Removing virtual machines

Removing virtual machines

The Remove option on the Administration Website lets you remove a virtual machine from Virtual ServerĀ 2005. Removing a virtual machine makes the virtual machine unavailable for management by Virtual Server and removes it from the Master Status page. However, the virtual machine files, including the virtual machine configuration (.vmc) file and virtual hard disk (.vhd) file, are not deleted or changed when you remove a virtual machine. Because the virtual machine files are not deleted when you remove a virtual machine, you can easily reestablish the virtual machine by adding it back to Virtual Server or moving it to another physical computer for use on another installation of Virtual Server.

You must remove each virtual machine individually. The virtual machine must be turned off or in a saved state before you can remove it. For instructions, see Remove a virtual machine in Virtual Server.

Note

You can use the host operating system's file system to delete the virtual machine files after removing the virtual machine, if you have access to the files. Virtual Server uses discretionary access control lists (DACLs) to control access to the Virtual Server folders and files. For more information, see File system security settings for Virtual Server. When you add an existing virtual machine to Virtual Server, if it is configured with a dynamic media access control (MAC) address, Virtual Server allocates a new MAC address to the virtual machine from the pool of available addresses.