Section 8.9. VMware Tools


8.9. VMware Tools

We first discussed loading VMware Tools in Chapter 3 when we began building a virtual machine. VMware Tools loads drivers that allow your virtual machines to run more optimally and allow you to manage them more efficiently. VMware Tools also provides a number of additional functionalities, which we'll describe next.

After you've loaded VMware Tools, you'll notice in your Windows virtual machines a small icon in the System Tray (see Figure 8.23).

Figure 8-23. The System Tray Icon


If you double-click the icon, a window appears with a number of tabs (see Figure 8.24).

Figure 8-24. The VMware Tools Properties Dialog


From the Options tab, you can choose to synchronize your virtual machine with your ESX Server. If your ESX Server is not relying on its BIOs Clock, but has been configured to receive its time from an NTP server, you can select this. Or, you can leave this option unchecked and set the virtual machine to receive its time from the NTP server.

From the Devices tab, you can select from all the removable devices such as the CD-ROM and floppy drive that the virtual machine has access to (see Figure 8.25).

Figure 8-25. Selecting a Removable Device


You can, of course, also disconnect the devices.

The Scripts tab allows you to run scripts that are associated with the options in the drop-down menu (see Figure 8.26).

Figure 8-26. The Scripts Tab


By default, VMware uses scripts depending on the event, such as Suspend, Resume, Shut Down, or Power On the virtual machine's Operating System. You can also use your own scripts as the second diagram shows.

The Shrink tab allows you to prepare your virtual machine's virtual disk to be shrunk. ESX Server allocates the entire space configured during the virtual machine's build. In other words, if you build your virtual machine with a 6GB virtual disk but the space used is only 3GB, ESX Server still gives the virtual machine 6GB. VMware's GSX Server can let virtual disks grow as they need it. So even if you give a GSX virtual machine 6GB but it uses 3GB, then it only uses the 3GB. Shrinking your virtual disk allows you more efficient use of space if your migrating the virtual machine from ESX to GSX. For more detail, see the Help file on the Scripts tab.




Virtualization With VMware ESX Server
Configuring VMware ESX Server 2.5 (Vol 1)
ISBN: 1597490199
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2005
Pages: 173

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