You can add one or more DVD or CD-ROM drives to a virtual machine. You can connect the virtual DVD or CD-ROM drive to a physical drive or an ISO image file.

You can configure the virtual DVD or CD-ROM drive as an IDE or a SCSI device, regardless of the type of physical drive that you connect it to. For example, if the host has an IDE CD-ROM drive, you can set up the virtual machine drive as either SCSI or IDE and connect it to the host drive.

Do not configure legacy emulation mode unless you experience problems with normal mode. See Configure Legacy Emulation Mode for a DVD or CD-ROM Drive for more information.

Procedure

  1. Select the virtual machine and select VM > Settings.
  2. On the Hardware tab, click Add.
  3. In the Add Hardware wizard, select DVD/CD Drive.
  4. Select a physical drive or ISO image file to connect to the drive.

    Option

    Description

    Use physical drive

    The virtual machine uses a physical drive.

    Use ISO image

    The drive connects to an ISO image file.
  5. Configure the physical drive or ISO image file.

    Option

    Description

    Physical drive

    Select a specific drive, or select Auto detect to allow Workstation Pro to auto-detect the drive to use.

    ISO image file

    Type the path or browse to the location of the ISO image file.
  6. To connect the drive or ISO image file to the virtual machine when the virtual machine powers on, select Connect at power on.
  7. Click Finish to add the drive to the virtual machine.

    The drive initially appears as an IDE drive to the guest operating system.

  8. (Optional) To change which SCSI or IDE device identifier to use for the drive, select the drive and click Advanced.
  9. Click OK to save your changes.