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Chapter 4. Creating Virtual Machines - Advanced

4.1. Creating New Virtual Machines Without Templates
4.2. Adding Network Interfaces to Virtual Machines
4.3. Adding New Virtual Disks to Virtual Machines
4.4. Installing Operating Systems onto Blank Virtual Machines
4.5. Assigning Virtual Machines to Users
While the previous chapter provided a quick and simple method of creating virtual machines, this chapter shows you a more flexible method of creating customized virtual machines for other users in your environment. You will learn how to create virtual machines without using templates, and how to complete the setup of new virtual machines, including adding new network interfaces, adding new virtual disks, installing operating systems and assigning permissions to users.

4.1. Creating New Virtual Machines Without Templates

If you do not have a pre-existing template, you can manually create a virtual machine and customize all its settings.
Before you create a virtual machine from scratch, ensure that you understand the requirements and have access to the prerequisites, including installation images. In contrast to virtual machines created using a template, you will need to add at least one network interface and one virtual disk before you can use the machine.
To create a virtual machine from scratch
  1. To create a new server virtual machine, select the Virtual Machines tab in the navigation pane. Click New Server or New Desktop.
    The New Virtual Machine window displays, with the General tab selected.
    New Server Virtual Machine
    Figure 4.1. New Server Virtual Machine

  2. Enter a suitable Name for the virtual machine, and ensure that the Based on Template field is set to Blank. Select the virtual machine's Operating System from the list. You can accept the default settings and proceed to Step 9 to create the virtual machine.
    Otherwise, navigate between the tabs and populate the required fields, starting with the General settings:
    • Select the Data Center and Host Cluster in which the virtual machine will reside.
    • Allocate up to 256GB for the virtual machine's Memory Size.
    • Allocate Total Cores of CPU processing power to the virtual machine.
    • Allocate the number of CPU sockets for the virtual machine, from 1 to 16.
    • Tick the Stateless checkbox if your virtual machine is to discard all changes and revert to its original state upon shutdown.
  3. If you selected Windows as an Operating System, the Windows Sys. Prep tab displays. Enter the domain in which the virtual machines are to be created and select the time zone in which the virtual machines are to run. This ensures that the machines are available to users in the correct time zones.
  4. Select the Console tab. Use the drop down menu to select the suitable display Protocol - SPICE or VNC.
    • SPICE is the recommended protocol for Linux and Windows virtual machines. If you wish to use USB devices on your virtual machine, set the USB Policy to Enabled. SPICE supports multiple monitor display for Windows 7 and Windows XP virtual desktops, if you wish to use this feature allocate the number of Monitors for your virtual machine.
    • VNC is compatible with Linux virtual machines and does not require additional plug-ins. If this protocol is selected, the USB Policy and Monitors options will not be available. VNC display can only be used in the administration portal.
  5. Select the Host tab and define the host requirements.
    • Run On: Select Any Host in Cluster for virtual machines to run on any available host, or Specific for them run on a particular host which has to be selected from the provided list.
    • Run/Migration Options: Select Run VM only in the selected host if the virtual machine is to run only on the specified host. Otherwise select Allow VM migration only upon Administrator specific request to prevent migration in mid-operation to other hosts in the cluster, for example, in case of overload or fencing of the host.
  6. The High Availability tab is accessible if you are creating a server virtual machine. If your machine is to be highly available, tick the Highly Available checkbox and set the Priority for Run/ Migrate Queue to Low, Medium or High depending on your server requirements.
  7. Select the Boot Options tab.
    • A newly installed virtual machine must go into Boot mode before powering up. On the drop-down menu, select between Hard Disk, CD-ROM or Network as the first and second devices for the virtual machine to boot from.
    • The kernel path, initrd path and kernel parameters boot options can only be used for Linux virtual machines.
  8. Press OK to create your virtual machine. The new virtual machine displays in the list of virtual machines with a corresponding operating system logo.
    New virtual machine displays
    Figure 4.2. New virtual machine displays

You will now have to make further configuration changes before you can run your newly created virtual machine. This includes adding at least one virtual disk, adding at least one network interface, and installing the operating system onto the virtual machine.