How to Create a Virtual Machine

Article
01/17/2008

In Virtual Machine Manager (VMM), you can use the following wizards to create a virtual machine. The procedures in this help topic are for the New Virtual Machine Wizard; you can use the P2V and V2V links to open the other two wizards.

New Virtual Machine Wizard. In the Administrator Console, you can open the New Virtual Machine Wizard in one of two ways:
- New virtual machine. This option is available in the Actions pane in any view.
- Clone virtual machine. This option is available in the Actions pane in Virtual Machines view when you click a specific virtual machine. When you use this option, the wizard skips the first page (Select Source) in the New Virtual Machine Wizard because this option, by definition, selects an existing virtual machine as the source for the new virtual machine.
Convert Physical Server Wizard (P2V). This wizard performs a physical-to-virtual machine conversion (a P2V conversion). For more information, see How to Convert a Physical Server to a Virtual Machine.
Convert Virtual Machine Wizard (V2V). This wizard performs a virtual-to-virtual machine conversion (a V2V conversion). For more information, see How to Convert a Virtual Machine to a VMM Virtual Machine.

The first procedure in this topic demonstrates how to use the New Virtual Machine Wizard to create a new virtual machine from an existing virtual machine, from an existing virtual machine template, from an existing prepared virtual hard disk, or from a blank virtual hard disk.

All users can create a virtual machine, and each user can choose either to deploy the new virtual machine on a host server or to save the new virtual machine on a library server. The final procedures in this topic demonstrate both options.

To use the New Virtual Machine Wizard to create the virtual machine

In the VMM Administrator Console, use either of the following options to open the New Virtual Machine Wizard:

Option 1: In the Actions pane in any view, click New virtual machine. Use this action if you want to select from a variety of sources from which to create the new virtual machine.

Option 2: In Virtual Machines view, click the virtual machine in the results pane that you want to use as the source from which to create the new virtual machine, and then, in the Actions pane, click Clone virtual machine.
The Select Source page appears only if you clicked New virtual machine in step 1. (If you clicked Clone virtual machine in step 1, skip this step because you won't see the Select Source page.) On the Select Source page, use one of the following options to select the source from which to create the new virtual machine:

Option 1: Select Use an existing virtual machine or a template or virtual hard disk stored in the library:
1. Click Select to open the Select Library Resource dialog box.
2. Select Type from the Group by drop-down list box to display the set of templates, the set of existing virtual hard disks, and the set of virtual machines stored in the Virtual Machine Manager library.
  
  Note
  
  If you have file-based resources, such as virtual hard disk files or virtual machine files, that are not listed in the library and want to add them to the library, see Adding File-Based Resources to the Library. If you want to create a template to add to the library, see How to Create a Virtual Machine Template).
3. Click the template, virtual hard disk, or virtual machine that you want to use as the source for the new virtual machine, and click OK to return to the Select Source page.
Option 2: Select Create the new virtual machine with a blank hard disk.
On the Virtual Machine Identity page, configure the following options:
1. Virtual machine name (required). Type a unique name for the virtual machine.
2. Owner (required). Accept the pre-populated value, DomainName\Username, to identify yourself as the owner of the new virtual machine. Alternatively, click Select to specify a different user or group as the owner. The account specified must be an Active Directory account.
3. Description (optional). Type a description for the new virtual machine.
On the Configure Hardware page, choose one of the following options:

Option 1: If you want to accept the default settings on the Configure Hardware page for all virtual hardware components, click Next to continue to the next page.

Option 2: If you want to import an existing stand-alone hardware profile, select the name of the existing profile that you want to import from the Hardware profile drop-down list box, and then click Next to continue to the next page.

Option 3: If you want to configure one or more of the virtual hardware components directly on the Configure Hardware page:
1. Use the appropriate procedure to configure each component:
  How to Configure CPU Requirements for a Virtual Machine
  How to Configure the Amount of Memory for a Virtual Machine
  How to Configure the Floppy Drive for a Virtual Machine
  How to Configure IDE Devices for a Virtual Machine
  How to Add and Configure SCSI Adapters for a Virtual Machine
  How to Add and Configure Network Adapters for a Virtual Machine
  How to Configure Virtual Machine Priority for Host CPU Resources
  
  Note
  
  If the option you selected on the Select Source page of the New Virtual Machine Wizard was Create the new virtual machine with a blank hard disk, the Configure Hardware page displays a Virtual Hard Disk under IDE Devices in the left pane, but the status of the Virtual Hard Disk is Invalid. Because this is a blank virtual hard disk, you must use the procedure in How to Configure IDE Devices for a Virtual Machine.
2. Save the wizard-based hardware profile settings that you just configured by using one of the following options:
  Option 1: Click Next to save your settings and continue to the wizard page.
  Option 2: Click Save Profile to open the Hardware Profile Properties dialog box. On the General tab, configure the following fields:
  Name. Type a name for the hardware profile.
  Description (optional). Type a description for the hardware profile.
  Owner. Accept the pre-populated value, DomainName\Username to identify yourself as the owner of the new stand-alone hardware profile. Alternatively, click Select to specify a different user or group as the owner. The account specified must be an Active Directory account.
  Click Apply and then click OK to return to the Configure Hardware page; and then click Next to continue to the next page.
The Guest Operating System page appears only if you selected an existing template as the source from which to create the virtual machine. (If you selected any other source from which to create your new virtual machine, this page does not appear, so skip this step.)

Choose one of the following options:

Option 1: If you want to accept the default settings on the Guest Operating System page for all guest operating system settings, click Next to continue to the next page and complete the wizard as usual.

Option 2: If you want to import an existing stand-alone guest operating system profile, select the name of the existing profile that you want to import from the Guest operating system profile drop-down list box, and then click Next to continue to the next page.

