How to View or Change Virtual Machine Properties in Essentials

Article
04/14/2011

Applies To: System Center Essentials 2010

In System Center Essentials 2010, you can change the hardware properties of a virtual machine from the Essentials console, such as the number of processors or the amount of memory currently allocated to it to improve performance. Use the procedure below to change virtual machine properties.

To view or change virtual machine properties

In the Essentials console, click Computers, and then click the All Virtual Machines node.
Select a virtual machine from the list, and then, in the Tasks pane, click Properties.
When the Virtual Machine Properties dialog box appears, you can view and change the following properties:
- Virtual Machine Identification—View or change the virtual machine name and description, and view the host name and host folder for virtual machine files.
  
  Note
  
  If the virtual machine is not stopped when you open Virtual Machine Properties, you cannot modify some settings. To modify a setting that is unavailable, shut down the virtual machine, and then reopen the Virtual Machine Properties dialog box.
- Processor—View or change the number of processors for this virtual machine.
- Memory—View or change the amount of memory used based on application and operating system requirements.
- Hard Drives—View or change the number of hard disks, amount of hard disk space, or disk names.
  
  Note
  
  If you decide to change the hard disk properties, and the hard disk is a small computer system interface (SCSI) device, or you have taken a snapshot of the virtual machine, you cannot change the size of the hard disk.
- Network—View or change the network connection that is used for this virtual machine.
  
  Tip
  
  If you plan to install an operating system on the virtual machine from the network, select the host computer’s network connection from the list of available network locations. You can only select one network connection for a virtual machine in Essentials 2010. To configure additional network connections, change the virtual machine properties by using Hyper-V Manager.
- BIOS Boot Order—View or change the order in which the startup devices are selected to start the operating system.
- CD/DVD Drives—View or change the CD/DVD information for this virtual machine.
If you change any of the virtual machine properties, click OK when you are done. A message appears asking you to confirm the changes you have made. Click Yes to accept the changes. Upon completion, you will be returned to the list of unmanaged virtual machines.

Important

If you try to connect to a virtual machine that does not yet have an operating system installed, the Virtual Machine Viewer window displays a message prompting you either to restart with the appropriate startup device selected, or to insert startup media into the selected startup device. You might have to edit the properties of the virtual machine and either select to use the host CD/DVD drive or add an ISO image file to the Library folder.

If you plan to install the operating system from a CD/DVD, edit the properties for this virtual machine to use the host CD/DVD drive. If you plan to install the operating system from an ISO image, make sure the ISO file is copied to the Library folder. Change the BIOS startup order so that the appropriate disk is loaded first. For more information about how to add a file to the Library folder, see How to Manage Virtual Machine Templates in Essentials.
If you configured the virtual machine network properties to use an existing network connection and the IT environment supports the installation of operating systems over the network, you can modify the BIOS startup order in the virtual machine properties and move PXE Boot to the top of the list to start a remote operating system installation.

How to View or Change Virtual Machine Properties in Essentials

To view or change virtual machine properties

See Also

Tasks

Additional resources