Virtual Server registry entries

Virtual Server registry entries

This topic describes registry entries that Virtual Server 2005 adds to the host operating system and guest operating systems.

Virtual Server adds the following registry key to the host operating system: HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\EventLog\Virtual Server. A DACL is configured on this registry key according to the settings on the Virtual Server Security Settings page of the Administration Website. This DACL determines which users can view the Virtual Server event log. For more information about configuring this setting, see Configuring Virtual Server security settings.

When you install Virtual Machine Additions, Setup adds the keys listed in the following table to the registry of the guest operating system. You can query the registry to determine from these registry key entries information about the virtual machine in which the guest operating system is running, as well as the physical computer on which the virtual machine is running. All entries are of the data type REG_SZ. For more information about managing the registry, see "Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit Registry Reference" at the Microsoft Web site.

Registry key Description

HostName

The name of the domain name system (DNS) domain assigned to the host operating system. If the host operating system is a node in a cluster, then this is the DNS domain name of the cluster virtual server (not to be confused with Virtual Server).

PhysicalHostName

The DNS host name of the host operating system. Even if the host operating system is a node in a cluster, this is the DNS host name of the host operating system, and not the name of the cluster virtual server.

PhysicalHostNameFullyQualified

The fully qualified DNS name that uniquely identifies the host operating system. Even if the host operating system is a node in a cluster, this is the fully qualified DNS name of the host operating system, not the name of the cluster virtual server.

The fully qualified DNS name is a combination of the DNS host name and the DNS domain name, using the form HostName.DomainName.

VirtualMachineName

The name of the virtual machine in which this guest operating system is running.

These are the only registry entries created by Virtual Server. Rather than being stored in the registry, all other configuration information for Virtual Server, virtual machines, and virtual networks is stored in XML-based configuration files, as follows:

  • The Virtual Server configuration file, named Options.xml
  • Virtual machine configuration files, which have a .vmc file name extension
  • Virtual network configuration files, which have a .vnc file name extension

For more information about the contents of the configuration files, see Virtual Server configuration file entries. For more information about the location of the Virtual Server files, see Virtual Server folders and files. For more information about the security settings on the configuration files, see File system security settings for Virtual Server.