Installation guide

CHAPTER 3 Using the VMware Management Interface to Manage Your Virtual Machines

To change the virtual machine’s power state, click the button that indicates the virtual

machine’s current power state. A popup menu appears, displaying the following

buttons:

Changing the power state executes any script associated with the power state

change. For more information about running scripts, see Choosing Scripts for VMware

Tools to Run During Power State Changes on page 186.

Suspending and Resuming Virtual Machines

This section contains the following:

• Setting the Suspend Directory on page 98

• Enabling Repeatable Resume on page 99

You can suspend and resume a virtual machine with the management interface. See

Changing the Power State of a Virtual Machine on page 96. You can also suspend and

resume a virtual machine from a remote console. See Suspending and Resuming

Virtual Machines on page 189.

Suspending a virtual machine, then later resuming its operation, can speed

provisioning tasks — for example, deployment of standby servers. VMware ESX Server

supports two configurations for resuming a suspended virtual machine.

• You can suspend a running virtual machine at any time, then resume operation,

suspend at a later time, then resume with the machine in the second state, and

so on.

Button Description

Shuts down the guest operating system and powers off the virtual machine.

VMware ESX Server closes any open applications and shuts down the guest

operating system before powering off the virtual machine. VMware Tools

executes the script associated with this power state change, if any. When this

icon is red, the virtual machine is powered off.

Suspends a running virtual machine or resumes a suspended virtual

machine. VMware Tools executes the script associated with this power state

change, if any. When this icon is amber, the virtual machine is suspended.

Powers on a stopped virtual machine or resumes a suspended virtual

machine. VMware Tools executes the script associated with this power state

change, if any. When this icon is green, the virtual machine is running.

Restarts a guest operating system. VMware ESX Server closes any open

applications and shuts down the guest operating system before restarting

the guest operating system.