I've built a Windows 7 32 bit VM with all my apps installed and I'm trying to find the best way to prep it for deployment in pools. Should I run sysprep on these or just shut them down?
It depends on what kind of pool you are doing but either way vCenter can handle the sysprep. If it's a linked clone pool you can utilize sysprep or quick prep. Quick prep is faster but doesn't change the sid which shouldn't cause any issues. You can also do sysprep in a linked clone pool but it will take a bit longer to deploy.
If it's a non linked clone pool you can utilize guest customization which will require you to have the sysprep files on the vCenter server.
Hello, Just wanted to mention that Windows 7 schedules some tasks to run by default, such as disk degrag and registry backup. If you are using linked-clones, it is important to disable these tasks. In the view admin guide, you can read all about vm optimization , starting on page 54. Hope this helps. Mike