documents folder of the active user);

indicate the need to store a list of VMs that worked in the previous session by checking the Remember opened virtual machines between sessions checkbox; in this case, the next time you start VMware, the right side of the main window will present tabs for VMs that remained open when the previous session ended;

indicate the need and set the frequency of automatic VMware updates via the Internet.

Controls located on the Input, Hot keys, and Priority tabs determine how virtual machines and the host OS use the mouse and keyboard. These controls are described in more detail in the “Configuring external devices” subsection of the “Creating and configuring a virtual machine” section.

The Display tab allows you to select the most appropriate display option for the main VMware window, as well as the virtual machine window when working in full screen mode (Fig. 3.9).

The controls available on the Memory tab determine how RAM is allocated between the VMware host computer and the running VM (Figure 3.10).

The Reserved Memory slider allows you to specify how much physical RAM VMware is allowed to use for its “own needs” and for running virtual machines. The minimum value of this parameter corresponds to the minimum amount of RAM at which VMware can operate, the maximum value is determined by the remaining part of the RAM that is minimally necessary for the operation of the host OS. Moving the slider in one direction or another reduces the performance of either VMware and running VMs, or the host OS and its applications. However, you should keep in mind that VMware does not immediately take over all the space allocated to it: it is allocated by the VM monitor as needed.

Rice. 3.9. Display tab of the VMware Workstation setup window

Rice. 3.10.

The Additional Memory switch group allows you to somewhat soften the restrictions on the amount of RAM used for the benefit of VMware:

Fit all virtual machine memory into reserved host RAM - launched VMs can only use the physical RAM available to VMware; if, when starting the next VM (or a new application inside the VM), it turns out that there is no free memory, then the launch will not take place, and a corresponding message will appear on the screen;

Allow some virtual machine memory to be swapped - if when starting the next VM (or a new application inside the VM) it turns out that there is no free memory, then VMware will allow the host OS to move some of the data from the RAM to the hard drive (to system swap file); this will allow VMware to use the freed-up part of the RAM to launch another VM (or a new application inside the VM), however, the performance of all VMs will decrease due to the time spent on swapping;

Allow most virtual machine memory to be swapped - if when starting the next VM (or a new application inside the VM) it turns out that there is no free memory, then VMware will allow the host OS to move a significant part of the data from the RAM to the hard drive.

It should be kept in mind that for each VM you can individually set the amount of RAM used. However, the upper limit of allocated memory depends on the maximum total RAM volume specified by the Reserved Memory slider.

The next tab in the VMware Configuration window is called Lockout. The elements available on it allow you to control user access to the basic capabilities of VMware (Fig. 3.11).

In the initial state, security settings are disabled - the Enable administrative lockout checkbox is cleared. This means that a user with any account who has the right to run VMware is also allowed to change VMware operating parameters. To restrict access to certain VMware features to only those users who know the lock password, do the following:

1.Select the Enable administrative lockout checkbox.

2.In the Password and Confirm password fields, enter the “secret word”.

3.Select the checkboxes for the functions to which access should be blocked:

Create new teams and virtual machines - creating new virtual machines;

Edit teams and virtual machine configurations - changing the configuration of the virtual machine;

Manage virtual networks - management of virtual networks.

Rice. 3.11. Memory tab of the VMware Workstation setup window

As mentioned, the parameters set in the VMware Workstation configuration window apply to all newly created VMs. Some of them can be further adjusted for each VM individually after its creation.

Creating and setting up a virtualcars

Unlike Virtual PC, in its initial state, the main VMware window combines both the virtual machine control panel and the VM “monitor screens” (they are added as tabs on the right side of the window when creating a VM).

Virtual Machine Control Panel

Virtual machine controls are distributed across three areas of the main VMware window (see Figure 3.7):

at the top of the window there is a menu bar and a toolbar, which contains buttons for launching the most frequently used commands;

on the left side of the window there is a Favorites panel, which serves to display a list of the most “popular” virtual machines; the panel can be closed by clicking on the button with a cross; to open it again, you need to select the Favorites command from the View menu;

the right, largest part of the window is occupied by the Home tab (initial position), as well as tabs of running VMs (if any).

