SPICE | VM Startup Guide - UMCST/SPICE-user-info GitHub Wiki

Following is the steps necessary to deploy a Virtual Machine with vSphere through the webportal residing on vCenter. While the methods employed in this guide are meant to reflect the process strictly for vSphere, the same process can be followed in vCenter, though the specific modifications in the setup of the VM, such as the drive provisioning method and template OS, have slightly different methods of selection.

This guide is also structured in such a way that assumes you've already gained access to the vSphere client, if this hasn't already been done, refer back to the VMconsole Access and Use Guide. Once you have accessed the client, you can begin the following steps.

How to Deploy a VM in vSphere

  1. Navigate to the VM-Templates icon (second from the left) on the left side of the vSphere landing page as shown below:

  2. Using the tree, navigate over to the proper directory where you want to keep your VM, create directories as necessary.

  3. Select the directory in which you want your VM to reside, mouse over to the ACTIONS option to the right of the directory name in the middle of the screen.

  4. Select New Virtual Machine...

  5. Unless instructed otherwise, keep the default creation type, that being Create a new virtual machine and then click NEXT.

  6. On the next screen, set the name of your virtual machine (don't worry if you end up forgetting this step, you can change the VM's name once its created).

  7. On the next screen, unless instructed otherwise, set sugar.spice.um.maine.edu as your "compute resource," click NEXT.

  8. For a storage device, if possible select the high-speed datastore, however if you're unsure of which datastore to use, consult Ben or someone else who'd know which one to use.

  9. For the compatibility section, switch the option to be compatible with "ESXi 7.0 and later."

  10. For selecting the guest OS, do this in accordance with what OS that you are planning to install. If there isn't an option for your exact OS, just go for the closest thing since this step isn't strictly crucial.

  11. Now, on "Customize hardware" screen, this is where the most modification is going to be performed:

  • When it comes to the CPU, Memory, and New Hard Disk capacities, refer to the VM Requirement Guidelines.
  • Under "New Hard Disk" > "Disk Privisioning", change this setting from "Thick Provisioned Lazy Zeroed" to "Thin Provision".
  • Farther down, ensure that under "New Network" you have the proper network selected, if you don't know which network to select, ask Ben.
  • Expand the "New CD/DVD Drive" option and switch the setting from "Client Device" to "Datastore ISO File"
    • Unless instructed otherwise, you'll most likely find the ISO on Sugar DS0 (Should be correct but will need to double check once the servers back up)
  1. Click NEXT, verify that all of the information on the page is correct, and then select FINISH

With that, you're VM should be up and running! Keep in mind that if you realize anything is wrong with the VM in terms of the configuration just made, you can more than likely make this change without having to completely re-create the VM. To do this simply power-off the machine and then right click the VM in the tree on the left side of the screen and select Edit Settings... with which you should be able to configure just about anything.