How to Configure IDE Devices for a Virtual Machine

Article
01/17/2008

You can configure IDE devices for a virtual machine by creating or modifying a Virtual Machine Manager hardware profile. You can specify which IDE devices that you want to add and configure on a virtual machine that is created by using this hardware profile. Any Virtual Machine Manager hardware profile includes a built-in IDE drive by default.

Important

The configuration options available for IDE devices (adding a virtual DVD drive or adding a virtual hard disk) differ depending on whether you configure a stand-alone hardware profile or configure a hardware profile in a wizard. When you configure a stand-alone hardware profile, you can add only virtual DVD drives.

Use the procedures in this topic to perform the following tasks:

Add a Virtual DVD Drive to the IDE Bus. You can perform this procedure on a new or existing stand-alone hardware profile or on the Configure Hardware wizard page in the New Virtual Machine Wizard or New Template Wizard. You can also perform this procedure on the properties page of an existing virtual machine or template.
Add a Virtual Hard Disk to the IDE Bus. You can perform this procedure on the Configure Hardware wizard page in the New Virtual Machine Wizard or the New Template Wizard. You can also perform this procedure on the properties page of an existing virtual machine or template. However, you cannot add a virtual hard disk to the IDE bus on a stand-alone hardware profile.

If you import an existing stand-alone hardware profile into a wizard, any changes you make to the hardware profile settings in the wizard will not affect the settings on the original standalone hardware profile.

Before You Start

The following procedure assumes one of the following:

You are creating a new stand-alone hardware profile and are configuring the Hardware Settings tab.
You are configuring hardware profile settings on the Configure Hardware page of the New Template Wizard or the New Virtual Machine Wizard.
You are configuring the properties of an existing stand-alone hardware profile on its Hardware Settings tab or are configuring an existing template or virtual machine on the Hardware Configuration tab.

To add a virtual DVD drive for a virtual machine to the IDE bus

To add a virtual DVD device to the built-in IDE bus, in the left pane, under Bus Configuration, click IDE Devices, and then click DVD on the top menu.
In the results pane, under Attachment, accept the default channel, or select an entry from the Channel drop-down list box to specify a different channel to which to attach this virtual DVD drive.
Under Capture mode, select one of the following options:

No media (default). Select this option to specify that the virtual DVD drive cannot read any media. You can change this setting later.

If you are modifying an existing hardware profile, you can select No Media to disconnect the virtual DVD drive from any host drive or ISO file to which it was connected earlier.

Physical CD/DVD drive. If you want to enable a virtual DVD drive on the virtual machine to connect to a physical CD or DVD drive on the host, select this option and then select a drive letter from the drop-down list box. This option enables the virtual DVD drive to read a physical CD or DVD disk in the specified physical drive on the host.

Known image file. Select this option if you want to enable the virtual DVD drive on a virtual machine to access a specific image stored in a library share on a Virtual Machine Manager library server. Click Browse to display the Select ISO dialog box, and then select the CD image to be inserted into the virtual DVD drive from the list that displays on this screen.

If your Virtual Machine Manager library contains a large number of ISO images, after you click Browse, you can filter the displayed list of images from which to choose by using the following fields:

Library group:

If the library has more than one library group, you can use the Library group field to select a specific library group so that you can view only images available in that library group, and then select the image that you want.

Look for:

If your library contains many images, you can type all or part of the name of an image in this field. For example, if your library contains an image called VMAddtions, you can type VMAdditions in the Look for field to display and then select that image. If multiple images named VMAdditions exist on different paths, all of them will appear in the list, and you can select the one that you want to use.

Group by:

If your library contains a large number of images, you can select Type, Owner, or Operating System from the Group by drop-down list box to sort the list of images by those categories, and then select the one that you want.

After you select the image that you want to insert into your virtual DVD drive, click OK to close the Select ISO dialog box.
If you specified Known image file and selected an image, you can, optionally, select the check box Use ISO from library instead of copying. Selecting this option saves space on a virtual machine that is created by using this hardware profile.
To save the settings, do one of the following:

Option 1: If this hardware profile is a new or existing stand-alone hardware profile, click Apply to save the settings.