Option 3: If you want to configure one or more of the guest operating system components directly on the Guest Operating System page:
1. Use the appropriate procedure to configure each component:
  How To Configure Guest Operating System Profile General Settings
  How to Configure Guest Operating System Profile Networking Settings
  How to Configure Guest Operating System Profile Scripts
2. Save the wizard-based guest operating system profile settings that you just configured by using one of the following options:
  Option 1: Click Next to save your settings and continue to the next page.
  Option 2: Click Save Profile to open the Guest OS Properties dialog box. On the General tab, configure the following fields:
  Name. Type a name for the guest operating system profile.
  Description (optional). Type a description for the guest operating system profile.
  Owner. Accept the pre-populated value, DomainName\Username to identify yourself as the owner of the new stand-alone guest operating system profile. Alternatively, click Select to specify a different user or group as the owner. The account specified must be an Active Directory account.
  Click Apply and then click OK to return to the Guest Operating System page; and then click Next to continue to the next page.
On the Select Destination page that appears, select one of the following options:

Option 1: Place the virtual machine on a host

Option 2: Store the virtual machine in the library

Note

To create a new virtual machine with a blank virtual hard disk and store it directly to a library server, the library server must have one of the following versions of Microsoft Virtual Server installed:

•Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 or above.
•Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 x64 SP1 or above.
Alternately, when you create a new virtual machine that has a blank hard disk, you can deploy it to a host, and then store it in the library.

Note

The library option is not available if the source from which you create this virtual machine is a template; you must deploy a virtual machine created from a template on a host.
Click Next. Depending on which choice you made in the preceding step, complete the wizard by continuing with one of the following procedures:

Option 1: Continue by deploying the virtual machine.

Option 2: Continue by storing the virtual machine.

How to deploy the virtual machine on a host server

When you performed the steps in the preceding procedure to create a virtual machine, if, on the Select Destination page of the New Virtual Machine Wizard, you selected Place the virtual machine on a host, confirm that the page Select Virtual Machine Host now appears.
On the Select Virtual Machine Host page, review the number of stars under Ratings for each host listed under Host Name to determine the most suitable host on which to deploy this virtual machine.

Note

If a large number of hosts is listed, use the Host group, Look for, or Group by fields to display a smaller set of potential hosts.

When you deploy a virtual machine on a host, all available host servers are assigned a host rating, consisting of zero through five stars, to indicate the host’s suitability for hosting the virtual machine. The host rating is based on the virtual machine's hardware and software requirements and anticipated resource usage. For more information about host ratings, see the following topics:

About Host Ratings

How to Customize Host Ratings for a Virtual Machine

For each server listed that might be a suitable candidate as a host for this virtual machine, review the information displayed on the tabs for Details, Rating Explanation, and SAN Explanation.

After reviewing the information on this page, select the host on which you want to deploy this virtual machine, and then click Next.
On the Select Path page, accept the default path on the host to which to save files associated with this virtual machine, or click Browse to specify a different path. The default path is:

<SystemDrive>:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Shared Virtual Machines\

If you select a path other than the default path and want to store other virtual machines on that path, select Add this path to the list of host default paths. For information about configuring default virtual machine paths, see How to Set Placement Options for a Host.
On the Additional Properties page, accept the default settings or modify these settings as described in the following topic:

How to Configure Virtual Server Actions for a Virtual Machine
On the Summary page, do the following:

Review the settings that you chose by running the wizard.

Optionally, click View Script to view (and copy) the Windows PowerShell script that ran this wizard and configured its settings. All administrative tasks in Virtual Machine Manager can be performed at the command line or scripted. For more information, see Using the Virtual Machine Manager Command Shell.

Optionally, select Start the virtual machine immediately after deploying it to the host (not selected by default).

Optionally, accept the default setting Automatically open the Jobs window to view the progress of this operation (or clear this option).

Click Create to create the virtual machine.
In Jobs view, monitor the progress of the new virtual machine creation job and confirm that the virtual machine is created successfully. If the job fails, read the error message at the bottom of the Jobs window for information about the cause of the failure and the recommended action to resolve the error.

How to store the virtual machine on a library server

When you performed the steps in the procedure to create a virtual machine, if, on the Select Destination page of the New Virtual Machine Wizard, you selected Store the virtual machine in the library, confirm that the page Select Path now appears.

Note

If you just deployed the virtual machine on a host, you cannot perform this procedure as part of the New Virtual Machine Wizard. However, after the virtual machine is deployed, you can click the virtual machine name in Virtual Machines view and then use the Store in library action to store the virtual machine in the library. Also, if the source you chose from which to create this virtual machine was a template, you cannot use the New Virtual Machine Wizard to store the virtual machine in the library. You can store a virtual machine created from any other source in the library.
On the Select Path page, configure the following options:
1. Under Library Server, click the library server on which you want to store this virtual machine.
2. For Library path, click Browse to open the Select Destination Folder dialog box, expand the library share tree under the server name, click the folder in which you want to store this virtual machine, and then click OK to return to the Select Path page.
On the Summary page:
1. Review the settings that you chose by running the wizard.
2. Optionally, click View Script to view (and copy) the Windows PowerShell script that ran this wizard and configured its settings.
3. Optionally, accept the default setting Automatically open the Jobs window to view the progress of this operation (or clear this option).
4. Click Create to create the virtual machine.
In Jobs view, monitor the progress of the new virtual machine creation job and confirm that the virtual machine is created successfully. (If the job fails, read the error message at the bottom of the Jobs window for information about the cause of the failure and the recommended action to resolve the error.)

How to Create a Virtual Machine

See Also

Concepts

Other Resources

Additional resources