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Hi Everyone,
I have been working to try to get my VMWare View environment rolling for a week now off and on. Let me just say there is no clear 'road map' in any of the documentation I have seen so far that says... do this first, then do this, then do this. Here is my environment:
I have one server designated to be my primary server on the LAN. This will house all virtual machines and infrastructure to configure, run and provision them. In the DMZ I will be placing a server to allow the web front end to connect to the virtual desktops on the LAN server.
Question is: What is the proper way to get this configuration going? Here is where I am so far... I have installed ESXi on the LAN server and that went fine. On that server I have stood up a Virtual Center Server (not sure I need this) and a View Connection Server. Now I believe I need to configure my Virtual Desktop PCs but when I try to install a Windows XP client onto one of the Virtual instances I create, it can't see the virtual hard disk. Also, from reading the documentation it appears I need to build a 'model' which the provisioning can then rebuild as needed...
What my overall question is, what documentation resources can someone point me towards to build this type of environment that is clearly illustrated, with potential examples and steps, or reference back to the correct manuals to find the steps... this has gotten very complicated and didn't seem so in the evaluation.
Thanks in advance!
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A few things:
1. You will need vCenter to manage VMs that are created on there and to leverage the templates that it creates (what you call a "model"; sometimes also referred to as a "gold master").
2. Ensure the sysprep tools are install in the right directory on the vCenter (c:\docs and settings\all users\VMware\VirtualCenter\Sysprep\xp). You can download the sysprep cab file from Microsoft and put the files in the cab in that location
3. XP doesn't see SCSI devices. You can download the driver from here: http://www.vmware.com/download/ws/drivers_tools.html You can also learn about how to install OSes here: http://www.vmware.com/pdf/GuestOS_guide.pdf
You should read the VMware View Admin guide (http://www.vmware.com/pdf/viewmanager3_admin_guide.pdf) for further details on how to setup the environment. No two environments will be exactly the same but this should indentify the important steps. You may also want to consider attending a VMware View: Install, Config, Manage class (offered online and in-class). Although I'm biased since I teach those.
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You mention vCenter. I built a Virtual Machine and loaded Windows Server 2003 onto it. Installed what I believed to be vCenter on it... also set up a license server on it. Imported the license file. One problem is that the ESXi server still shows as Evaluation mode. Shouldn't it talk to the license server at this point, since it is running on it? Or is there something I'm missing?
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Have you imported your ESXi server into vCenter? If yes, then check under configuration/license server and see if the host has the correct information. If no, import into vCenter and it should pick up the license information.
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Also you mention the Admin guide... I'm on page 52... working through the setup... these are the problems I'm encountering.
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you need to change your ESX(i) server from evaluation to licensed. You can do this, but going to the configuration tab of the ESX(i) Host, then Licensed Features, click on edit under License source. type in FQDN or IP of your vCenter Server.
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No offense, but that doesn't help me. I can't even see an administration page or anything on vCenter server, the only pages I can get up are Tomcat style pages.
There is no vCenter 'control panel' or application that I can see... back to the books to see if I can figure out what you are referring to.
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This answer (licensed features in ESX Configuration Tab) solved the Evaluation license concern.
The others... well, looks like a lot of additional reading. Is there a 'clearinghouse' style page for all of these new manuals I didn't know existed on the VMWare pages somewhere?
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if you haven't seen it, the main documentation page for VMware View is
http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/view_pubs.html
A good guide to start with is the Administration Guide