About VMM Components

Article
01/17/2008

This topic provides a brief overview of the System Center Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) components and information to consider before you install each component.

The following illustration shows the VMM components and how they communicate with one another.

Virtual Machine Manager Server

The VMM server is the hub of a VMM deployment through which all other VMM components interact and communicate. Therefore the VMM server must be installed first.

The VMM server runs the VMM service, which runs commands, transfers files, and controls communications with other VMM components and with all virtual machine hosts and VMM library servers, collectively referred to as managed computers. The VMM service is run through the VMM agents that are installed on the managed computers.

The VMM server also connects to a SQL Server database that stores all VMM configuration information. You can access this information and configure VMM by using the VMM Administrator console.

By default, the VMM server is also the default library server, which you can use to store file-based resources, such as virtual hard disks, templates, and ISO images. You can set up additional VMM library servers, which is recommended when you will be managing a large number of hosts. For more information about library servers, see the "About the Virtual Machine Manager Library" topic in VMM Help (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=98981).

Virtual Machine Host

A virtual machine host is a physical computer that hosts one or more virtual machines. You can add one or more hosts to VMM by using the Add Hosts Wizard in the VMM Administrator Console. Until you add a host, you cannot use VMM to create virtual machines and many of the actions in the VMM Administrator Console are not available.

When you add a host, VMM automatically installs an agent on the host and, if it is not already installed, installs Virtual Server 2005 R2 with Service Pack 1.

For more information about hosts, see the "Hosts" topic in VMM Help (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=98632).

Virtual Machine Library Server

The Virtual Machine Manager library server has a VMM library, which is a catalog of resources that can be used to create and configure virtual machines in VMM. The library contains files stored on library shares, and it can contain file-based resources such as:

Virtual hard disks.
Virtual floppy disks.
ISO images, and scripts.
Virtual machine templates.
Hardware profiles.
Guest operating system profiles, which can be used to create virtual machines
Stored virtual machines that are not in use.

When you add a library server, VMM automatically installs an agent on the library server.

For more information about library servers, see the "Library" topic in VMM Help (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=98640).

Virtual Machine Manager Administrator Console

The VMM Administrator Console is a graphical user interface (GUI) that you use to:

Create, deploy, and manage virtual machines.
Monitor and manage hosts and library servers.
Manage global configuration settings.

You install the VMM Administrator Console after installing the VMM server. You can install it on the same computer as the VMM server or on a different computer.

When you install a VMM Administrator Console, Setup also installs Windows PowerShell — Virtual Machine Manager command shell, which makes available the cmdlets you can use from the command line to perform all functions that you can perform within the VMM Administrator Console.

Important

If you plan to use the Reporting feature of VMM, you must install a VMM Administrator Console on the same computer as the VMM server. When you install the VMM Administrator Console, Setup also installs Windows PowerShell — Virtual Machine Manager command shell. This is required for the Systems Center Operations Manager 2007 administrator to perform tasks on virtual machines and virtual machine hosts from within the Virtualization Management Pack. You can install one or more VMM Administrator Consoles on other computers.

Virtual Machine Manager Self-Service Portal

The VMM Self-Service Portal is an optional, Web-based component that a VMM administrator can configure to allow end users to create and manage their own virtual machines within a controlled environment.

The VMM administrator defines self-service policies that determine which templates self-service users can use to create virtual machines, how many virtual machines they can deploy, which hosts their virtual machines can run on, and which actions they can take on their virtual machines. For more information about self-service, see the "About Virtual Machine Self-Service" topic in VMM Help (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=98644).

Virtual Machine Manager Agent

The VMM agent manages virtual machines on virtual machine hosts and allows hosts and library servers to communicate with, and transfer files to and from, the VMM server.

When you add a virtual machine host or a library server in a trusted domain by using the VMM Administrator Console, VMM automatically installs an agent on that managed computer by using the default settings.

If a host is on a perimeter network or is not joined to a domain that has a trust relationship with the domain that the VMM server is in, you must install an agent locally on the host before you can add the host to VMM.