Supported Virtual Machine Actions for ESX Server Hosts

Applies To: Virtual Machine Manager 2008, Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2, Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 SP1

When you add a VMware VirtualCenter server to the Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) server, all ESX Server hosts managed by the VirtualCenter server are also added to VMM. However, these hosts are added with a status of OK (Limited), which means that VMM supports only a limited set of actions for virtual machines on those hosts.

To change the status of the ESX Server host to OK so that you can fully manage virtual machines, you must provide credentials and, if secure mode is enabled on the host, upload a certificate and public key from the host to VMM. For more information, see How to Set Credentials for Communicating with a Host.

The following table compares the virtual machine actions that are available when an ESX Server host has OK (Limited) status with the actions that can be performed on a host that has OK status. Entries that are identified as “restricted” in the OK (Limited) Status column indicate that the action is available, but with restrictions. The second table describes these restrictions.

Supported Virtual Machine Actions for ESX Server Hosts by Host Status

Virtual Machine Action OK (Limited) Status OK Status

Start

Yes

Yes

Stop

Yes

Yes

Pause

Yes

Yes

Save state

No

Yes

Discard saved state

No

Yes

Modify properties

Yes (restricted)

Yes

New checkpoint

Yes

Yes

Manage checkpoints

Yes

Yes

Remove

Yes

Yes

Migrate by using VMware VMotion

Yes

Yes

Migrate across VirtualCenter server

No

Yes

Store in the VMM library

No

Yes

Clone within the same VirtualCenter

Yes (restricted)

Yes (restricted)

Clone on the same ESX Server host

Yes (restricted)

Yes

Convert virtual machine (V2V conversion)

No

Yes

Create virtual machine from a VMM template

No

Yes

Create virtual machine from a blank VMware virtual hard disk (.vmdk file)

Yes (restricted)

Yes

The following table describes the restrictions that apply to the available virtual machine actions when an ESX Server host has OK (Limited) status.

Restricted Virtual Machine Actions for ESX Server Hosts with OK (Limited) Status

Virtual Machine Action Restrictions in OK (Limited) Status

Modify properties

  • ISO image cannot be attached to a virtual DVD drive.

  • VMware virtual hard disk (.vmdk file) cannot be attached to the virtual machine.

  • VMware virtual floppy disk (.flp file) cannot be attached to the virtual floppy drive.

Clone within the same VirtualCenter

  • When the virtual machine is cloned by using the VMM Administrator Console, VMM gives the host a zero rating during virtual machine placement. However, you still can select the host for placement.

  • No such restriction applies at the command line.

Clone on the same ESX Server host

  • In the VMM Administrator Console, VMM gives the host a zero rating during virtual machine placement, but you can select the host manually.

  • In the Windows PowerShell – Virtual Machine Manager command shell, you must use a task group to create a new .vmdk file before you clone the virtual machine. You cannot clone an existing .vmdk file.

Create virtual machine from a blank VMware virtual hard disk (.vmdk file)

  • In the VMM Administrator Console, VMM gives the host a zero rating during virtual machine placement, but you can select the host manually.

  • In the Windows PowerShell – Virtual Machine Manager command shell, you must use a task group to create a new .vmdk file before you create a virtual machine. You cannot use an existing .vmdk file as the source.

See Also

Tasks

How to Add an ESX Server Host to VMM

Concepts

How to Set Credentials for Communicating with a Host

Other Resources

Configuring Security for a Managed VMware Environment in VMM
How to an Add ESX Server Host Using a Script