Option 2: If this hardware profile is on the Configure Hardware page in the New Virtual Machine Wizard or the New Template Wizard (and you have completed any other settings you want to configure on this hardware profile), click Next to save the settings and continue to the next page. Alternatively, to save your settings not only in this wizard but also as a stand-alone profile, click Save Profile, type a name in the Name field on the General tab (and, optionally, change any other settings); click Apply, click OK to return to the Configure Hardware page; click Next to continue to the next wizard page, and then complete the wizard as usual.

Option 3: If this hardware profile is on the properties page of an existing virtual machine or template, click Apply to save the settings.

To add a virtual hard disk for a virtual machine to the IDE bus

To add a virtual hard disk to the IDE bus, in the left pane, under Bus Configuration, click IDE Devices, and then click VHD on the top menu. (This option is not available on a stand-alone hardware profile.)
In the results pane, under Attachment, accept the default channel, or select a different channel to which to attach this virtual hard disk from the Channel drop-down list box.

The IDE bus can support up to four devices. On an IDE bus, the four possible positions to which to attach a virtual hard disk or a virtual DVD drive are the following:

Primary Channel (0) (–Bus 0 –LUN 0)

Primary Channel (1) (–Bus 0 –LUN 1)

Secondary Channel (0) (–Bus 1 –LUN 0)

Secondary Channel (1) (–Bus 1 –LUN 1)
In the results pane, under Virtual Hard Disk, select one of the following options:

Option 1: Select the option Use an existing virtual hard disk if you want to add an existing virtual hard disk to a virtual machine. Click Browse to display the Select a virtual hard disk dialog box, and then select the virtual hard disk that you want to use from the list that displays on this screen.

If your Virtual Machine Manager library contains a large number of virtual hard disks, after you click Browse, you can filter the displayed list of virtual hard disks from which to choose by using the following fields:

Library group:

If the library has more than one library group, you can use the Library group field to select a specific library group so that you can view only virtual hard disks available in that library group, and then select the one you want.

Look for:

If your library contains many virtual hard disks, you can type all or part of the name of a virtual hard disk in this field to display only virtual hard disks that contain the string that you type, and then select the one that you want.

Group by:

If your library contains a large number of virtual hard disks, you can select Type, Owner, or Operating System from the Group by drop-down list box to sort the list of virtual hard disks by those categories, and then select the one that you want.

Click OK (or Cancel) to return to the Configure Hardware page.

Option 2: Select the option Create a new virtual hard disk (which is available on the hardware profile for a virtual machine but not on the hardware profile for a template, nor is it available on a stand-alone hardware profile) if you want to create a new virtual hard disk, you can accept the defaults or modify the values for the following options:

Type. Select Dynamic or Fixed (the default value is Dynamic).

Size. Specify, in megabytes (MB), the size of a fixed virtual hard disk file or the maximum possible size of a dynamically expanding virtual hard disk file. The default value for either type of virtual hard disk is 3.

This operation will fail for a virtual machine stored in the library unless Virtual Server is installed on the library server.
Destination file name. In the Destination file name field, do one of the following:

Option 1: If you selected Use an existing virtual hard disk but want to rename the existing virtual hard disk, type the new file name in this field.

Option 2: If you selected Create a new virtual hard disk, type the file name of the new virtual hard disk that you want to create in this field.
To save the settings, do one of the following:

Option 1: If this hardware profile is on the Configure Hardware page in the New Virtual Machine Wizard or the New Template Wizard (and you have completed any other settings you want to configure on this hardware profile), click Next to save the settings and continue to the next page. Alternatively, to save your settings not only in this wizard but also as a stand-alone profile, click Save Profile, type a name in the Name field on the General tab (and, optionally, change any other settings); click Apply, click OK to return to the Configure Hardware page; click Next to continue to the next wizard page, and then complete the wizard as usual

Option 2: If this hardware profile is on the properties page of an existing virtual machine or template, click Apply to save the virtual hard disk settings.

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How to Configure IDE Devices for a Virtual Machine

Before You Start

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