VMware VirtualCenter 1.0 Support Documentation

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VMware VirtualCenter Requirements

The VirtualCenter client and VirtualCenter management server are both Windows executables that can optionally run in a virtual machine.

The following sections describe additional, component-specific requirements.

VirtualCenter Management Server Requirements

The VirtualCenter management server must have:

Administrator privileges on the installing system to install the VirtualCenter management server. The VirtualCenter management server installation adds VirtualCenter as a Windows service.
Windows 2000 Server, Windows 2000 Advanced Server, Windows XP Professional, or Windows Server 2003 (Web, Standard, and Enterprise).
Minimum 1GB RAM (Recommended 2GB).
Minimum Pentium IV 2.0Ghz processor.
Minimum 1 10/100Mbps NIC (1Gbps NIC recommended).
Windows Script version 5.6 or later. If you do not have this version, VirtualCenter installer automatically updates to Windows Script version 5.6.
Disk space sufficient on the machine to support the VirtualCenter database and the template upload directory.

The VirtualCenter management server may run on the same machine as the VirtualCenter client, or may be installed separately on another Windows system. It can also installed in a virtual machine.

VirtualCenter Client Requirements

The VirtualCenter client must have:

.NET Framework version 1.1. If you do not have this version, VirtualCenter automatically updates to .NET Framework version 1.1.
Windows 2000 (all versions), Windows XP Professional, Windows XP Home Edition, Windows Server 2003, Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, Windows ME, or Windows NT4 (SP6a required).
Minimum 256MB RAM.

The VirtualCenter client can be installed on multiple Windows systems and access the VirtualCenter management server through the network.

VirtualCenter Database Requirements

The VirtualCenter database must have one of the following compatible database formats:

Microsoft Access (default)
You do not need to have a Microsoft Access database installed to use this option. VirtualCenter stores the database in Microsoft Access format.
Microsoft SQL Server 2000
Microsoft SQL Server 7
Oracle 8i

Note: VMware recommends using the Microsoft Access Database only for demonstration environments and proof of concepts. This database is not recommended for production deployments. Rather, for production environments, use either the SQL Server or Oracle database.

VirtualCenter Managed Hosts Requirements

The VirtualCenter registered and managed hosts must be running the following virtualization platform:

VMware ESX Server, version 2.0.1

VirtualCenter Virtual Machine Requirements

In VirtualCenter virtual machines, the guest operating systems must use SCSI hard disks (though CD-ROM drives can be configured as IDE).

VirtualCenter Virtual Machine Guest Operating Systems Requirements

VirtualCenter virtual machines must be installed with one of the following guest operating systems:

Windows 2000 Server
Windows 2000 Advanced Server
Windows XP Professional
Windows Server 2003, Web Edition
Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition
Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition
Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS 3.0
Red Hat Advanced Server 2.1
SUSE LINUX Enterprise Server 8

VirtualCenter Licensing Requirements

There are three elements to VirtualCenter licensing, each of which has a separate set of license keys with a different set of policies.

VirtualCenter management server — Requires one license for each VirtualCenter Server. VirtualCenter Server licenses are perpetual. A license key is requested the first time VirtualCenter client connects to the VirtualCenter management server, not during installation.

VirtualCenter agent licenses — Requires one license that comes in assorted configurations for each registered host. Managed CPU licenses are perpetual. The license configurations are typically in combinations of pairs, for example 2, 4, 8, and 16 CPU licenses. Hosts cannot be partially licensed. For example, you cannot use 4 CPUs worth of licenses on an 8-way system; this configuration requires 8 CPU licenses. Additional licenses can be added through the VirtualCenter client.

Any time you add a host to VirtualCenter, VirtualCenter automatically applies an appropriate number of managed CPU licenses towards that host. The number of licenses applied depends on the number of CPUs on the host.

VMotion CPU licenses — Requires one license for each CPU for each registered host to be VMotion-enabled. VMotion CPU licenses are perpetual. As with the managed CPU licenses, hosts cannot be partially VMotion licensed. For example, an eight CPU server requires eight licenses. Additional licenses can be added through the VirtualCenter client.

Whenever you add a host to VirtualCenter, and there are sufficient VMotion CPU licenses available, VirtualCenter prompts you to VMotion-enable the new host. If you select Yes, VirtualCenter checks that no virtual machines are running on the host. The host is then VMotion-enabled, and the appropriate number of licenses are applied by VirtualCenter.

Whenever you remove a host from VirtualCenter, the VMotion licenses are released. The VMotion licenses must be reapplied when the host is re-registered with VirtualCenter.

VMotion licenses are not intended to be mobile. The only legitimate circumstance under which you should move a license are when you are:

Deprecating and replacing a VMotion-enabled host.
Repurposing a VMotion-enabled host to run services in a new farm.
Exercising a one-time transfer of VMotion licenses.

VirtualCenter VMotion Requirements

If you wish to have VirtualCenter perform a migration with VMotion of your virtual machines, you must also have and activate the VirtualCenter VMotion Module. You must activate each host. Activation requires a specific VMotion license for each host.

In addition, the ESX Server hosts you are planning to migrate between must meet the following requirements. Complete these requirements before you attempt to perform a VMotion migration.

