چک لیست ایجاد یک VM Template برای ویندوز 2008 R2
The way we’ll do this is pretty simple and is designed to give you the best and quickest Windows Server 2008 R2 SP2 that is possible. You’ll need your regular Windows Server 2008 R2 Installation files, vCenter configured and running in your VMware environment and the The Windows Automated Installation Kit (AIK) for Windows 7.
After the install we’ll go through everything you might consider changing. That can be done through the supplied checklist, and should be considered as an advice which you should hold against your own environment.
At the end the VM will be transformed into a Template, which will be used to create future installations.
Pre-Installation Checklist
| Name | Advice | Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Disable Logging | Recommended | VM → Edit Settings → Options | |
| Disable Serial and Parallel Ports | Recommended | VM → Edit Settings → Options → Boot Options |
Installation
For installation advice check Windows Server 2008.
Post-Installation Checklist
| Name | Advice | Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|
| VMware Tools | Required | Select Custom and disable the ‘Shared Folders’ option. It might cause issues with unloading profiles. | |
| Hardware Acceleration → Full | Recommended | Control Panel → Personalization → Display Settings → Advanced Settings → Troubleshoot → Change Settings | |
| TimeZone | Required | Initial Configuration Tasks → Set Time Zone | |
| Networking | Recommended | Initial Configuration Tasks → Configure Networking → Open the properties of the network connection Disable QoS Packet Scheduler Disable TCP/IPv6 Set TCP/IPv4 to a fixed IP address for your template, and configure DNS as well as DNS search suffixes (under advanced settings) |
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| Computername | Recommended | Initial Configuration Tasks → Provide Computer Name and Domain → Set it to W2K8VMTemplate | |
| Turn off IE ESC | Required | Server Manager → Configure IE ESC → Turn off for both administrators and users | |
| Updates | Recommended | Initial Configuration Tasks → Download and Install Updates (install at least the critical patches) Note: IE ESC will have to be turned off and you need internet access |
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| Disable Windows Firewall | Optional | Initial Configuration Tasks → Configure Windows Firewall | |
| Enable Remote Desktop | Recommended | Initial Configuration Tasks → Enable Remote Desktop | |
| Disable Initial Configuration Tasks | Recommended | Initial Configuration Tasks → Check ‘Do not how this window at logon’ | |
| Performance Settings | Recommended | Computer properties → Advanced Settings → Performance Settings → Adjust for best performance | |
| Disable System ScreenSaver | Recommended | This is the screen saver that starts when no user is logged into the system. Start → run → regedit Go to ‘HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop’ and delete the SCRNSAVE.EXE name |
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| Power Settings | Recommended | Control Panel → Power Options → High Performance → Change Plan Settings → Set both to never | |
| Telnet Client | Optional | Server Manager → Add Feature → Telnet Client |
Post-Installation Checklist – Profile
This is an optional checklist for adjusting your personal profile:
| Name | Advice | Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taskbar | Optional | Taskbar → Properties | |
| Start Menu | Optional | Taskbar → Properties → Start Menu Recommended: Disable Personal Menus |
|
| Do not hide inactive icons | Optional | Taskbar → Properties → Notification Area | |
| No Screensaver | Optional | Control Panel → Personalization → Screen Saver → None | |
| No Sounds | Optional | Control Panel → Personalization → Sounds (select no when prompted) → No Sounds and deselect the ‘Play Windows Startup Sound’ | |
| Desktop Icons | Optional | Control Panel → Personalization → Change Desktop Icons | |
| Explorer | Optional | Explorer → Folder Options | |
| Internet Explorer | Optional | Tools → Internet Options Set the homepage to blank Advanced → Uncheck ‘Show friendly HTTP error messages’ |
Convert the VM to a Template
When the VM is ready it’s easy to convert it to a Template. Shut the VM down and right-click the VM. There you have two options for creating a template:
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Clone to Template
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If you want to continue using the VM that you would also like to make a template out of, you can clone it to a template.
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Convert to Template
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You will no longer be able to use the selected VM, as you are electing to change it from a working virtual machine to a template by which others will be created. It can only be cloned and deployed as a new VM.
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> Note: After converting a template, or creating a template by cloning a VM, the template will not appear when you’re in the ‘Hosts and Clusters’ view in vCenter (which is my favorite view). You’ll have to change the view to ‘VMs and Templates’ to see the template. You’ll recognize the template by the new icon, which looks like a few sheets of paper:
Creating VM From Template
To create a VM from a template right-click the template and choose “Deploy Virtual Machine from this Template”. The Deploy Template wizard starts now enabling you to name and place the Virtual Machine in your environment. There is also the option to “Guest Customization”. That means that you can use the Microsoft SysPrep Tools to customize your Windows Installation. To use this for Windows 2000, XP and 2003 you’ll have to install these tools into vCenter. For Windows Vista, 2008 and 7 these tools are built in to the Windows Operating Systems.
See this VMware knowledgebase article on how to download, install and use the sysprep tools.
You can check quickly if any files are installed for guest customization by looking in these directories:
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If vCenter Server is installed on Windows Server 2008 check:
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%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\Sysprep
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Which by default is:
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C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\Sysprep
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If vCenter Server is installed on any other Windows operating system check:
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%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application Data\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\Sysprep\
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Which by default is:
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C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\Sysprep\
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