After at least one VM is launched, icons appear in the window's status bar that provide access to the parameters of the VM's external devices (similar to how similar icons are used in Virtual PC).

The buttons located on the window toolbar are, in turn, divided into four groups (Fig. 3.12).

The first four (on the left) buttons control the state of the active VM (the one that is selected in the list or whose tab is open on the right side of the window):

Powers off - stop the VM (the button is available if the selected VM is up and running);

Suspends - transfer the VM to inactive mode; while the VM is suspended, all operations performed by the guest OS or its applications are interrupted; Visually, the window (tab) of a suspended VM looks almost the same as the window of a stopped VM (how exactly is described in the subsection “Creating a virtual machine”);

Powers On - starts the VM, as well as resumes the VM in pause mode (the button is available if the selected VM is not yet running or is in pause mode);

Resets - “hot” restart of the VM (the action of the button is similar to the action of the button of the same name on a real computer).

The following three buttons provide a snapshot of the VM state and return to the selected state if necessary:

Snapshot - creating a snapshot of the VM state;

Revert - return to the VM state saved as a snapshot;

Manage snapshots - opens an additional window to select the desired snapshot.

Two buttons control the size of the VM window.

Vmware Workstation is the software that is most often used to create virtual machines with various operating systems. The capabilities of this program are quite large.

Today we will look at the process of creating a virtual machine with the Windows operating system. A big advantage of Vmware Workstation is the ability to launch and work simultaneously with several virtual machines. The number of simultaneously running virtual machines is limited only by the hardware of your computer and the parameters for allocating computer resources for the operation of these machines.

The program itself is not demanding on the hardware of your computer. A 2-core processor and 2 GB of RAM will be enough for you, but if you are going to work with several virtual machines at the same time, you should think about improving these parameters.

Downloading and installing Vmware Workstation

First, we need to download and install the software.

You can download from the official website https://www.vmware.com/products/workstation-pro/workstation-pro-evaluation.html

When you go to the download page, you can choose which operating system you will use this software for.

After downloading, install it.

After installation, launch the program.

Now we can begin installing and configuring our virtual machine.

Creating and configuring a virtual machine

First, we need to prepare an image of the desired operating system that we want to install.

To create a virtual machine, click on the “File” menu button and select “New virtual machine...”.

After this, the window for creating and configuring a new virtual machine will open. In the window that opens, select “Custom (advanced)” and click the “Next >” button.

The next window prompts you to select a version for hardware compatibility. This is necessary for installing long-term tools and programs, and selecting the necessary parameters. We don’t need this, so we don’t select anything and click the “Next” button.

The next step is to select the source (image) of our operating system.

If you want to install the operating system from a disk that you have, in this case, select the “Installation disk” item.

If you have an operating system image, then select the “Installation image file” item and press the “Browse” button. In the window that opens, select the image you need and click the “Open” button. The image file must be in the .iso extension. In our example, we will install Windows XP.

To install Windows 7/8/8.1/10 operating systems, you must enable the hardware virtualization option (Virtualization Technology) in the BIOS. This option is available for AMD and Intel based computers. Without activating this technology, these OSes will not be launched.

After selecting the method we need, click the “Next” button.

If you know the product key, then enter it in the window that opens in the “Windows Product Key” line; if you don’t know it, then simply fill in the fields we need (If a password is not needed, just leave this field empty). After filling in the required fields, click the “Next” button.

If the product key has not been entered, then during the simple installation process the system will prompt you to enter it.

In the next window we set the name of our virtual machine, which will be displayed in the list of virtual machines. And select the directory where the virtual machine files will be located.

After completing the steps, we move on to the next step.

The next window will be “Processor Configuration”.

Here you can select the necessary parameters for your processor resources that the running virtual machine will use.

