Creating a virtual machine on VMware Server

Creating a virtual machine in VMware is a straightforward process once VMware server is up and running. to learn how to setup a VMware server check my previous post on how to setup a testing network using VMware server. Today we will setup a virtual machine in VMware console to host our Windows Server 2003 for our testing network domain controller.

Once you’re logged in on your VMware server console, you should be able to see the following screen:

On your left hand top corner click on Create Virtual Machines, and the following window should pop up:

Choose a descriptive name for your virtual machine, in our case is “Windows Server 2003″ leave the Datastore as [standard] and click next.

On the following screen you will be asked to choose your guest operating system:

Select your desired operating system installation, in our case is Microsoft windows Server 2003 Standard Edition. Click Next.

The next screen is important. in this screen you need to select the amount of memory you want to allocate for the virtual machine:

For this virtual machine I have allocated 384 MB and chosen 1 processor for the system. remember that these settings impact the performance of your physical machine as well as the virtual machine, so choose them carefully.

On the next screen, you will need to create the size of the virtual disk the virtual machine will use:

Click on Create a New Virtual Disk and the following screen will show up:

We will make the hard drive size of 10 GB for Windows Server 2003. for our network testing purposes that should be enough.for location, leave the default one. click next.

On the next screen, we will need to select the network adapter:

Click on Add Network Adapter and the following window will show up:

Select which network adapter your virtual machine will use. when you install VMware server it creates some bridged virtual network adapters on your physical machine, choose Bridged and click next.

Next, we will need to select which CD/DVD drive for our virtual machine will use:

Click on Use a Physical Drive, and the following windows will show up:

Choose the physical drive letter of your computer, in this case is drive letter E: make sure the “Connect at Power on” option is checked.

Next, we need to choose if we need a Floppy drive for our virtual machine. I won’t use a floppy drive on this virtual machine so:

Click on Don’t add a Floppy Drive and click next:

On the next screen, we will need to choose if we want to have access to the USB controller in the host machine. I think this should be useful:

Choose Add USB Controller and click next. Next you will get the summary of the settings of your virtual machine:

At this point, the creation of our virtual machine is ready to complete. clicking on Finish. the setup now should be completed!

Now, the name of of your virtual machine should appear on the right hand top corner on VMware console indicating the virtual machine has been created. now you are ready to begin the server 2003 installation.

Now, if you click on the Console tab, it should bring you to the virtual machine installation process, but if you installed VMware server the way I did, you most likely will encounter this error: