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Windows Server 2003 Installation Guidelines

You can install Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition, Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition and Windows Server 2003 Web Edition in a virtual machine using the corresponding Windows Server 2003 distribution CD.

Note: Some Microsoft Windows Server 2003 OEM disks included with new computers are customized for those computers and include device drivers and other utilities specific to the hardware system. Even if you can install this Windows Server 2003 operating system on your actual computer, you may not be able to install it in a GSX Server virtual machine. You may need to purchase a new copy of Windows to install in a virtual machine.

Note: To use SCSI disks in a Windows Server 2003 virtual machine, you need a special SCSI driver available from the download section of the VMware Web site at www.vmware.com/download.Follow the instructions on the Web site to use the driver with a fresh installation of Windows Server 2003. If you have a virtual machine with a SCSI virtual disk and a Windows 9x, Windows Me, Windows NT or Windows 2000 guest operating system and want to upgrade it to Windows Server 2003, install the new SCSI driver before upgrading the operating system.

Installation Steps

If you want to run Windows Server 2003 in a GSX Server virtual machine, be sure you have a full installation CD for the operating system.

Before installing the operating system, be sure that you have already created a new virtual machine and configured it using the New Virtual Machine Wizard (on Windows hosts) or Configuration Wizard (on Linux hosts).

Installing the Guest Operating System

Before starting the installation, use the GSX Server Configuration Editor to verify the virtual machine's devices are set up as you expect. For example, if you would like networking software to be installed during the Windows Server 2003 installation, be sure the virtual machine's Ethernet adapter is configured and enabled. VMware also recommends that you disable the screen saver on the host system before starting the installation process.
Insert the Windows Server 2003 installation CD in the CD-ROM drive on your GSX Server host.
Power on the virtual machine to start installing Windows Server 2003.
Follow the installation steps as you would for a physical machine.

VMware Tools

Be sure to install VMware Tools in your guest operating system. For details, see Installing VMware Tools.

Enabling Sound in a Windows Server 2003 Guest

The GSX Server sound device is disabled by default and must be enabled with the Configuration Editor (Settings > Configuration Editor) after the operating system has been installed. To set up the virtual machine to play sound, see Configuring Sound in GSX Server.

In addition, Windows Server 2003 does not automatically detect and install drivers for ISA sound cards, such as the Creative Labs Sound Blaster emulated in a virtual machine. For details on installing the driver for the virtual machine's sound card, see Sound in a Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 Guest.

Enabling Networking After Installing Windows Server 2003

If networking was disabled at the time you installed your Windows Server 2003 guest operating system, you can enable it after the operating system has been installed. For more information, see Adding and Modifying Virtual Network Adapters.

Choosing the Network Driver for Your Virtual Machine

Two networking drivers are available for Windows Server 2003 guest operating systems: the vlance driver, that is available for all virtual machines and is installed automatically, and the vmxnet driver, which is available only for Windows Server 2003, Windows XP and Windows 2000 virtual machines. The vmxnet driver provides better networking performance. The difference in networking performance is most noticeable if the virtual machine is connected to a Gigabit Ethernet card.

To install the vmxnet driver, see Choosing the Network Driver for Windows Server 2003, Windows XP and Windows 2000 Guest Operating Systems.

Known Issues

The Microsoft Windows Server 2003 product activation feature creates a numerical key based on the virtual hardware in the virtual machine where it is installed. Changes in the configuration of the virtual machine may require you to reactivate the operating system. There are some steps you can take to minimize the number of significant changes.
- Set the final memory size for your virtual machine before you activate Windows Server 2003. When you cross certain thresholds — approximately 32MB, 64MB, 128MB, 256MB, 512MB and 1GB — the product activation feature sees the changes as significant.
  Note: The size reported to the Windows product activation feature is slightly less than the actual amount configured for the virtual machine. For example, 128MB is interpreted as falling in the 64MB-127MB range.
- Install VMware Tools before you activate Windows Server 2003. When the SVGA driver in the VMware Tools package is installed, it activates features in the virtual graphics adapter that make it appear to Windows Server 2003 as a new graphics adapter.
- If you want to experiment with any other aspects of the virtual machine configuration — for example, you want to add more virtual disks — do so before activating Windows Server 2003. Keep in mind that you have 30 days for experimentation before you have to activate the operating system.
  For more details on Windows Server 2003 product activation, see the Microsoft Web site.
On a Linux host with an XFree86 3.x X server, it is best not to run a screen saver in the guest operating system. Guest screen savers that demand a lot of processing power can cause the X server on the host to freeze.
The hibernation feature is not supported in this release of GSX Server. Instead of using the guest operating system's hibernate feature, suspend the virtual machine by clicking Suspend on the console toolbar.
In order to install and run a checked (debug) build of Windows Server 2003 in a virtual machine, you must first edit the virtual machine's configuration file (.vmx on Windows hosts, .cfg on Linux hosts). Add the following line:
uhci.forceHaltBit = TRUE
Windows Server 2003 disables hardware acceleration by default. This slows down graphics performance and mouse responsiveness in the guest operating system.

To enable hardware acceleration in a Windows Server 2003 guest, open the Control Panel, then open the Display Properties control panel. On the Settings tab, click Advanced. On the Troubleshoot tab, drag the Hardware acceleration slider all the way to Full.

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