VM Portability?

[UT123]

If a P2V is stored on an external drive, can it be run on 2 different computer's with the same version of VMWare workstation? I may want to bring a Virtual machine home from time to time and was curious to know if windows would see it as a changed machine and need reactivation again? Or would it be fine since the 2 computer's are running the same version of Workstation?

Are virtual machine's portable in that way easily and without deactivating?

[vmroyale · Accepted solution]

>can it be run on 2 different computer's

>windows would see it as a changed machine and need reactivation again?

You answered your own question really.

>Or would it be fine since the 2 computer's are running the same version of Workstation?

The branding or versioning of the type 2 (hosted) hypervisor does not matter in this case. The Windows VM will see differences in the these two different computers.

Are virtual machine's portable in that way easily and without deactivating?

In this case, they are not. If licensing and activation are not involved, then yes VMs are generally very portable.

[UT123]

Thanks for the info.

So VM's can't be shared due to the changes in each computer's running version of VMware workstation, as I understand it correct?

That is too bad, since I sometimes would like to bring a virtual machine back and forth, even with the virtual machine having its own valid serial.

Is that where the "I Moved It" or "I Copied It" comes into play? I am guessing the system see's changes, and needs to adjust to its own settings.

[RDPetruska]

If the only difference between the two computers is the CPU, and you "move" the VM (rather than "copy" it in that prompt), then it should not trigger a re-activation.

[UT123]

I guess I am going to give it a try and see what happens. Thanks for the feedback so far.

Another question, If you take a Virtual Machine's files and move them on the same computer to a new folder, it triggers the "I moved it" "I copied it" notice during startup. If clicking "I Moved It" should nothing change and it should just just fine without re-activation? I am thinking it will be fine, and the "I Moved It" is to adjust where the file changes are being saved and the new location is being added to the configurations. Can someone confirm?

[RDPetruska]

Correct.