Create a Standalone Virtual Machine

You can create a standalone VM with customizable settings.

For more information on VMs with Trusted Platform Module (TPM) devices, see Working with Virtual Machines.

Prerequisites

For VMware Cloud Director 10.4.2 and later, if you want to create a VM with a TPM device, verify the following:

A VDC that supports TPM backs the VM.
The VM firmware is EFI.
The VM hardware version is version 14 or later.
The guest OS is compatible with TPM.

Procedure

On the Virtual Data Center dashboard screen, click the card of the virtual data center you want to explore and from the left panel, select Virtual Machines.
Click to view the list in a card view and, optionally, arrange the list of virtual machines from the Sort by drop-down menu.
Click New VM.
Enter the name, the computer name, and optionally, a description for the VM.

Important: The computer name can contain only alphanumeric characters and hyphens. A computer name cannot consist of digits only, cannot contain spaces, and a hyphen cannot be the last character.
Select New.
If you want the VM to power on right after its creation, select the Power on check box.
Select an OS family and Operating System.
(Optional) Select a Boot image.
Select a boot firmware for the VM.
(Optional) If you want to enter the boot firmware setup when the VM starts, turn on the Enter Boot Setup toggle.
For VMware Cloud Director 10.4.2 and later, if you want the VM to have a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) device, turn on the Trusted Platform Module toggle.

Depending on your VMware Cloud Director version, create a general purpose or vGPU enabled VM.

If the target VDC does not have an added vGPU policy, you can create only a VM for general use and the option to select a VM purpose does not appear.

Option	Action
Create a General Purpose VM	You create a VM for general use. If the organization VDC has an added vGPU policy, select General Purpose. (Optional) Select a VM placement policy and a VM sizing policy. Note: The VM placement and VM sizing policy drop-down menus appear only if the service provider has published such policies to the organization VDC. If the organization VDC has only one sizing policy, the policy appears as preselected and you cannot change it. (Optional) Enter the number of virtual CPUs, cores per socket, and memory settings manually. If you select a VM sizing policy that defines the VM size, this option is not visible. Specify the storage settings for the virtual machine, such as storage policy and size. If you select a VMware Cloud Director IOPS storage policy, you can also set an IOPS reservation for the VM. If you specify a remote datastore as a storage policy, all objects that make up the VM must reside on the same remote datastore. Specify the network settings for the virtual machine, such as network, IP mode, IP address, and primary NIC.
Create a vGPU Enabled VM	You create a VM that uses vGPU resources. If the organization VDC has an added vGPU policy, select vGPU Enabled. Select a vGPU policy. If the sizing policy is not defined in vGPU policy, select a sizing policy. (Optional)Specify the storage settings for the virtual machine, such as storage policy and size. If you select a VMware Cloud Director IOPS storage policy, you can also set an IOPS reservation for the VM. If you specify a remote datastore as a storage policy, all objects that make up the VM must reside on the same remote datastore. If you do not want to specify the storage settings, delete the VM default policy. Note: If the vGPU policy has sizing settings, you cannot select a different sizing policy and you can edit only the settings that are not defined in the vGPU policy. (Optional) Specify the network settings for the virtual machine, such as network, IP mode, IP address, and primary NIC.

Option

Action

Create a General Purpose VM

You create a VM for general use.

If the organization VDC has an added vGPU policy, select General Purpose.
(Optional) Select a VM placement policy and a VM sizing policy.
Note: The VM placement and VM sizing policy drop-down menus appear only if the service provider has published such policies to the organization VDC. If the organization VDC has only one sizing policy, the policy appears as preselected and you cannot change it.
(Optional) Enter the number of virtual CPUs, cores per socket, and memory settings manually.
If you select a VM sizing policy that defines the VM size, this option is not visible.
Specify the storage settings for the virtual machine, such as storage policy and size.
If you select a VMware Cloud Director IOPS storage policy, you can also set an IOPS reservation for the VM.
If you specify a remote datastore as a storage policy, all objects that make up the VM must reside on the same remote datastore.
Specify the network settings for the virtual machine, such as network, IP mode, IP address, and primary NIC.

Create a vGPU Enabled VM

You create a VM that uses vGPU resources.

If the organization VDC has an added vGPU policy, select vGPU Enabled.
Select a vGPU policy.
If the sizing policy is not defined in vGPU policy, select a sizing policy.
(Optional)Specify the storage settings for the virtual machine, such as storage policy and size.
If you select a VMware Cloud Director IOPS storage policy, you can also set an IOPS reservation for the VM.
If you specify a remote datastore as a storage policy, all objects that make up the VM must reside on the same remote datastore.
If you do not want to specify the storage settings, delete the VM default policy.

Note: If the vGPU policy has sizing settings, you cannot select a different sizing policy and you can edit only the settings that are not defined in the vGPU policy.
(Optional) Specify the network settings for the virtual machine, such as network, IP mode, IP address, and primary NIC.

Click OK to save the settings of the virtual machine and to start the creation process.
You can see the card of the virtual machine in the catalog. Until the virtual machine is created, the VM state appears as Busy.