This topic describes how to create a virtual machine from a blank virtual hard disk. You can either install the operating system after creating the virtual machine or configure the virtual machine to start from an ISO image.

Considerations

When you create a virtual machine from a blank virtual hard disk:

  • You must configure the virtual machine so that you can install an operating system from a system CD, from an ISO image file in the library, or through a network service boot.

  • Recommended: Install virtualization guest services (such as Virtual Machine Additions or Integration Components) on the virtual machine.

  • The virtual machine must be deployed on a host or on a library server that has Virtual Server installed.

Procedure

To create a virtual machine from a blank virtual hard disk:

  1. In the Actions pane in the Virtual Machine Manager Administrator Console, click New virtual machine.

  2. Complete the New Virtual Machine Wizard.

Wizard Page Action

Select Source

Select the Create the new virtual machine with a blank hard disk option.

Virtual Machine Identity

  • Virtual machine name (required). Type a unique name for the virtual machine.

  • Owner (required). The owner must have an Active Directory domain account.

  • Description (optional). Type a description for the new virtual machine.

Configure Hardware

Configure the blank virtual hard disk for the virtual machine.

  1. Select the new blank virtual hard disk under IDE Devices.

    In the right pane, use the Channel field to select the channel on the IDE device to attach the virtual hard disk to. An IDE bus supports as many as four devices, including virtual hard disks and a virtual DVD drive.

  2. In the right pane, select Create a new virtual hard disk. Under Type, select the type of virtual hard disk to configure -- Dynamic or Fixed. For more information, see "Creating Virtual Hard Disks" (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=104266).

  3. Under Size, specify, in gigabytes (GB), either the size of a fixed virtual hard disk file or the maximum size to allow for a dynamically expanding virtual hard disk file.

  4. Under Destination file name, specify a file name for the virtual hard disk file.

To configure additional hardware for the virtual machine, use the following procedures:

  • Startup Order—Select the order of devices to start the operating system.

  • CPU Requirements—Specify processor requirements for the virtual machine.

  • Memory—Specify the amount of memory to allocate to the virtual machine

  • Floppy Drive—Configure the virtual floppy drive to read a physical floppy disk on the host or to read a virtual floppy disk file stored in the library.

  • DVD or CD Drive—Add a virtual DVD or CD drive to an IDE bus.

  • Virtual Hard Disk—Add a virtual hard disk to an IDE device or a SCSI adapter.

  • Network Adapters—Configure one or more virtual network adapters for a virtual machine.

  • Priority and Availability—Configure the virtual machine's priority for CPU resources on the host. Configure the virtual machine to be highly available.

Select Destination

Choose between two options:

  • Place the virtual machine on a host. The wizard will continue through all of the remaining wizard pages.

  • Store the virtual machine in the library. The wizard will continue with the Select Path wizard page.

Select Host

(Host placement only)

Select a host to deploy the virtual machine on.

All hosts that are available for placement are given a rating of 0-5 stars based on their suitability to host the virtual machine. The host ratings are based on the virtual machine's hardware and resource requirements and anticipated resource usage. They are also based on placement settings that you can customize for VMM or for individual virtual machine deployments. The ratings are recommendations. You can select any host that has the required disk space and memory available.

  1. To see the placement settings that were used to rate the hosts, and optionally change those settings, click Customize Ratings to open the Customize Ratings dialog box.

  2. To view additional information about a host rating, select the host in the list. The tabs below the list in the details pane provide the following information:

    • Details -- Displays the status of the host and lists the virtual machines that are currently deployed on it.

    • Ratings Explanation -- If a host receives a zero rating, this tab lists the conditions that caused the rating.

    • SAN Explanation -- If a SAN transfer cannot be used to move the virtual machine's files to the host, this tab lists the conditions that prevent a SAN transfer.

If a host has network optimization enabled, a green arrow appears in the Network Optimization column. VMM 2008 R2 allows you to take advantage of network optimization capabilities that are available on Hyper-V hosts that are running Windows Server 2008 R2. For information about network optimization and the hardware that supports it, see the Windows Server 2008 R2 documentation. After a virtual machine is deployed, this feature is displayed only for virtual machines that are deployed on a host that is running Windows Server 2008 R2.

Select Library Server

(Library only)

Select a library server on which to store the virtual machine.

To view additional information about the available library servers, select the server in the list. The tab below the list in the details pane provides the following information:

SAN Explanation -- If a SAN transfer cannot be used to move the virtual machine's files to the library server, this tab lists the conditions that prevent a SAN transfer.

Select Path

Select the path to the folder that will store the configuration files for the virtual machine:

  • If you chose Place the virtual machine on a host, specify the path on the host to which to save files associated with this virtual machine.