As a standard, the program automatically selects the optimal processor parameters, but if they do not meet your requirements, you can determine them yourself by selecting the desired configuration manually.

After determining the necessary parameters, proceed to the next step and click the “Next” button.

It is worth noting that the more resources you give to a virtual machine, the less of them will be left for the work of other virtual machines or your operating system during its active operation.

In the Network Type window, you can configure the network settings for your virtual machine.

The Vmware Workstatio program allows you to fine-tune network access for a virtual machine.

If you want to provide access to your machine from the Internet, you should select the first option “Use network bridge”. When using this option, you will need to set an external (white) IP address for your virtual machine.
In order to use a virtual machine within the network and provide it with access to the Internet, you must select the second option “Use network address translation (NAT)”.
If you want to limit access to the Internet and use the virtual machine purely on the internal network, you should select the third option “Use only the host network.”
And the last option is to refuse to use a network connection; when you select this item, your virtual machine will not have access to any network.

We need to choose the second option for normal work. After selecting the desired option, proceed to the next step.

In the controller type selection window, select the driver for the SCSI controller.

To configure these parameters, you must first activate support for SCIS controllers in the BIOS, if it is not activated.

We will be given 3 types of drivers to choose from:

BusLogic
LSI Logic
LSI Logic SAS

If you have knowledge about these drivers, then you should choose the one that your operating system supports. If you are not familiar with them, then we simply do nothing; the Vmware Workstatio program automatically selects the controller driver suitable for your operating system.

After selecting the driver, proceed to the next step.

In the next window you need to select the type of virtual disk.

The system will automatically determine the disk type suitable for your virtual machine and its operating system, but I recommend choosing SATA, since today this disk type is the fastest in comparison with others.

It is worth noting that some types of operating systems (quite old) will not be able to work on a SATA disk; in this case, you should choose another type of virtual disk that suits your OS, or simply trust the program, as it will automatically detect the required type.

After selecting the desired type, proceed to the next step.

In this window we can select which disk to use to install our virtual machine.

Create a new virtual disk – when you select this option, you can specify the folder and its size where the operating system of your virtual machine will be installed.
Use an existing virtual disk – if you have previously created a virtual machine and want to repeat its virtual disk settings or simply reinstall it, then you can select this option and specify the folder of your old virtual machine.
Use physical disk – this option should be selected if you want to use a separate local hard disk for your virtual machine.

In our case, we select the first parameter and move on to the next step.

In the next window you need to specify the size of the virtual hard disk.

The program will automatically indicate the appropriate size for your type of operating system, but if you need more or less, then indicate the size we need in the “Maximum disk size” field.

Keep in mind that the amount of free space on your disk will decrease by exactly the amount that you specify to reserve for the virtual machine. Make sure that you have enough free space for comfortable work with programs and for the correct operation of the operating system.

After determining the size, move on to the next step.

Specifying the drive file. We select where the file of our virtual disk for the virtual machine will be located. Press the “Browse…” button and specify the folder or create it.

Now we have moved on to the final stage of setting up our virtual machine and its operating system.

In this window, we can once again view the list of all the parameters we have selected and, in case of adjustments, use the “Equipment settings...” button.

In the “Hardware Settings...” section, you can fine-tune the hardware parameters for your virtual machine or, if necessary, change previously set ones.

To proceed to setting the parameters of an already installed virtual machine and its operating system, right-click on the virtual machine and select “Settings...” from the drop-down menu.

After this, the options window will open.

Removing a virtual machine

First of all, for this. To delete a virtual machine, you need to end the guest session.

To do this, right-click on the virtual machine, and in the drop-down menu, move the cursor to the “Power” item, then in the drop-down menu, select “Shut down guest OS”. The OS will shut down, after which we right-click on the virtual machine again and select “Delete”, agree to all pop-up windows.

This way you have completely removed the virtual machine and all its files from your computer.

Problems starting a virtual machine

If your virtual machine does not start, you should do the following.

