You can create a new shared virtual machine in Workstation Pro by using the New Virtual Machine wizard. Creating a shared virtual machine is similar to creating a standard virtual machine.

Prerequisites

  • Verify that you have the information the New Virtual Machine wizard requires to create a virtual machine. See Preparing to Create a New Virtual Machine.

  • Verify that the guest operating system you plan to install is supported. See the VMware Compatibility Guide on the VMware Web site for a list of the supported guest operating systems.

  • See the VMware Guest Operating System Installation Guide for information about the guest operating system that you plan to install.

  • If you are installing the guest operating system from an installer disc, insert the installer disc in the CD-ROM drive in the host system.

  • If you are installing the guest operating system from an ISO image file, verify that the ISO image file is in a directory that is accessible to the host system.

Procedure

  1. In the library, select Shared VMs.
  2. On the Shared VMs tab, click Create a New Virtual Machine.
  3. On the Welcome screen, select the configuration type.

    Option

    Description

    Typical

    The wizard prompts you to specify or accept defaults for basic virtual machine settings. The typical configuration type is appropriate in most instances.

    After specifying an operating system version and virtual machine name and location, the wizard prompts you to configure only the virtual disk size and whether the disk should be split into multiple files. If you choose a custom setup, the wizard includes additional prompts for such things as processors, memory, and networking.

    Custom

    You must select the custom configuration type to make a different virtual machine version than the default hardware compatibility setting, specify the I/O adapter type for SCSI adapters, specify whether to create an IDE, SCSI, SATA, or NVMe virtual disk, use an existing virtual disk, or allocate all virtual disk space rather than let disk space gradually grow to the maximum disk size.
  4. If you selected a custom configuration, select the hardware compatibility setting for the virtual machine.

    The hardware compatibility setting determines the hardware features of the virtual machine.

  5. Follow the prompts to select a guest operating system and name and configure the virtual machine.

    Use the following guidelines:

    • The Easy Install feature is not available for installing operating systems in shared or remote virtual machines.

    • If you choose to install the operating system later, the virtual machine is created with a blank disk.

  6. (Optional) Click Customize Hardware to customize the hardware configuration.

    You can also modify virtual hardware settings after you create the virtual machine.

  7. (Optional) Select Power on this virtual machine after creation to power on the virtual machine after you create it.

    This option is not available if you are installing the guest operating system manually.

  8. Click Finish to create the virtual machine.

Results

If you are using Easy Install, guest operating system installation begins when the virtual machine powers on. The guest operating system installation is automated and typically runs without requiring any input from you. After the guest operating system is installed, Easy Install installs VMware Tools.

Newly created shared virtual machines appear in the library under the Shared VMs item.

What to do next

If you used Easy Install and the virtual machine did not power on when you finished the New Virtual Machine wizard, power on the virtual machine to start the guest operating system installation. See Use Easy Install to Install a Guest Operating System.

If you did not use Easy Install, install the guest operating system manually. See Install a Guest Operating System Manually.