Actions Performed on Virtual Machines in VMM

Article
01/17/2008

The following actions can be taken on virtual machines that are managed by System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2007:

Operate Virtual Machines
Create, Deploy, Migrate, and Store Virtual Machines
Manage Configurations, Disks, and Checkpoints

Operate Virtual Machines

Action	Description
Start	Starts a virtual machine that is stopped, paused, or in a saved state.
Stop	Stops a virtual machine and does not save any state information. This action has the same effect on the virtual machine as does pulling the plug on a physical computer.
Pause	Suspends execution of a virtual machine and keeps all virtual machine state in memory.
Save state	Suspends execution of a virtual machine and saves the current virtual machine state to disk to release memory and CPU resources for other virtual machines. When the virtual machine is restored from the saved state, it returns to the condition that it was in when its state was saved.
Discard saved state	Discards the state that was saved for a virtual machine that is in a saved state and turns off the virtual machine.
Shut down	Shuts down the guest operating system on the virtual machine. This action is available only when Virtual Machine Additions is installed on the virtual machine.
Connect to virtual machine	Connect to a virtual machine by using Virtual Machine Remote Control (VMRC). VMM attempts to connect to a running virtual machine that you select in the results pane and adds a thumbnail of the connection—the desktop of the virtual machine—to the virtual machine details. To open a larger connection window so you can log on to the virtual machine, you can either double-click the thumbnail or click Connect to virtual machine in the Actions pane.

Create Deploy, Migrate, and Store Virtual Machines

Action	Description
New virtual machine	Create a new virtual machine from an existing virtual machine managed by VMM, an existing virtual hard disk, a blank virtual hard disk, or a virtual machine template.
Clone virtual machine	Clone a virtual machine from an existing virtual machine. The new virtual machine has the same identity as the source virtual machine.
Deploy	Deploy a virtual machine on a host. (Available in Library view, for stored virtual machines.)
Migrate virtual machine	Move a virtual machine from one host to another.
Store in library	Store a virtual machine in the Virtual Machine Manager library. The virtual machine's files are moved to the specified library share. The virtual machine is removed from displays for the host, and is displayed on the library share in Library view of the VMM Administrator Console.
Remove	Remove a virtual machine from VMM and delete all files for the virtual machine. Important Unlike the Virtual Server Remove action, the VMM Remove action deletes all configuration files and virtual hard disks for the virtual machine. If you want to keep the files but not have the virtual machine appear in host displays, store the virtual machine in the library instead of removing it.

Manage Configurations, Disks, and Checkpoints

Action	Description
Repair virtual machine	Repair a failed virtual machine by retrying the action that caused the failure, restoring the virtual machine to its state before the action caused it to fail, or refreshing the data for the virtual machine in VMM after mitigating the issue outside VMM. Note This is the default action for a failed virtual machine. You can double-click a failed virtual machine to open the dialog box.
Disable undo disks	Disable undo disks saved in Virtual Server, and merge or discard the changes, so that VMM can manage the virtual machine.
New checkpoint	Create a checkpoint that enables you to restore a virtual machine to its current state. This action saves the state of each virtual hard disk that is attached to a virtual machine and all of the hard disk's contents, including application data files, to create a temporary backup of the virtual machine. For more information, see About Virtual Machine Checkpoints.
Manage checkpoints	Open the Checkpoints dialog box in order to create, edit, and merge checkpoints or to restore a virtual machine to a checkpoint.
Edit [checkpoint]	Edit a checkpoint description.
Merge [checkpoint]	Merge a virtual machine checkpoint when you no longer need to restore the virtual machine to the state when the checkpoint was created.
Restore [to checkpoint]	Restore a virtual machine to its state when a checkpoint was created.
Disable	Disable a virtual machine that is stored in the library to temporarily prevent use of the virtual machine. A disabled virtual machine remains in the library but cannot be deployed or repaired. (Library view only)
Enable	Enable a disabled virtual machine so that the virtual machine can be deployed or repaired. (Library view only)
Properties	Modify the properties of a virtual machine. Note This is the default action for a virtual machine that is in a healthy state. You can double-click a healthy virtual machine in the results pane to open the Virtual Machine Properties dialog box.

How to Configure Virtual Server Actions for Virtual Machines (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=99218)

Creating Virtual Machines (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=98987)

Deploying Virtual Machines (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=98989)

Managing Virtual Machines (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=103616)