enable remote access to my machines

[scott4567]

First I was trying to allow VNC connectons but I do not know how to accomplish this.

But Mainly I want to know how to access my virtual machines running somewhere else with on vmware workstation or vmware esxi.

I would like to access them using vcenter or workstation 8.

where do i find more info from how to accomplish this?

Access Anytime, Anywhere

VMware Workstation provides a seamless way to access all of  the virtual machines you need, regardless of where they are running.    Connect to Server enables remote connections to virtual machines running  on VMware Workstation, VMware vSphere, and VMware vCenter.  Now you can  work with local and server hosted virtual machines side by side within  the same interface.  You are no longer constrained by the power of your  PC to run multiple virtual machines at the same time.

[scott4567]

Also

has anyone been able to access a virtual machine from a smart phone?

[scott4567]

what is the ip number i am supposed to be using with vcenter to access my machines

esxi tell you exactly what ip to use

my win 7 machine does not

[Dave_Mishchenko]

Could you clarify what you've deployed?  In a typical environment you can enable RDP or VNC in the virtual machines themselves and thus not rely on vCenter or ESXi for console access.

If you don't want to do that,  then select the VM in the vSphere client, right click and select Open Console.  That'll grant you console access.  While that connection does use VNC,  it's not a direct VNC connection so you can't just point a VNC connection and have it work.   You can edit the configuration files for the VMs on ESXi to allow direct VNC connections, but I would rank this as the least desirable option of the 3 I have described.

[scott4567]

Aloha

I have multiple deployments.

but more important then what I have is what I should have.

as I mentioned I use both esxi and vmware workstation 8 to run virtual machines.

not sure what other details you need.

I want to use the best method to access and use the machine like It was the local computer. I want good video quality and responsive mouse.

how should I set it up?

[sheisler]

The best method, based on what you described, is probably RDP (Remote Desktop).  You can enable this on each virtual machine.  If you are accessing the virtual machine on a local network and have DNS properly deployed through Active Directory, you can access the machine by name from another Windows workstation using the "Remote Desktop Connection" (Start-All programs-accessories).  If you do not have DNS deployed, you can static-set the IP addresses and manually manage the IP addresses of each Virtual Machine.  You must enable Remote Desktop on each virtual machine by right-clicking on "My Computer" (or Computer if Win7/Vista) and going to properties.  There is a REMOTE tab that will allow you to enable it.  You must add the users (or user groups) to be allowed in order for your remote "client" computers to sign in.  If they are a member of the domain, make sure that you allow their Domain account.  If the virtual machine is not a member of a domain, you must create a local account for the "client" to sign in with and then grant that account Remote Desktop access.  Once you have done this, go to the "client" machine and launch the Remote Desktop Connection client and connect (either by name or by IP address) and sign in.   RDP is going to provide the best overall user experience, much better than VNC (I like VNC but it's not as responsive as RDP). 

Hope that helps.

[scott4567]

ok

can you tell me at all what this new remote access feature they are talking about in the quote I pasted in the first post?

[Dave_Mishchenko]

With Workstation you can manage and work with VMs running on ESXi - http://www.vm-help.com/esx50/Managing_ESXi_with_VMware_Workstation.php.

[scott4567]

can you tell me more about how to do this.

i am taking a class now for esxi.

if workstation can control my esxi vm's then what do I need vcenter for?

p.s. is it my imagination or do my workstation 8 machines run better on server 2008 then win 7?