Are you ready to take your computer experience to the next level and try virtualization? VMware Workstation 9 is a popular software that enables users to create virtual machines or simulated computers within their existing operating system.
With this powerful tool at your fingertips, you can install and run multiple operating systems on the same physical machine without needing separate hardware!
This blog post will guide you through creating a virtual machine in VMware Workstation 9.
Whether you’re looking for a way to streamline your work processes, test new software, or experiment with different configurations – we’ve got everything covered here. Let’s get started!
Contents
Introduction to VMware Workstation 9
Virtual machines are becoming more and more popular as they offer a great deal of flexibility and functionality. VMware Workstation 9 is a powerful virtual machine software that lets you create, configure, and run multiple virtual machines on your computer. This article will show you how to create a virtual machine in VMware Workstation 9.
What Is a Virtual Machine
When most people think of a Virtual Machine (VM), they think of a software program allowing them to run another operating system inside their current one.
This is true, but there is much more to a VM than that. A VM is a computer file containing all the data for a virtual machine, including the operating system, applications, and data.
VMs are created using a hypervisor, software that allows you to create and run VMs on a physical computer. The most common type of hypervisor is called a Type 1 or bare-metal hypervisor.
Type 1 hypervisors are usually found in data centers and run directly on the computer’s hardware. They are also the most expensive and require special training to use.
Type 2 or hosted hypervisors are much less expensive and can be installed on almost any computer. The most popular Type 2 hypervisor is VMware Workstation Player, which we will use in this guide. VMware Workstation Player is free and can be downloaded from the VMware website.
How to Create a Virtual Machine in VMware Workstation 9
Assuming you have VMware Workstation installed and opened, follow these steps to create a new virtual machine:
- Select “Create a New Virtual Machine” from the File menu.
- Choose whether you want to install the operating system from scratch or use an existing installation. If you choose the latter, skip stepping 6.
- Choose the type of operating system you want to install.
- Select the version of the operating system you want to install.
- Enter a name for the virtual machine and choose where you want to store it on your hard drive.
- Allocate memory for the virtual machine. The recommended size is 512MB, but it depends on what you will use the virtual machine for.
- Choose whether you want to create a single disk or split your disk into multiple files. We recommend selecting split into multiple files since it’s more flexible if you need to move the VM later on down the road.
- Select how much disk space you want to allocate for this VM; 10GB is usually plenty unless you plan on storing a lot of data in it.
- Click “Finish,” and VMware Workstation will create your new VM!
Preparing for Installation
You need to do a few things before you can install VMware Workstation on your computer. First, ensure your computer’s CPU meets the minimum requirements for VMware Workstation.
You can find these requirements on the VMware website. Second, create a new directory on your hard drive where you will install VMware Workstation. This can be done through Windows Explorer or Mac Finder.
Third, download the VMware Workstation installer from the website and save it to the new directory you created. Fourth, unzip the installer if it is in a zipped file format. Fifth, double-click on the installer to begin the installation process.
Installing a Guest Operating System
Installing a guest operating system in VMware Workstation takes only a few minutes. You can install it from an ISO file or the VMware Tools CD image. If you have access to a physical disc drive, you can install it from a physical disc.
To install from an ISO file:
- Download the ISO file for the guest operating system you want to install.
- In VMware Workstation, select your virtual machine in the left pane, then click the “Edit virtual machine settings” icon in the toolbar.
- Select the “CD/DVD drive 1” device in the “Hardware” tab, and click the “Browse…” button.
- Navigate to the location of your ISO file, select it, and click “Open.”
- In the “CD/DVD drive 1” settings window, make sure that the “Connect at power on” option is selected, then click “OK.”
- Start your virtual machine. The guest operating system installation process should begin automatically. If it doesn’t, you can press any key when prompted to boot from CD/DVD.
Configuring Settings for the Guest Operating System
VMware Workstation provides several options that can be configured to adjust the behavior of the guest operating system. These options are in the “Virtual Machine Settings” dialog, accessible from the “VM” menu.
Among other things, these options allow you to specify the amount of memory allocated to the guest operating system, choose which networking adapter type is used, and select which hard disk drives are exposed to the guest operating system.
This section will look at some of the most commonly adjusted settings for guest operating systems in VMware Workstations.
Chipsets/Processors: In this section, you can select the processor architecture and feature set that best matches the guest operating system. For example, if you are running a 64-bit version of Windows, you would select “AMD64” as the chipset type.
Memory: This option controls how much RAM is allocated to the guest operating system. VMware Workstation allocates 2048MB of RAM to each virtual machine by default.
You may need to adjust this setting depending on your specific hardware and memory requirements.
Networking: You can use this setting to specify which networking adapter should be used for communication with the guest operating system. The available options range from “NAT” (for use with a private internal network) to “bridged” (for connection directly to an external network) and “Host-only” (which prevents incoming connections from outside networks).
Hard Disk: You can use this setting to add additional hard disk drives to the virtual machine or remove existing ones. This is especially useful if your original virtual machine was created using a different disk setup than what is needed for your current application needs. It’s also possible to adjust the caching mode used for each disk.
Connecting Virtual Machines to the Network
To connect virtual machines to the network, select the “Edit” menu and choose “Preferences.” Next, select the “Network Connection” option and click the “Add” button.
Select the “Network Adapter” type and click the “Finish” button. Finally, specify the “Network Label” and click the “Connect” button.
Testing Your Virtual Machines
When you’re ready to test your virtual machines, there are a few things you’ll need to do. First, ensure all your machines are powered and adequately connected to the network. Next, open the VMware Workstation console and select the machine you want to test. Finally, click the “Test” button in the toolbar.
This will launch a new window with several different options for testing your machine. You can run a standard set of tests or customize the tests to fit your needs. Once you’ve selected the appropriate tests, click “Run Tests” and wait for the results.
If any of the tests fail, check the logs for more information. You can also run additional tests from this window if needed. When you’re finished testing, close the window and continue working in VMware Workstation as usual.
Conclusion
Following the steps outlined in this article, you know how to create a virtual machine in VMware Workstation 9. This tutorial should help you better understand how to deploy and configure a VM with different settings within the VMware environment.
You are also prepared to add or expand your existing guests and take snapshots of them anytime. With that in mind, we wish all readers luck creating their own VMs!
