vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Update 2 Modified on 12 JULY 2021 VMware vSphere 6.7 VMware ESXi 6.7 vCenter Server 6.7 vSphere Virtual Machine Administration You can find the most up-to-date technical documentation on the VMware website at: https://docs.vmware.com/ VMware, Inc. 3401 Hillview Ave. Palo Alto, CA 94304 www.vmware.com © Copyright 2009-2021 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved. Copyright and trademark information. VMware, Inc. 2 Contents About vSphere Virtual Machine Administration 10 1 Updated Information 12 2 Introduction to VMware vSphere Virtual Machines 13 Virtual Machine Files 13 Virtual Machines and the Virtual Infrastructure 14 Virtual Machine Lifecycle 15 Virtual Machine Components 16 Virtual Machine Hardware Available to vSphere Virtual Machines 17 Virtual Machine Options 19 The vSphere Client and the vSphere Web Client 21 Where to Go From Here 21 3 Deploying Virtual Machines 23 Create a Virtual Machine with the New Virtual Machine Wizard 24 Clone a Virtual Machine to a Template 27 Clone a Virtual Machine to a Template in the vSphere Web Client 30 Deploy a Virtual Machine from a Template 33 Deploy a Virtual Machine from a Template in the vSphere Web Client 37 Clone an Existing Virtual Machine 41 Clone an Existing Virtual Machine in the vSphere Web Client 45 Cloning a Virtual Machine with Instant Clone 49 Clone a Template to a Template 50 Clone a Template to a Template in the vSphere Web Client 53 Convert a Template to a Virtual Machine 56 4 Deploying OVF and OVA Templates 58 OVF and OVA File Formats and Templates 58 Deploy an OVF or OVA Template 59 Export an OVF Template 61 Browse VMware Virtual Appliance Marketplace 62 5 Using Content Libraries 63 Hierarchical Inheritance of Permissions for Content Libraries 64 Content Library Administrator Role 66 Create a Library 66 Edit a Content Library 68 VMware, Inc. 3 vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Managing a Publisher Local Library 70 Create a Subscription for a Local Library 72 Publish the Contents of a Library to a Subscriber 73 Publish a Single Template to a Subscription 74 Delete a Subscription 75 Managing a Subscribed Library 75 Synchronize a Subscribed Content Library 77 Synchronize a Library Item in a Subscribed Library 78 Populating Libraries with Content 78 Import Items to a Content Library 79 Clone a vApp to a Template in a Content Library 80 Clone a Virtual Machine or a Virtual Machine Template to a Template in a Content Library 81 Clone Library Items from One Library to Another Library 82 Working with Items in a Library 83 Templates in Content Libraries 83 Update a Content Library Item 86 Export an Item from a Content Library to Your Local Computer 86 Clone Library Items from One Library to Another Library 87 Edit a Content Library Item 88 Delete a Content Library Item or Item Content 88 Creating Virtual Machines and vApps from Templates in a Content Library 90 Deploy a Virtual Machine from an OVF Template in a Content Library 90 Deploy a Virtual Machine From an OVF Template in a Content Library in the vSphere Web Client 92 Deploy a Virtual Machine from a VM Template in a Content Library 95 Create New vApp From a Template in a Content Library 99 6 Configuring Virtual Machine Hardware 100 Virtual Machine Compatibility 100 Set the Default Compatibility for Virtual Machine Creation 102 Schedule a Compatibility Upgrade for a Single Virtual Machine 103 Change the Default Virtual Machine Compatibility Setting 104 Hardware Features Available with Virtual Machine Compatibility Settings 105 Virtual CPU Configuration 109 Virtual CPU Limitations 110 Configuring Multicore Virtual CPUs 111 Enable CPU Hot Add 112 Change the Number of Virtual CPUs 113 Allocate CPU Resources 114 Change CPU Identification Mask Settings 114 Expose VMware Hardware Assisted Virtualization 115 VMware, Inc. 4 vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Enable Virtual CPU Performance Counters 116 Configure Processor Scheduling Affinity 117 Change CPU/MMU Virtualization Settings 117 Virtual Memory Configuration 118 Change the Memory Configuration 118 Allocate Memory Resources 119 Change Memory Hot Add Settings 120 Managing Persistent Memory 121 Virtual Disk Configuration 124 About Virtual Disk Provisioning Policies 124 Large Capacity Virtual Disk Conditions and Limitations 125 Change the Virtual Disk Configuration 126 Use Disk Shares to Prioritize Virtual Machines 127 Configure Flash Read Cache for a Virtual Machine 128 Determine the Virtual Disk Format and Convert a Virtual Disk from the Thin Provision Format to a Thick Provision Format 129 Add a Hard Disk to a Virtual Machine 130 SCSI and SATA Storage Controller Conditions, Limitations, and Compatibility 136 Add a SATA Controller 139 Add a SCSI Controller to a Virtual Machine 140 Add a Paravirtualized