Customize a Virtual Machine’s Guest Operating System

On the Configure Wizard Customization page, you can customize the identity of the configured virtual machine and generate a new security identifier.

You can configure the guest preferences for sources running on Windows XP or later.

This procedure is applicable to ESX Server, vCenter Server, Workstation 5.0, 6.0, and 6.5, VMware Fusion 1.0 and 2.0, VMware Player 1.0, 2.0, and 2.5, VMware Server 1.0 and 2.0, and VMware ACE 1.0, 2.0, and 2.5 sources.

You can customize the following information:

■	Computer information that identifies the virtual machine on a network

■	Server license

■	Virtual machine time zone

■	Network interface properties

■	Workgroup and Windows Server Domain

Prerequisites

You must set up the sysprep files before you can customize Windows 2003, Windows 2000, and Windows XP sources. You must save sysprep files to %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application Data\VMware\VMware vCenter Converter Standalone  on the machine where the Converter Standalone server runs. For more details on the sysprep location for different operating systems, see Save Sysprep Files.

Procedure

1	On the View/Edit Options page, select Configure guest preferences for the virtual machine and click Next.

2	On the Customizations page, select Computer Information in the options pane and customize the following fields.

Option	Description
Computer Name	A unique name to identify the virtual machine on the network. Valid characters include A-Z, a-z, 0-9, and the hyphen (-). The underscore (_) is nonstandard, but Converter Standalone permits its use. The computer name cannot have more than 15 characters and cannot consist only of numerals.
Owner Name	Valid characters include all printable characters. The limit is 63 characters.
Organization	Valid characters include all printable characters. The limit is 63 characters.
Generate New Security ID (SID)	(Optional) Select to generate a new security identifier.

3	(Optional) Select Windows License and enter the Windows licensing information for this virtual machine if necessary.

You can leave the Product ID field blank and proceed to the next option.

The Include Server License Information check box applies only to Microsoft Windows 2000 Server and Microsoft Windows 2003 Server operating systems. If you do not select this check box, the Server License Mode buttons are not active. This action does not apply to Windows Vista systems.

4	(Optional) Select Time Zone and select a time zone from the drop-down menu.

5	(Optional) Select Network Interface Settings to configure the network interfaces.

a	Select the adapter to customize and click Customize.

b	In the NIC Properties dialog box, modify any of the following settings.

Tab	Description
General	Use this tab only to manually enter the IP address and DNS server address.
DNS	Specify the DNS connections by entering DNS suffixes: ■ For each DNS suffix you enter, click Add. ■ If you are entering multiple DNS suffixes, use Move Up and Move Down to specify the order in which a virtual machine is to use the connections.
WINS	Specify the primary and secondary WINS addresses by typing the IP addresses in the entry boxes.

c	Click OK to return to the Network Interface Setting page.

Reset All is enabled if you modify one or more network adapters. Click this button to revert all settings for all adapters to the default.

6	Click Workgroup/Domain to select how the virtual machine participates in a network.

Option	Description
Workgroup	Valid characters include A-Z, a-z, 0-9, space, and the hyphen (-). Maximum length is 15 characters.
Windows Server Domain	The text box must have a value. Valid characters include A-Z, a-z, 0-9, space, period , and the hyphen (-). Each label delineated by a period can be 63 characters, and the whole text string can be up to 254 characters. A user name and password are also required.

7	Click Next to view a summary of the configuration task.

8	Click Finish.

The configuration task is added to the task list and will run according to the maximum concurrent task setting that you specified.

Subtopics

Edit the Computer Information of a Configured Virtual Machine

You can personalize the source virtual machine.

Enter the Windows License Information of a Configured Virtual Machine

VMware recommends entering licensing information for all virtual machines that subject to licensing.

Set the Time Zone of a Configured Virtual Machine

Use this procedure if you are configuring a virtual machine to use in a remote location.

Set Up the Network Adapters of a Configured Virtual Machine

You can customize network adapter settings on the source virtual machine.

Assign a Workgroup or Domain Details of a Configured Virtual Machine

You can set up the way a target virtual machine participates in the destination network.

Previous topic: Select the Options to Configure

Next topic: View the Summary of a Configuration Task

Related tasks

Customize the Guest Operating System

Save Sysprep Files