How to Configure ESX VM Size
- 05 Jun 2024
- 6 Minutes to read
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How to Configure ESX VM Size
- Updated on 05 Jun 2024
- 6 Minutes to read
- Print
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This document details how ESX Virtual Machines (VMs) are created and configured within Skillable Studio as well as best practices to provide the optimal user experience.
Best Practices for Configuring ESX Virtual Machines
Check VMWare docs to make sure hardware types and hardware version are supported for the VMs OS. Using incorrect or unsupported options can limit VM functionality.
Do not enable Nested Virtualization if it is not required.
Do not provide a static MAC address if the VM will be connected to a Public IP network. This will cause networking to fail.
A DVD ROM Drive is required to use the āLoad Filesā feature in the Resources tab
Virtual Machines utilizing the āSet Initial Timeā feature should not be connected to the Internet. It may be necessary to disable the automatic time sync setting in the Virtual Machine depending on the Operating System.
Make sure the correct Operating System is specified on the Basic Information tab. An incorrect value can cause boot issues.
Make sure either VMWare Tools or open-vm-tools are installed and running to utilize features such as TypeText, Automated Activities, and Dynamic Screen Reszing.
Before creating a Virtual Machine, check the hardware requirements (vCPUs, RAM) for the Operating System that will be running on it and make sure the parameters on the Virtual Machine Profile page meet or exceed these requirements.
For domain joined VMs, make sure the domain identifier is included in the Username parameter on the Basic Information tab. Leaving this identifier off will cause LCAs and Automated Activities to fail and could prevent users from logging in to the VM.
Supported Operating Systems
For information on which operating systems are supported by ESX, select below:
Create a Virtual Machine Profile
To create a Virtual Machine profile, select Create Virtual Machine profile from the Skillable Studio site administration page.
Basic Information
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Name | The display name of the VM. |
| Description | Used to provide more information about the VM profile. |
| Series | The lab series that VM profile will be available to. |
| Organization | : The organization that the VM profile will be available to. |
| Platform | Select the virtualization platform that the VM profile will use. Available platforms include: Hyper-V, ESX, Azure and AWS. Each platform will have different options available. The next set of options on the basic information tab are different, based on the Platform used. This document will provide details for selecting ESX. |
| Size | Select the size of the VM. These size profiles will set the amount of RAM, number of processors, and will govern the number of NICs allowed to be configured on the machine. Licensing considerations when using ESX; traditional ESX allows the control of physical CPU sockets and number of CPU cores allocated evenly to each socket. With some software products licensed is based on physical CPU sockets therefore, it is important to know how Skillable allocates the physical CPU sockets on ESX hosts. If you select a virtual machine size that uses 24 or less vCPU cores the virtual machine will run on a single physical CPU socket. If a virtual machine size with more than 24 vCPUs is selected, then the vCPUs will be split evenly across two physical CPU sockets. |
| Hardware Version | Select the hardware version that the VM will use. Each hardware version allows for more features to be available to the guest operating system. Some features may not be available on older hardware versions, such as nested virtualization. For learn more about ESX hardware features, read ESX documentation on hardware features. |
| Operating System | Select the operating system that the VM will use. |
| Username | Enter a username for the VM. |
| Password | Enter a password for the VM. |
| Video RAM | Select the amount of video RAM the VM will use. Video RAM is specified in MB. |
| Screen Width | Enter the screen width that the VM will use, measured in pixels. |
| Screen Height | Enter the screen height that the VM will use, measured in pixels. |
| Enabled | Check to enable the VM profile for use in lab profiles. |
| Host Integration Enabled | This enables additional features on the VM, depending on if VMTools is installed on the VM. VMTools is installed on the VM in a launched lab, from the DVD drive drop-down menu on the Resources tab of the lab. VMTools must be added to the lab profile on the Removeable Media tab, for it to be available in the lab. - With VMTools installed it will enable: Improved visual performance of the VM, improved mouse performance, graceful shutdown and the ability to pixel-perfect resize the VM to fit the lab window. - Without VMTools installed it will enable time synchronization with host. |
| Use Enhanced Session Mode | Enables Enhanced Session Mode. |
| Enable Dynamic Screen Resizing | 2 vCPU, 2048MB RAM, 32MB video RAM recommended. |
| Enable Nested Virtualization | Allows the VM profile to perform nested virtualization and run another VM on the VM. |
| Enable 3D Video | Allows 3D video to be viewed on the VM. 64MB video RAM recommended. |
| Use EFI | Enables Extensible Firmware Interface on the VM. This is most often used when it is necessary for EFI system partition is required for a VM's bootload to function. |
| Enable Disk UUID | Assigns a unique identifier to disks attached to the VM. |
Network Adapters
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Add Network Adapter | Select to add a network adapter, and configure adapter settings. |
| Type | Specifies the VMWare Network Adapter Type. |
| Specify ethernet (MAC) address | Allows the MAC address to be set to a unique value, or generate a random MAC address. |
Hard Disks
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Add Hard Disk | Select to add a virtual hard disk for the VM to use. A new virtual hard disk (VMDK) can be created, or an existing VMDK can be used. |
Disk Controllers
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Add Disk Controller | Allows a Disk Controller to be added to the VM profile. Multiple Disk Controllers are supported. The first Disk Controller has an ID of 0, and subsequent Disk Controllers added to the VM profile will have an ID incremented by 1. |
| Type | Specifies the VMWare Disk Controller Type. |
DVD ROM Drives
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Add DVD-ROM Drive | Select to add a DVD-ROM drive for the VM to use and configure it's channel. |
| Available channels include | - Primary 0 - Primary 1 - Secondary 0 - Secondary 1 |
Advanced
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| UUID | this controls the UUID set within the virtual machine's configuration. The UUID is a 128-bit integer. The 16 bytes of this value are separated by spaces, except for a dash between the eighth and ninth hexadecimal pairs. Setting a custom UUID is optional and under normal circumstances, this does not need to be used and can be left blank. An example UUID looks like this: 00 11 22 33 44 55 66 77-88 99 aa bb cc dd ee ff. For more information about setting a custom UUID, read - Custom UUID Documentation. |
| Allow Updates in Lab Client | This must be enabled for differencing disk capture or start states on the VM, in a lab. |
| Connect via Remote Desktop Connection (external to lab client) | allows the VM to be connected to by an RDP connection. This is used in conjunction with the Has Virtual Machines Pool checkbox on the Virtual Machines tab of a lab profile. A VM profile is required for each concurrent user, otherwise each user will receive the same RDP file and only 1 user will be able to connect to the VM at a time. |
Internal Notes
This area is used to record notes, or additional information about the VM. This is useful if the VM has specific configurations, or if there are multiple users/authors that use the VM.
Reference Materials
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