Tag Archives: 10

VMware Workstation – Deploying Server 2012 and Windows 8 ‘Linked Clones’ from Templates

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KB ID 0000953 

Problem

VMware Workstation, is a great test tool, if i need to take a look at some new software, or plan how I’m going to do a job, and I don’t have access to the ESX server, or test bench, it’s a great tool to have on my laptop.

If you build machines form scratch, every time you need one it can take a while. To address that you can create a template and deploy machines from that. To make things even more efficient you can make then ‘linked clones’. If you use VDI you will probably be aware of linked clones, they use the hard drive of the machine they were created from, and maintain a ‘delta disk’ that holds the differences, this make them very efficient at using hard drive space, (which is good if you are running on a laptop!)

Solution

1. I’ve titled this Windows 8 and Server 2012, but this process works for just about any modern version of Windows. Build the machine that will be the template, and install all the latest updates. Locate sysprep.exe uisually in C:WindowsSyste32Sysprep, and run it. Ensure the ‘Generalize’ option is selected, and the shutdown option is set to ‘Shutdown’.

2. Once finished the machine will shutdown, in VMware Workstation right click the VM > Snapshot > Take Snapshot > Give the snapshot a sensible name > Take Snapshot.

3. Once complete > Right Click the VM again > Settings > Options Tab > Advanced > Select ‘Enable Template mode (to be used for cloning) > OK.

4. Now every time you want a new VM simply right click the template > Manage > Clone > When the wizard starts > Next.

5. Choose the snapshot name you picked in step 2 > Next > Linked Clone (if you choose full clone it creates a complete new machine and will take a LOT of system resources) > Next > Give it a name > Finish.

6. Power on your new machine and it will run the mini windows setup, and behave like a completely new VM.

Related Articles, References, Credits, or External Links

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VMware – This Virtual Machine Appears To Be In Use

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KB ID 0000959 

Problem

I wanted to give a copy of a VM to a colleague, so I removed all the snapshots, and cloned one of my test VM’s. When I went to power on the original this happened;

The virtual machine appears to be in use.

If this virtual machine is not in use press the “Take Ownership” button to obtain ownership of it. Otherwise press the “Cancel” button to avoid damaging it.

Configuration file: {path-to-vmx-file}

And when I attempted to ‘Take Ownership’ of the machine, that failed also;

Could not open virtual machine: {path-to-vmx-file}
Taking ownership of this virtual machine failed.
The virtual machine is in use by an application on your host computer.
Configuration file: {path-to-vmx-file}

Solution

I knew it was not in use, as there was only me using my laptop. So I figured VMware had some files ‘locked’. Navigate to the folder that holds the VM’s files, (Note: The path is on the error message above).

.

Locate any folders that have a .lck extension appended to their name (as above), and move them to another folder. Then attempt to power on your VM.

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Backup Exec – Using RDX Drives

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KB ID 0000578

Problem

While I like RDX drives, (they have advantages over magnetic tape), but they do have a drawback, throughput.

As you can see the removable drive/cartridges are just 1TB SATA Drives in a protective jacket, with a “write protection switch” on them.

So they should be perfect as a backup medium, the problem is, the drive carrier itself runs off the USB bus, so they can’t run faster than 48MB a second (I’ve not seen a server that has USB 3 on it yet). HP literature says that its backup rate is 108GB an hour. However for a small business that can be more than acceptable. It’s advantage, if it keeps the client that wants to take his backups home with them on a “Tape” happy (Because that’s what they have always done).

So the other week I found myself with a shiny new RDX Drive and an old SBS 2003 Server running Backup Exec 11d.

Solution

Note: If you are running Backup Exec versions 10 or 11 you CANNOT perform backups with GRT. If you want this functionality then you need to upgrade to a newer version (GRT to RDX drive works fine with Backup Exec 2010 R3).

1. Once you have physically installed the drive and connected it to the servers internal USB interface, you should see the drive listed below disk drives.

2. With an RDX Cartridge loaded it behaves just like a 1TB Drive (because that’s exactly what it is).

3. To use the drive in Backup Exec you need to create a new “Removable Backup-to-Disk Folder”.

4. Give the removable folder a sensible name, and I set the maximum size to 1023GB to make sure it can’t try and outgrow the drive.

5. Once complete it will create “Media” in the removable folder that it names incrementally as it sees new cartridges, in the FLDR000001, FLDR000002, etc, format. Treat these the same as any other backup media, i.e. you can add them to media groups for different backup jobs.

Related Articles, References, Credits, or External Links

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