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Understand what a virtual machine is and why it is important.

Explain the basic concepts of a virtual machine.

Identify the reasons why an organization needs to create virtual machines.

Define the steps necessary to create a virtual machine using the Host Client.

Notes:

You have many options for creating and deploying virtual machines. You can create a single virtual machine and install a guest operating system and VMware Tools on it. You can clone an existing virtual machine or convert it to a template. You can also deploy OVF or OVA templates.

The vSphere Client New Virtual Machine wizard and the Edit Settings dialog box let you add, configure, or remove most of the virtual machine's hardware, options, and resources. You monitor CPU, memory, disk, network, and storage metrics through the performance charts in the vSphere Client. Snapshots let you capture the state of the virtual machine, including the virtual machine memory, settings, and virtual disks. You can roll back to the previous virtual machine state when needed.

With vSphere vApps, you can manage multi-tiered applications. You use vSphere Lifecycle Manager to perform orchestrated upgrades to upgrade the virtual hardware and VMware Tools of virtual machines in the inventory at the same time.

When a virtual machine is no longer needed, you can remove it from the inventory without deleting it from the datastore, or you can delete the virtual machine and all its files.

What are the Virtual Machine Components?

Virtual machines typically have an operating system, VMware Tools, and virtual resources and hardware. You manage these components just like the components of a physical computer.

Operating System - You install a guest operating system on a virtual machine just as you install an operating system on a physical computer. You must have a CD/DVD-ROM or ISO image containing the installation files from an operating system vendor.

VMware Tools - A suite of utilities that enhances the performance of the virtual machine's guest operating system and improves management of the virtual machine. It includes device drivers and other software that is essential for your VM. With VMware Tools, you have more control over the virtual machine interface.

Compatibility Setting - In the vSphere Client, you assign each virtual machine to a compatible ESXi host version, cluster, or datacenter by applying a compatibility setting. The compatibility setting determines which ESXi host versions the virtual machine can run on and the hardware features available to the virtual machine.

Hardware Devices - Each virtual hardware device performs the same function for the virtual machine as hardware on a physical computer does. Every virtual machine has CPU, memory, and disk resources. CPU virtualization emphasizes performance and runs directly on the processor whenever possible. The underlying physical resources are used whenever possible. The virtualization layer runs instructions only as needed to make virtual machines operate as if they were running directly on a physical machine.

You access the hardware devices in the Edit Settings dialog box. Not all devices are configurable. Some hardware devices are part of the virtual motherboard and appear in the expanded device list of the Edit Settings dialog box, but you cannot modify or remove them. For a list of hardware devices and their functions, see Virtual Machine Hardware Available to vSphere Virtual Machines.

In the Edit Settings dialog box you can also add virtual hardware devices to the virtual machine. You can use the memory or CPU hotplug options to add memory or CPU resources to a virtual machine while the virtual machine is running. You can disable Memory or CPU hotplug to avoid adding memory or CPUs while the virtual machine is running. Memory hotplug is supported on all 64 bit operating systems, but to use the added memory, the guest operating system must also support this feature.

See the VMware Compatibility Guide at http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility

A vSphere administrator or other privileged user can determine who can access or modify a virtual machine by setting permissions on the virtual machine.

Not all hardware devices are available to every virtual machine. The host that the virtual machine runs on and the guest operating system must support devices that you add or configurations that you make. To verify support for a device in your environment, see the VMware Compatibility Guide at http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility or the Guest Operating System Installation Guide at http://partnerweb.vmware.com/GOSIG/home.html

In some cases, the host might not have the required vSphere license for a resource or device. Licensing in vSphere is applicable to ESXi hosts, vCenter Server, and solutions and can be based on different criteria, depending on the specifics of each product.

The PCI and SIO virtual hardware devices are part of the virtual motherboard, but cannot be configured or removed.

Starting with vSphere 7.0, you cannot add, remove, or configure floppy drives, parallel ports, or SCSI devices. For information, see https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/78978