Specifications

Table Of Contents
VMware, Inc. 139
Chapter 5 Moving and Sharing Virtual Machines
NOTE These!instructions!assume!that!you!are!using!a!virtual!disk!!stored!in!a!set!
of!.vmdk!or!.dsk!files!on!your!host!computer.!
It!is!always!safest!to!make!backup!copies!of!all!the!files!in!your!virtual!machine’s!
directory!before!you!start!a!process!like!this.
The!following!sections!further!describe!moving!older!virtual!machines:
! “Virtual!Machines!May!Use!Relative!or!Absolute!Paths!on!page 139
! “Preparing!Your!Virtual!Machine!for!the!Move”!on!page 139
! “Preparing!the!New!Host!Machine”!on!page 140
! “Considerations!for!Moving!Disks!in!Undoable!Mode”!on!page 141
Virtual Machines May Use Relative or Absolute Paths
In!VMware!Server!1,!the!path!names!for!all!files!associated!with!a!virtual!machine!were!
absolute,!or!fully!qualified,!meaning!the!complete!route!to!the!files!on!the!host!was!
stored.!For!example,!the!absolute!path!to!a!virtual!disk!file!might!be!C:\Documents and
Settings\<user name>\My Documents\My Virtual Machines\<machine name>\<machine
name>.vmdk.
With!VMware!GSX!Server!2!
and!higher,!path!names!to!files!are!relative,!meaning!the!
path!to!the!each!file!is!relative!to!the!currently!active!directory.!For!example,!if!you!are!
in!the!virtual!machine’s!directory,!the!relative!path!to!the!virtual!disk!file!is!<machine
name>.vmdk.
Preparing Your Virtual Machine for the Move
1Open!the!virtual!machine!using!the!VMware!product!with!which!you!created!it.!If!
the!virtual!machine!has!more!than!one!virtual!disk!and!if!the!virtual!disks!use!
different!disk!modes,!you!must!use!the!Configuration!Editor!(choose!Settings!>!
Configuration!Editor)!to!change!one!or!more!of!the!
virtual!disks!so!they!all!use!the!
same!mode.
2Be!sure!you!know!whether!the!virtual!disk!is!set!up!as!an!IDE!disk!or!a!SCSI!disk.!
You!can!check!this!in!the!virtual!machine!settings!editor.!
Also,!note!the!size!of!the!virtual!disk!you!are!moving.!You!need!
this!information!
when!you!prepare!the!new!host!machine,!as!described!in!the!next!section.
3Be!sure!the!guest!operating!system!is!completely!shut!down.!If!the!virtual!machine!
is!suspended,!resume!it!using!the!VMware!product!with!which!you!created!the!
virtual!machine,!then!shut!down!the!guest!operating!system.!