Checking BIOS settings (activating virtualization technology and SCSI controller support)
Reinstalling the operating system.
Installing the system from another image or disk.
Checking the virtual machine parameters (perhaps some parameters are not compatible with your OS).
Checking the hard drive for integrity.
Computer diagnostics for operating system load.
Disabling the Firewall.
Check for malware.

If not a single method helps you, then you should carefully read the error that appears when you start the machine and understand what the problem is. Once you understand what the problem is, you can solve it by following the instructions described in the error.

Conclusion

By following the instructions described in the article, you can easily install, configure and run your virtual machine with the desired operating system.

The main thing during installation is to strictly follow the instructions in order to avoid future errors when starting and operating the virtual machine.

Also, do not forget to make preliminary settings in the BIOS for the correct operation of the Vmware Workstation program.

When I switched from Oracle VM VirtualBox to VMware Workstation, I ran into a small problem. There is very little correct information on how to launch a virtual machine, as well as how to install it in this program, on the World Wide Web. This prompted me to write this article on how to create a virtual machine in Windows. In the article " " you can read a more detailed review about this utility, and at the end of the publication there will be a link to download the software from the official website.

And so, after the program has been installed and Russified (or not Russified at your discretion), it’s time to create a virtual machine on VMware Workstation. The example will be considered on VMware Workstation 11, the latest at the time of writing this article. In the window of the running program, you need to select the window called “Create a new virtual machine” (+ icon), or select the “File” tab at the top left and then “New virtual machine...”, or use hotkeys
Ctrl + N.

The Virtual Machine Creation Wizard will appear, prompting you to select one of two virtual machine configuration options.

Normal (recommended) - almost all parameters are created automatically, you just have to select the path to the installation file, ISO or CD-DVD, as well as the name of the guest operating system, and a few other little things. But this method may pose some problems in the future. They are related to the installation of VMware Tools (read what this is in the article “How to install Windows 10 on a VMware Workstation virtual machine”, link at the end of the article).

Selective (optional) - we will use this method because... it allows you to configure the virtual machine most optimally for each user. There is nothing complicated in it, and there are also no problems with installing, updating and reinstalling VMware Tools in the future.

You need to put the radio button on "Custom (advanced)" and then click "Next".

There is no need to change anything in the next window. In it, the master tells you what your capabilities are, the maximum number of things you can choose. Only the "Compatible Hardware" field should contain your version of VMware Workstation. If there is another release of the program, then you just need to move it to the current one, the one you currently have installed.

Click the "Next" button and go to the next window. Here you will need to select how you are going to install the guest operating system (CD-ROM or ISO image) and specify the path to the installation disk or file. We will perform this procedure later, so for now we will put the radio button in the line “I will install the operating system later,” then click the “Next” button.

In the next window you need to select the type of guest operating system. Since we will be installing Windows 10 in the next article (How to install Windows 10 on a VMware Workstation virtual machine, link at the end of the article), we will accordingly select the “Microsoft Windows” radio button (it will most likely be the default). Then, a little lower in the “Version” field, select the version and bit size of our guest OS (Windows 10x64). If you will install another guest operating system, for example Ubuntu or Linux, then set the appropriate settings in the “Guest operating system” and “Version” fields. If you install Windows 8.1, then put Windows 8x64 in the “version” field. After everything is done, click “Next”.

In the next window, we indicate the path to where we want VMware Workstation to install our guest operating system, as well as its name. In my case, I'll leave everything as default. Click the "Next" button.

In the "Firmware Type" window, set "BIOS" and move on.

The following "Processor Configuration" window will open, I usually leave ones everywhere. No longer required for a virtual machine. You can put two cores in the "Number of processor cores" field, but only if they are available to you. You can see how many cores the current virtual machine has in the “Total processor cores” line. But do not forget that when you set the parameter to two cores, the power of the operating system installed on your computer decreases. If you have a weak, old computer, then it won’t hurt to have VMware running from time to time. Secondly, do not try to deceive the program, if you have one core available, and you install 2, nothing will be verified. After all parameters have been set, click “Next”.