SCSI Adapter 141 Add an NVMe Controller 141 Change the SCSI Controller Configuration 142 Virtual Machine Network Configuration 144 Network Adapter Basics 144 Network Adapters and Legacy Virtual Machines 146 Change the Virtual Machine Network Adapter Configuration 146 Add a Network Adapter to a Virtual Machine 147 Parallel and Serial Port Configuration 149 Other Virtual Machine Device Configuration 158 Change the CD/DVD Drive Configuration 158 Add or Modify a Virtual Machine CD or DVD Drive 162 Change the Floppy Drive Configuration in the vSphere Web Client 163 Add a Floppy Drive to a Virtual Machine in the vSphere Web Client 164 Add and Configure a SCSI Device 165 Add a PCI Device 166 Configuring 3D Graphics 167 Add an NVIDIA GRID vGPU to a Virtual Machine 171 USB Configuration from an ESXi Host to a Virtual Machine 172 USB Autoconnect Feature 173 vSphere Features Available with USB Passthrough 174 Configuring USB Devices for vMotion 174 VMware, Inc. 5 vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Avoiding Data Loss with USB Devices 175 Connecting USB Devices to an ESXi Host 175 Add USB Devices to an ESXi Host 177 Add a USB Controller to a Virtual Machine 177 Add USB Devices from an ESXi Host to a Virtual Machine 179 Remove USB Devices That Are Connected Through an ESXi Host 180 Remove USB Devices from an ESXi Host 180 USB Configuration from a Client Computer to a Virtual Machine 181 Connecting USB Devices to a Client Computer 182 Connect a USB Device to a Client Computer 183 Add a USB Controller to a Virtual Machine 184 Add USB Devices from a Client Computer to a Virtual Machine 185 Remove USB Devices That Are Connected Through a Client Computer 186 Remove a USB Controller from a Virtual Machine 187 Add a Shared Smart Card Reader to Virtual Machines 188 Securing Virtual Machines with Virtual Trusted Platform Module 189 Enable Virtual Trusted Platform Module for an Existing Virtual Machine 190 Remove Virtual Trusted Platform Module from a Virtual Machine 191 7 Configuring Virtual Machine Options 192 Virtual Machine Options Overview 192 General Virtual Machine Options 193 Change the Virtual Machine Name 193 View the Virtual Machine Configuration and Working File Location 194 Change the Configured Guest Operating System 194 Configuring User Mappings on Guest Operating Systems 195 View Existing SSO User Mappings 196 Add SSO users to Guest Operating Systems 196 Remove SSO Users from Guest Operating Systems 197 VMware Remote Console Options 198 Change the Virtual Machine Console Options for Remote Users 198 Configure Virtual Machine Encryption Options 198 Encrypt an Existing Virtual Machine or Virtual Disk 198 Decrypt an Encrypted Virtual Machine or Virtual Disk 200 Virtual Machine Power Management Options 201 Manage Power Management Settings for a Virtual Machine 201 Configuring VMware Tools Options 202 Configure the Virtual Machine Power States 202 Virtualization Based Security 204 Enable Virtualization-based Security on an Existing Virtual Machine 204 Enable Virtualization-based Security on the Guest Operating System 205 VMware, Inc. 6 vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Disable Virtualization-based Security 205 Identify VBS-Enabled Virtual Machines 206 Configuring Virtual Machine Boot Options 206 Enable or Disable UEFI Secure Boot for a Virtual Machine 206 Delay the Boot Sequence 208 Configuring Virtual Machine Advanced Options 208 Disable Virtual Machine Acceleration 209 Enable Virtual Machine Logging 209 Configure Virtual Machine Debugging and Statistics 210 Change the Swap File Location 210 Edit Configuration File Parameters 211 Configure Fibre Channel NPIV Settings 212 8 Managing Multi-Tiered Applications with vSphere vApp 214 Create a vApp 215 Perform vApp Power Operations 216 Create or Add an Object to a vApp 217 Clone a vApp 218 Edit vApp Notes 219 Configure vApp Properties 219 Configure vApp Properties in the vSphere Web Client 220 Edit vApp Settings 221 Configure vApp CPU and Memory Resources 222 View Unrecognized OVF Sections in the vSphere Web Client 223 Configure vApp IP Allocation Policy 224 Configure vApp Startup and Shutdown Options 225 Configure vApp Product Properties 226 View vApp License Agreements 226 Add a Network Protocol Profile 227 Associate a Port Group with a Network Protocol Profile in the vSphere Web Client 229 Assign a Port Group or Network to a Network Protocol Profile 230 Use a Network Protocol Profile to Allocate IP Addresses to a Virtual Machine or vApp 231 Virtual Machine vApp Options 232 Enable vApp Options for a Virtual Machine 233 Edit Application Properties and OVF Deployment Options for a Virtual Machine 233 OVF Authoring Options for a Virtual Machine 235 9 Monitoring Solutions with the vCenter Solutions Manager 241 View Solutions 241 vSphere ESX Agent Manager 242 Monitoring Agent Health Status