The hosts must share a storage area network (SAN) infrastructure.
Configure all of your ESX Server hosts to use a single Virtual Machine File System (VMFS) volume.
The virtual machine's disks have to be on a VMFS that is accessible by both source and target hosts.
The shared VMFS access mode VMFS setting should be public.
Set the size of the VMFS volume sufficiently large, and spanning enough LUNs, to store all of the virtual disks for your virtual machines.
Ensure that all VMFS volumes on your ESX Server hosts use volume names, and that the virtual machines use the volume names for specifying the virtual disks.
Ensure that the CPUs in the VMotion hosts (CPU0 and CPU1) match, for example are both P4. The vendors for CPU0 and CPU1 must match each other.
The virtual machine configuration file should not reside on a VMFS located on the shared datastore.
VMotion does not currently support the migration of clustered applications, raw or undoable virtual disks. If you have clustered applications, or raw or undoable disks, store the disks on separate VMFS volumes from the virtual machines you plan to migrate using VMotion.
VMotion requires a Gigabit Ethernet network between virtual machines.
VMotion requires the setup of a private, Gigabit Ethernet migration network between all of the VMotion-enabled hosts. When VMotion is enabled on a host, configure a unique network identity object for the host and connect it to the private migration network.
Configure a TCP/IP address on an extra network adapter card (NIC) sufficient to support migration.
The minimum number of NICs is two — one is dedicated to the host and one is dedicated for sharing between the virtual machines and VMotion. The preferred minimum number is three — one is dedicated to the host, one (or more) are dedicated to the virtual machines, and one is dedicated to VMotion activity.

The figure below illustrates the possible NIC configurations that support VirtualCenter. Refer to Abbreviations for a description of abbreviations.

VMotion Network Card Configuration Options

VirtualCenter Template Requirements

Virtual machines to be used as source for VirtualCenter templates must have been created by one of the following virtualization platforms:

Workstation version 4.x
GSX Server version 2.5.x
ESX Server version 2.x

If you have older virtual machines that you plan to include in the VirtualCenter environment, you must upgrade your Workstation, GSX Server, or ESX Server to the supported version level and upgrade the virtual machines to the supported version level. Refer to your Workstation, GSX Server, or ESX Server documentation for additional information.

Note: To be registered with VirtualCenter, the host must be running ESX Server version 2.0.1, though virtual machines can have been created with ESX Server version 2.0, then imported into a host running ESX Server version 2.0.1.

The virtual disks of virtual machines to be used as source for VirtualCenter templates have the following requirements:

Workstation or GSX Server virtual machine's directory path and configuration file must be local to VirtualCenter management server.
The path must refer to a drive letter corresponding to a local file system. Specifically, it cannot be a network share that is mapped as a local drive.
ESX Server virtual machines must be registered with VirtualCenter.
Remove the ESX Server host from VirtualCenter after you have created the template, if needed.
ESX Server golden images can have their configuration file refer to virtual disks with relative paths. Then have the virtual disks reside under the same directory as the configuration file.
Only SCSI virtual disks are allowed. IDE virtual disks cannot be imported as a template.
Note: Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 virtual machines created through Workstation or GSX Server default to IDE disks. Refer to your Workstation or GSX Server documentation for information on creating virtual machines with SCSI disks.

VirtualCenter Guest Operating System Customization Requirements

To use the guest customization wizard, the virtual machine and the guest operating system, Windows or Linux, must meet the requirements listed in the following sections:

Virtual Hardware Requirements for Guest Customization

Guest customization requires that the source virtual machine used to create the clone or templates has the following:

VMware Tools installed.
At least one Network Interface Card (NIC) configured.
When a virtual machine is cloned or used for a template, the new virtual machine has the exact same number and type of NICs. For example, AMD VLance/PcNet versus high-performance VMware vmxnet. This cannot be changed during the deployment and/or guest customization process.
SCSI disks.
The default configuration for VMware Workstation and GSX Server creating a Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 virtual machine is IDE disks. If the source virtual machine was created using VMware Workstation or GSX Server, with Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 guest operating systems, be sure the non-default SCSI disks were specified.
VirtualCenter customization operates on the disk attached to the virtual SCSI node with the lowest address on the SCSI controller with the lowest index. As a result, it is a requirement to make sure that the guest operating system that is being customized resides on a disk attached as SCSI 0:0 node in the virtual machine configuration.
For Windows guest operating systems: Both the active partition (the partition containing boot.ini) and the system partition (the partition containing the system directory, for example \WINNT or \WINDOWS) are on the same virtual disk and attached the SCSI 0:0 virtual SCSI node.
Note: It is not a requirement that active and system partitions be the same partition.
For Linux guests: The virtual disk containing the system partition (the partition containing the /etc. directory) must reside on the SCSI 0:0 node.

Windows Requirements for Guest Customization

Guest customization of a Windows guest operating system can occur if:

The guest operating system is not a primary or backup domain controller.
The clone or template has one of the following Windows versions installed:
Windows 2000 Server or Advanced Server
Windows XP Professional
Windows Server 2003, Web, Standard, or Enterprise Editions
Note: A Windows XP Home operating system guest customization is not supported.
The Microsoft Sysprep tools are installed on the VirtualCenter management server.
Refer to Installing the Microsoft Sysprep Tools for information on installing the Microsoft Sysprep tools.
Microsoft Sysprep tools have certain requirements and impose certain restrictions on the source machine, please refer to the Microsoft Sysprep documentation for additional information.

Linux Requirements for Guest Customization

Guest customization of a Linux guest operating system can occur if:

The clone or template has one of the following Linux versions installed:
Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS 3.0
Red Hat Advanced Server 2.1
SUSE LINUX Enterprise Server 8
The clone or template has a root volume formatted with ext2 or ext3 file system.
Note: A default installation of SUSE LINUX Enterprise Server 8.0 formats the disk using the ReiserFS file system, which is not supported. If you would like to customize your SUSE virtual machines, be sure to format the disk using an ext2 or ext3 file system during the installation of the guest operating system.
The VMware Open Source Components installed on the VirtualCenter management server.
Refer to Installing the VMware Open Source Components for additional information.

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