The VMWare Topic

[solohelp]

Hi Everybody,

I've been playing around with my unattended install for about 3 weeks now. I just downloaded and VMWare Workstation and would just like to say it is a MUST HAVE.

http://www.vmware.com/download/

Free 30 Trial.

Ive saved about 25 disks in the last 2 days. Not to mention the time it takes to burn the cd.

I searched the forum for info about how to use VMWare while testing your unattend iso, but didnt come up with much. So I figured I'd start a thread so people can post tips and tricks for using VMWare.

One thing Id be especially interested in is how to suspend your Virtual Machine and then change files so I dont have to do a complete reinstall everytime I change a file in the iso. I have been taking a snapshot after it formats the drive right before it starts copying files so that saves about 5 minutes.

Anyway, Post away.

thanks to the MSFN team for this great site and forum.

[Alanoll]

you could setup a seperate 4-5 gig partition on you harddrive and have VMware access it directy. THen you can modify anything you want considering the files.

As for tips....

to speed up, if you allocate the entire disc space when creating the hdd image, it will speed up a big.

[gamehead200]

you could setup a seperate 4-5 gig partition on you harddrive and have VMware access it directy. THen you can modify anything you want considering the files.

As for tips....

to speed up, if you allocate the entire disc space when creating the hdd image, it will speed up a big.

Bad idea... You should get an old 4 or 5 gig PHYSICAL hard drive and use that instead in VMware... Partitions can get corrupt. This way, if you screw up this old drive, its only like $15 to replace one of these old ones!

[enuffsaid]

25 disks in the past 2 days?!? How many times do you test your Unattended installation. What does VMWare cost anyway?

EDIT: Just looked it up...

$189 electronic distribution

$199 packaged distribution

... for VMWare Workstation 4.5!

Wow. That's a lot of dough.

[solohelp]

There is a 30 day free trial. Hopefully thats all you really need. But even if you want to buy it. Its worth the money. My Macromedia suite was over $700, acrobat Prfessional $400,

But thats off topic ;-)

Yes Im a big perfectionist when it comes to my projects. So everytime I change something or get a brilliant new idea I have to test it. Discs are only like 20 cents each, but it was the time it takes to burn etc, that I wanted to avoid.

As far as editing the files inside the virtual disc? Im lost. I have a file called XP.vdmk

If I double click it it just opens vmware.

Do I need to setup the virtual machine to allocate the entire disc space for me to be able to see the files on the virtual drive?

"Oh Its INSIDE the computer, its so simple"

-zoolander

I work off of a laptop so another harddrive isnt an option really. But I already have the virtual machines on a second partition.

[prathapml]

Well, there's a command-line utility available, that will mount your vmdk. This one is for windows (there's another for linux) : http://www.vmware.com/download/diskmount.html.

BTW, having corrupted partitions in VMware is a non-issue, if you are not using the physical disk itself - VMware makes virtual HDs and partitions, all contained within a file on your host OS' file-system. So that's not a bother.

[solohelp]

Good link Prath-

thanks

Ill play with that and post results.

[sleepnmojo]

Here is a tip.

When getting ready to test a full install, Set up a vm session, partition all the disks, etc. then quit. Set your options, like to the iso image, disable sound, etc.

Copy the folder with the vm files to a temporary location. Should be about 3 megs or so.

Now when you want to install, just copy the temporary files over, and you should be set to go. Now when you start up, it should use the new xp iso, and start copying files over.