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You may find it helpful to photocopy this checklist and use it to collect the information you should have available when you add virtual machines to a project.

Do you plan to add an existing virtual machine or create a new one?

What is the path to the configuration (.vmx) file for this virtual machine?

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If you plan to add an existing virtual machine, stop here.

If you plan to create a new virtual machine, continue with the other items on this checklist.

What guest operating system do you plan to install in the new virtual machine?

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If you plan to install from installation CDs, be sure to have the CDs available.

If you plan to use a PXE installation server, be sure to enable networking when you create the virtual machine.

If you plan to install from ISO image files on the network, what is the path to the ISO files?

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Note: Be sure to install VMware Tools in the virtual machine after you finish installing the guest operating system.

What applications do you plan to install in the virtual machine?

If you plan to install from installation CDs, be sure to have the CDs available.

If you plan to install from files on the network, be sure to enable networking when you create the virtual machine and note the paths to the installers below.

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Do you need to run Sysprep in the virtual machine?

If you plan to run Sysprep from a CD, be sure to have the CD available.

If you plan to run Sysprep from the network, be sure to enable networking when you create the virtual machine and note the path to Sysprep below.

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Do you want to take the typical or custom path through the New Virtual Machine Wizard?

The typical path lets you specify

• The guest operating system
• The virtual machine name and the location of the virtual machine's files
• The network connection type
• Disk size
• Allocation of space for the disk
• Splitting the disk into 2GB files

The custom path lets you specify

• The guest operating system
• The virtual machine name and the location of the virtual machine's files
• The network connection type
• A location for the virtual disk files that is different from the location for the other virtual machine files
• The use of an IDE virtual disk for a guest operating system that would have a SCSI virtual disk by default
• The use of memory options different from the default

What's the name for this virtual machine?

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What's the path to the location where you plan to store this virtual machine?

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Be sure you have enough free space at that location to store the files. If you are following the custom path, you have an option at a later stage in the wizard to specify a separate location for the virtual disk files.

Custom path only: How much memory should the virtual machine use?

What kind of networking do you want to use in this virtual machine?

If the virtual machine will run on a host computer that is on a network and a separate IP address will be available for the virtual machine (or the virtual machine can get one automatically from a DHCP server), use bridged networking. This choice may be appropriate if the virtual machine will run on a corporate network.

If the virtual machine will need to share an IP address with the host computer, use network address translation (NAT). This choice may be the best one if the virtual machine will run on a home computer.

Custom path only: What type of virtual SCSI adapter do you want to use in the virtual machine? The default for your guest operating system is selected by the wizard. The LSI Logic adapter has improved performance, but some guest operating systems do not have drivers for this adapter.

Custom path only: What kind of disk do you want to use in the virtual machine?

This is the best selection in most cases.

If you want to reuse an existing virtual disk, select this option. You may want to select this option if you are creating a virtual machine with the same operating system and applications as one you created before but you want to apply different policies. In most cases, if you want to reuse an existing virtual disk, it is better to add the existing virtual machine to the project.

Custom path only: What disk type do you want to use? The wizard recommends a selection based on the guest operating system.

How big should the virtual disk be?

You can set a size between 0.1GB and 256GB for a SCSI virtual disk or 128GB for an IDE virtual disk. The default is 4GB.

What other selections should be made on the panel for configuring the virtual disk?

Allocating all the space at the time you create the virtual disk gives somewhat better performance, but it requires as much disk space as the size you specify for the virtual disk. It makes the distribution package for your project larger — possibly much larger. However, it ensures that your users have enough disk space set aside for the virtual machine and do not run out of space unexpectedly.

You should split the virtual disk if it may be stored on a FAT32 file system.

Note: Because the Microsoft installer cannot install files larger than about 4.3GB, you should also split the virtual disk if the disk is larger than 4GB.

Custom path only: Where do you want to store the virtual disk's files?

By default, the virtual disk files are stored in the same directory as the virtual machine's other files — for example, the configuration file. If you plan to store the virtual disk files in a different location, note the path below.

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Custom path only: Do you need to specify a particular IDE or SCSI device node to be used by the virtual disk?

In most cases, you should accept the default. If you need to specify the device node, make a note of it below.

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