How to add VMX properties to a VM before it starts

[cfor]

I need to change and add some settings in a VMX file before vcloud starts a server.

I am looking for a solution as we need to override the default setup of the VMX files to preform actions that we can do via other methods.

http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/Timekeeping-In-VirtualMachines.pdf

This document shows how to modify time settings using the VMX file as these are some of the settings we are looking to change.

I attempted to change the file via a filesystem re-write but it did not work.

Steps used:

     Instantaiate vApp

     Modify the VMX files for the VM's

     Start the VM

     ISSUE hit: the VMX file was recreated by vCloud during the start operation.

Anyone have ideas?

Thanks

[MichaelYa]

I'm facing very similar issue (see http://communities.vmware.com/thread/437212) and am exploring so many directions without much success.

One of the directions I'm looking at is setting up a "vCloud Connection" between my private vSphere and the vCloud - this should allow me to move VMs between the two. So in theory, I should be able to set these parameters in my vSphere and then move the VM to the vCloud.

However, even if this will work, this is far to complex to solve my problem