In the next window, we are required to set the amount of RAM that we can allocate to the virtual machine. Keep in mind that the amount of RAM you allocate to the virtual machine will not be available to your operating system while the guest OS is running. Can I allocate it for a guest operating system? If you physically have 4 GB of RAM on your computer, then you should allocate 1024 MB. If you, like me, have 8 GB, then 2048 MB will be the best option. And so I set 2048 MB (this is what was by default) and click on the “Next” button.

In the next window called “Network Type”, set the radio button to “Use Network Address Translation (NAT)” (this is the default). If you want your virtual machine not to have a network connection, then set the radio button to “Do not use network connection.” Click the "Next" button.

In the “Selecting types of input/output controllers” window, if you are installing Windows 10, only one single radio button will be available, leave everything as it is and click “Next”. If you are installing another guest operating system, then put the radio button where it says "Recommended".

In the next window “Select disk type” we again leave everything as it is, that is, the radio button should be where it says “recommended” (SCSI). Then click the “Next” button.

In the "Select Disk" window, set the radio button to "Create a new virtual disk" (this is the default) and proceed further.

In the "Specify disk size" window, specify the size of the hard disk for the virtual machine. If you are creating a virtual machine for the first time, specify 50 GB, this is enough to install Windows 10. I usually set it to 50 - 60 GB. The radio button should be set to "Save the virtual disk in one file." If you set it to “Split the virtual disk into several files,” then the guest OS may slow down, in general, I don’t recommend it. We check that the settings are correct and click “Next”.

In the next window we just need to confirm that we agree with this file name. If you do not agree with such a term, then rename it as you wish. Click on the “Next” button and move on.

In this window "Everything is ready to create a virtual machine" be careful. Here you can view all the parameters that we have configured for all operations before, and if you don’t like something, then roll back by pressing the “Back” button and correct it. We are also interested in another button called “Equipment Settings”; click it and get into the newly opened “Equipment” window.

In the "Equipment" window, go to the "New CD/DVD (SATA)" tab and on the right side indicate the path to the installation disk. If you will install a virtual machine from a CD-ROM, then in the “Physical disk” field, select the letter of your CD-ROM. In the case of an ISO file image, in the “ISO image file:” field, through the “Browse” button, select the path to the Windows 10 image file. In my case, this is an iso image. There should be a checkmark in the “Connect when turning on the virtual machine” box at the top.

Next, if you want to remove a device, then on the left side of this window you need to click on this tab, and then click on the “Delete” button, which is located at the bottom. For example, in my case, I didn’t need a printer, I clicked on this tab (there is a blue bar on it) and clicked on the “Delete” button. You can also add any required device, only in this case you will need to click on the “Add” button. Leave the rest of the settings as they are and click on the “Close” button.

Then you need to click on the “Done” button. The virtual machine is ready!

Now it's time to set up a shared folder that will link your virtual machine and your computer. Since the virtual machine will communicate with the installed guest Windows, it will be through this folder. For example, if you want to transfer several files to a virtual machine, install several programs in the guest OS, then you can transfer these files through this folder. To the left of the black screen at the top, under the line “Enable virtual machine”, there will be a line “Change settings”, click on it.

The already familiar “Virtual Machine Parameters” window will appear, but there will be another tab called “Parameters” which was not there before, which is what we need. Go to it, then in the “Shared Folders” section, put a radio button in the “Always on” field, then check the box “Map as a network drive in Windows guests”, click the “Add” button at the bottom.

A window will appear with the Add Shared Folders Wizard, in which you will need to click the “Next” button.

In the next window, select the path to the folder, and in the next, make sure that the “Enable this share” checkbox is checked.

Then click "Finish" and "OK". That’s it, now feel free to start the virtual machine by clicking on the line “Enable virtual machine” at the top left. After which the installation of the guest operating system will begin. Read the following article on how to install Windows 10 on a VMware Workstation virtual machine.

One more nuance, if you receive a message from the system about the impossibility of installing a virtual machine, it may look something like this: