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townsbg
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Run workstation in the background

I've converted a broken server into a virtual machine. Now I want to run the virtual machine in the background without having to be logged in on the host OS. How can I do that? I found the option to run in the background but if I log out of the host the virtual machine goes into hibernation. How do I stop that? I am running on workstation 12 on 2012 r2.

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dariusd
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You probably want to try out Shared VMs, which will allow the virtual machine to be managed by a service which is always running – even when no-one is logged in to the host OS console.  You should be able to move your existing VM to a Shared VM.  Then you can set up AutoStart for the VM​ to automatically power-on the VMs when the host OS starts up.

Hope this helps!

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Darius

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dariusd
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You probably want to try out Shared VMs, which will allow the virtual machine to be managed by a service which is always running – even when no-one is logged in to the host OS console.  You should be able to move your existing VM to a Shared VM.  Then you can set up AutoStart for the VM​ to automatically power-on the VMs when the host OS starts up.

Hope this helps!

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Darius

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townsbg
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dariusd I don't need to access the VMs remotely. I only need to be able to access the processes remotely. I'm not understanding that KB. How do I get the VM to autostart and run in the background without being logged in on the host system.

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RDPetruska
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You configure the VM to be a shared one.

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townsbg
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Well I was able to figure out how to share however now I can't connect to sharepoint server which is the reason why I converted it. I am receiving the error Cannot connect to the configuration database. It was working before the share. I removed the sharing and disabled server sharing and I am still getting that error message. I even tried locally on the VM and I am still getting that error message. Any ideas what the sharing would have changed?

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townsbg
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I remembered that I almost deleted a couple of the folders for sharepoint and sql server earlier today while clearing off space. Apparently I did delete most of the contents so I'm going to have to convert the hard drive again.

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dariusd
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Oops!  Hopefully you can repeat the hard drive conversion without too much hassle.

Regarding the use of Shared VMs: Think of it more as "VMs which are not associated with a particular user logged-in at the console"...  Such VMs have two interesting properties... One is that they run – and can provide their own network services – when no-one is logged in (which is what you want), and the other is that the VMs can be managed (power-on/power-off, access to console, either locally or remote over the network) by users with appropriate credentials (which gives the feature the name "shared VMs"... "VMs which are not associated with a particular user" is not a good marketing name Smiley Wink).

If you don't need remote access to the VM, you can try configuring a host firewall to block access to the remote VM service on port 443, but make sure that your own workstation can still access the shared VM service on port 443 or Workstation will not be able to manage that VM.

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Darius

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townsbg
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It's working however I'm noticing that I can't compact the drive, use shared folders, or even paste in from clipboard on the shared VM. Is this normal and is there a way around that?

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dariusd
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There are a few limitations to Shared VMs.  I don't know them off the top of my head (and I can't immediately locate the relevant documentation either!), but your list all seems like the sort of stuff that could end up limited in a Shared VM setup.

You may be able to work around some of the limitations: Windows File and Print sharing between the guest and the host can substitute for Shared Folders, and I would expect that the Remote Desktop service built into Windows would be able to supply clipboard sync and drag-and-drop.  Compacting the virtual disk will probably need to be performed manually from the command-line while the VM is powered down.

Thanks,

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Darius

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wila
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Hi,

Limitations of Shared VMs are here:

http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2005585

snippet:

When you share a virtual machine, you lose these features:

  • Unity
  • Shared Folders
  • AutoProtect
  • drag and drop
  • copy and paste
  • Thin Print
  • Ability to connect/redirect USB devices from the host to the virtual machine not available with Workstation 8.x
  • 3D Acceleration

Not being able to compact the disk surprises me. Do you mean that it is not enabled in the UI?

Perhaps the vmware tools option still works?

Shrink guest on hosted platform - VI-Toolkit

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Wil

| Author of Vimalin. The virtual machine Backup app for VMware Fusion, VMware Workstation and Player |
| More info at vimalin.com | Twitter @wilva