Specifications

Table Of Contents
VMware Server Administration Guide
86 VMware, Inc.
After!you!are!authenticated,!the!console!starts!or!the!management!interface’s!Status!
Monitor!page!appears.!Access!to!a!virtual!machine!is!based!on!your!permissions.!See!
“Understanding!Permissions!and!Virtual!Machines”!on!page 83.
Each!virtual!machine!runs!as!one!of!the!following!three!user!accounts:
! The!user!who!powers!on!the!virtual!machine!!The!virtual!machine!runs!as!the!
account!of!the!user!who!powered!on!the!virtual!machine!until!the!virtual!machine!
is!powered!off.!Other!users!can!connect!to!the!virtual!machine!but!it!still!runs!as!
the!user!who!powered!on!the
!virtual!machine.
! The!local!system!account!!The!virtual!machine!runs!as!the!local!system!account.!
You!can!enable!this!option!only!if!you!are!logged!on!to! the!host!operating!system!
as!an!Administrator.
! A!specific!user!account!!The!virtual!machine!runs!as!the!user!account!specified!
in!the!New!Virtual!Machine!Wizard!or!the!virtual!machine!settings!editor.!This!
account!must!be!able!to!access!the!VMware!Server!host.
The!user!account!is!specified!when!you!create!the!virtual!machine!and!you!can!
change!
it!in!the!virtual!machine!settings!editor.
Understanding Permissions and User Accounts
If!the!virtual!machine!is!configured!to!run!as!the!user!who!powers!it!on,!the!user!must!
have!Read!and!Write!permissions!to!the!virtual!machine!files,!such!as!the!configuration!
file,!virtual!disk!files,!and!snapshot!files.!You!must!have!an!administrator!account!to!
access!devices!like!physical!disks,
!USB!controllers,!and!generic!SCSI!devices.
An!easy!way!to!allow!this!user!to!access!a!virtual!machine!is!to!set!the!permissions!for!
the!directory!containing!the!virtual!machine!files!and!let!the!user!inherit!the!rights!for!
that!directory.
If!another!user!connects!to!this!virtual!machine!while!it!
is!running,!that!user!only!needs!
permissions!for!the!configuration!file.
For!virtual!machines!configured!to!run!as!a!specific!user!account!or!run!as!the!local!
system!user,!any!user!connecting!to!the!virtual!machine!needs!permissions!only!for!the!
configuration!file.
An!easy!way!to!allow!these!users!to!access
!the!virtual!machine!is!to!grant!Read!and!
Write!permissions!to!all!the!files!in!the!virtual!machine’s!directory!except!for!the!
configuration!file.!Grant!Read!&!Execute!permission!to!the!configuration!file!and!
disallow!the!inheritance!of!permissions!on!the!file.