VMware GSX Server 2.5.2

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Adding Raw Disks to a Virtual Machine

Windows Host

Use the Configuration Editor (Settings > Configuration Editor) to add a new raw disk to your virtual machine. The virtual machine should be powered off before you begin. If it is not, shut down the guest operating system normally, then click Power Off on the console toolbar.

Caution: Raw disks are an advanced feature and should be configured only by expert users.

Open the Configuration Editor (Settings > Configuration Editor) and click Add. The Add Hardware Wizard guides you through the steps to create your virtual disk.
Click Hard Disk, then click Next.
Select Use a physical disk, then click Next.
Choose the physical hard disk to use from the drop-down list. Click Next.
Set the virtual machine's access rights for each partition on the physical hard disk.
- Select Hide if the virtual machine should not see the partition.
- Select Read to give the virtual machine read-only access to the partition.
- Select Write to give the virtual machine read/write access to the partition.
Click Next.
Accept the default filename and location for the file that stores access information for this raw disk — or change it, if you want to use a different name or location. To find a different directory, click Browse.

When you have set the filename and location you want to use and made any selections you want to make on the advanced settings screen, click Finish.
The wizard configures the new raw disk. If the partitions used on the raw disk are not formatted for your guest operating system, use the guest operating system's tools to format them.

The new raw disk is set up in persistent mode. To change to nonpersistent or undoable mode, use the Configuration Editor. Click the entry for the new raw disk, then select the mode you want.

Linux Host

Caution: Raw disks are an advanced feature and should be configured only by expert users.

Open the Configuration Editor (Settings > Configuration Editor). If you want to add a SCSI raw disk, click the + sign beside SCSI Devices. If you want to add an IDE raw disk, click the + sign beside IDE Drives.
Click a device that is shown as Not Installed.
Choose Raw Disk from the Device Type drop-down list.
Keep the default mode of Persistent or use the drop-down list to change the setting to Undoable or Nonpersistent.
Type the name for the file that will store access information for this raw disk. To create it in a different directory, type the full path name or click Choose to navigate to the directory you want to use.
If you are connecting to a virtual machine on a Linux host and you want to disable write caching on this disk, select Disable write caching.
When write caching is enabled, there is a delay between the time a program saves data and the time that data is actually written to disk. This improves performance. But the delay in writing data to disk adds some risk of data loss. Thus if data integrity is more important than performance, you may want to disable write caching.
Click Create to create the file for your new raw disk.
A dialog box prompts you for the name of the device that holds the partition you want to use as a raw disk. Enter the path to the device — for example
/dev/hdb — then click OK.
A dialog box prompts you to set access permissions for the partitions on the device you have selected.
- Select No Access if the virtual machine should not see the partition.
- Select Read Only to give the virtual machine read-only access to the partition.
- Select Read/Write to give the virtual machine read/write access to the partition.
  Click Save to save your selections and close the dialog box.
Click Install to install the new raw disk in your virtual machine.
Click OK to save the configuration and close the Configuration Editor.
If the partitions used on the raw disk are not formatted for your guest operating system, use the guest operating system's tools to format them.

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