    Note
    If you want to store other virtual machines on this path, select the Add this path to the list of host default paths check box to add the path to the list of default paths during virtual machine creation.
  • If you chose Store the virtual machine in the library, specify the library server that will store the virtual machine, and then select the path on the available library shares to store the virtual machine's configuration files. The wizard will continue with the Summary page.

Select Networks

(Host placement only)

Modify the networks and attach them to None or to any of the virtual networks that are found on the selected host.

Note
Networks area will list each of the virtual network adapters that are currently attached to the virtual machine. Network adapters will default to None if you selected None in the hardware configuration or to the best matching virtual network according to the network matching rules.

Additional Properties

(Host placement only)

Configure actions to take on a virtual machine when the virtualization service starts and stops. For more information, see How to Configure Automatic Start and Stop Actions for a Virtual Machine

Summary

Review the configuration settings. To change settings, click Previous. To begin creating the virtual machine, click Create.

Note
Use the View Script button to display the Windows PowerShell - Virtual Machine Manager cmdlets that will perform the operation. All administrative tasks in Virtual Machine Manager can be performed at the command line or scripted.

Install an Operating System on the Virtual Machine

This section tells how to configure the virtual machine so that you can install an operating system from a system CD, from an ISO image file in the library, or through a network service boot. For the first two methods, you must configure a virtual DVD drive to attach to a physical CD drive on the host or to the image file. For a network installation, you must configure a virtual network adapter.

Operating System Requirements for a Virtual Machine

The operating system on the virtual machine must meet the following requirements:

Procedures

To install from a physical CD, you simply need to map a virtual CD/DVD drive on the virtual machine to the physical CD drive on the host computer.

To prepare to install from a system CD
  1. In Virtual Machines view of the VMM Administrator Console, right-click the virtual machine in the results pane, and click Properties.

  2. On the Hardware Configuration tab, click DVD on the New toolbar to add a virtual DVD drive to the IDE bus.

  3. In the right pane, click Physical CD/DVD drive, and then select the DVD drive on the host.

If you will use an image file to install the operating system, you must add the image file to the Virtual Machine Manager library.

To prepare to install from an image file in the library
  1. Copy the image file to a share in the Virtual Machine Manager library. The file will be added to the library and will be available in wizards after the next library refresh.

    If you have not yet added library servers and shares, you can use the default library share, $MSSCMMLibrary, on the VMM server. The default path is <systemdrive>\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Virtual Machine Manager Library Files.

  2. To make the file available immediately, refresh the library share.

    1. In the VMM Administrator Console, under the navigation pane, click Library to display Library view.

    2. In the navigation pane, right-click the share that you copied the image file to, and then click Refresh share.

  3. In the virtual machine properties, configure a virtual DVD drive to connect to the image file:

    1. In Virtual Machines view, right-click the virtual machine in the results pane, and click Properties.

    2. On the Hardware Configuration tab, click DVD on the New toolbar to add a virtual DVD drive to the IDE bus.

    3. In the right pane, select Existing image file, and then select the image file from the available library resources.

If the network adapter on the host computer supports network service boots, you can configure a virtual network adapter on the virtual machine to enable this.

To prepare to install from a network service boot
  1. In Virtual Machines view, right-click the virtual machine in the results pane, and click Properties.

  2. On the Hardware Configuration tab, configure a network connection:

    1. On the left pane, click the network adapter.

    2. In Connected to, select the external virtual network to use for the network service boot. The list contains all virtual networks that are configured on the host.

    3. In the BIOS section, ensure that PXE Boot appears first in the list.

With the virtual machine configured to provide access to the installation medium of choice, you can connect to the virtual machine to install the operating system. Virtual Machine Manager uses Virtual Machine Remote Control (VMRC) to connect to virtual machines from the VMM Administrator Console. By default, VMM uses port 5900 to connect to VMRC. No configuration is required unless a firewall is blocking the port.

To install the operating system on the virtual machine
  1. In Virtual Machines view, right-click the virtual machine in the results pane, and then click Connect to virtual machine. You will need to click Yes at the prompt to start the virtual machine.

    This opens the Virtual Machine Remote Control console.

  2. Install the operating system on the virtual machine as you would on a physical computer. On a virtual machine, the startup disk partition must be the Windows partition.

  3. After completing the installation, end your session with the virtual machine and stop the virtual machine in VMM. (Use the Stop action in Virtual Machines view.)

See Also


For the most up-to-date Help information, go to the Virtual Machine Manager 2008 Help Online. To find additional Virtual Machine Manager 2008 documentation, go to the Virtual Machine Manager 2008 TechCenter Library.