Installing an operating system on a virtual machine
Installing an operating system
Each virtual machine requires an operating system, which is called the guest operating system. For information about which operating systems are supported for installation on a virtual machine, see System requirements for Virtual Server. For instructions on installing an operating system, see Add an Operating System.
To install the guest operating system, you must first have the following:
- A virtual machine where the operating system will run. For more information about creating a virtual machine, see Setting Up Virtual Machines for Virtual Server.
- A virtual hard disk where the virtual operating system will reside. For more information about creating a virtual hard disk, see Configuring Virtual Disks for Virtual Machines.
There are some important points to consider when installing a guest operating system:
- You cannot use the CTRL+ALT+DELETE keyboard shortcut from within the virtual machine. You can instead use the HOST KEY+DELETE shortcut to send CTRL+ALT+DELETE to the guest operating system. By default, the Host key is the right ALT key. Each virtual machine also provides a CTRL+ALT+DELETE action on the virtual machine Remote Control menu that you can use to emulate this keyboard shortcut.
- You must install Virtual Machine Additions in order to improve integration of the guest operating systems with the host operating system. For information about the features provided by Virtual Machine Additions, see Installing Virtual Machine Additions.
Note
Guest operating system licenses are not included with a Virtual Server license. You must ensure that you are appropriately licensed for all operating systems and applications that you install on a virtual machine. It is possible to perform a network installation of an operating system on a virtual machine. Virtual Server does not support starting an operating system directly from the network to perform a network installation; however, you can use a remote startup disk that includes the appropriate instructions for contacting the network installation point.