No Lockout in Workstation 7, how can I protect the snapshot ? (Allow the people to restore not the snapshot, but not create)

[Reaperhk]

Hello, I am helping my university to setup the vmware workstation for the lab use.

In the previous version, there is an administrative lockout which can be used to protect the parameters and the snapshot.

I am trying the Workstation 7, but that feature has been removed. I have done some search in this discuss forum, the vmware said that it conflict with the new feature, so they have removed the lockout.

My question is:

If I want to create a Vmware image, I want anyone can restore the snapshot I have created if necessary but they are not allowed to create a new snapshot (or delete a snapshot)

How should I do the setting?

Or should I just stick to vmware 6.5 and don't upgrade workstation?

[continuum]

try the ACE features - they should allow similar functions - or stick with 6.5.*

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VMX-parameters- VMware-liveCD - VM-Sickbay

[Reaperhk]

thanks for that. Which part of ACE should I look at? (I did not use ACE in past)

[continuum]

create VM and then click "enable ACE" features - you will surely need some practice to acchieve the results of the dropped "lockout" feature

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VMX-parameters- VMware-liveCD - VM-Sickbay

[admin]

Could you describe your use case (why you don't want to allow taking new snapshots, when do you want people to revert (at arbitrary times, only when shutting down the VM) and how frequently (all the time, rarely))?

[Reaperhk]

I need to help the school to re-develop computer OS / software for the lab.

In past, they give the admin right to the student to install the software to achive the lab, but there is some problem, for example, spyware, virus, porn website as home page, student changes the setting so the computer always need to be re-image

They want to the host machine with the basic usage, all the people need to use the VMWare for the lab work.

In the VMWare Guest OS, they will have the admin right.

Our idea is , the student can do whateverer they want,

but when they discover they have done somethings wrong or when the other student comes and want to have a flash image, they can just press the "reservse " button to back to the snapshot we created. (If they think that is necessary, they can reservse the snapshot, otherwise, they can just keep on using it)

In order to protect the snapshot we created and make sure everyone press the "reservse" button will have the same "image", we need to lockout the snapshot.

There will be different Guest OS in the system for different courses.

Yes, I know there is an alternative solution is , everytimes the host os bootup, it overwrites the current VMWare file by a "clean" file, but if the power is down or other accidence, the student cannot get the file back. By the reservse button, at least, if no one press the button, they still have chance to do so.

Moreover, we don't want the students change the setting of the vmware, so that's why we also need the lockout feature.

Thanks for your help