Configure Power Options and Power Control Settings

You can configure how a virtual machine behaves when it is powered on, powered off, and closed. You can also configure the behavior of the power controls and specify which power options appear in the context menu when you right-click the virtual machine in the library.

You can configure a soft or hard setting for each power control. A soft setting sends a request to the guest operating system, which the guest operating system can ignore or, in the case of a deadlocked guest, it might not be able to handle. A guest operating system cannot ignore a hard power control. Hard power control settings are configured by default.

Power control settings affect the behavior of the stop, suspend, start, and reset buttons. The behavior you select for a power control appears in a tooltip when you mouse over the button. Power control settings also determine which power options appear in the context menu. For example, if you select the hard setting for the start control, Power On appears in the context menu when you right-click the virtual machine in the library. If you select the soft setting, Start Up Guest appears instead.

Not all guest operating systems respond to a shutdown or restart signal. If the guest operating system does not respond to the signal, shut down or restart from within the guest operating system.

You can pass X toolkit options when you power on a virtual machine for a Linux guest operating system. See Using the vmware Command for more information.

Procedure

1. Select the virtual machine and select VM > Settings.
2. On the Options tab, select Power.
3. Select a power option.
   Note: You cannot configure these options for a shared or remote virtual machine.

   Option	Description
   Enter full screen mode after powering on	The virtual machine window enters full screen mode after it is powered on.
   Close after powering off or suspending	The virtual machine tab closes after it is powered off or suspended.
   Report battery information to guest	Battery information is reported to the guest operating system. If you run the virtual machine on a laptop in full screen mode, this option enables you to determine when the battery is running low. This option is available only for Workstation 6.x and later virtual machines.

4. Select a setting for the power off control.

   Option	Description
   Power Off	(Hard option) Workstation Pro powers off the virtual machine abruptly with no consideration for work in progress.
   Shut Down Guest	(Soft option) Workstation Pro sends a shut-down signal to the guest operating system. An operating system that recognizes the signal shuts down gracefully. Not all guest operating systems respond to a shut-down signal from Workstation Pro. If the guest operating system does not respond to the signal, shut down from the guest operating system as you would a physical machine.

5. Select a setting for the suspend control.

   Option	Description
   Suspend	(Hard option) Workstation Pro suspends the virtual machine and leaves it connected to the network.
   Suspend Guest	(Soft option) Workstation Pro suspends the virtual machine and disconnects it from the network. VMware Tools runs a script in the guest operating system. On Windows guests, if the virtual machine is configured to use DHCP, the script releases the IP address of the virtual machine. On Linux, FreeBSD, and Solaris guests, the script stops networking for the virtual machine.

6. Select a setting for the start control.
   Note: You cannot configure start control settings for a shared or remote virtual machine.

   Option	Description
   Power On	(Hard option) Workstation Pro starts the virtual machine.
   Start Up Guest	(Soft option) Workstation Pro starts the virtual machine and VMware Tools runs a script in the guest operating system. On Windows guests, if the virtual machine is configured to use DHCP, the script renews the IP address of the virtual machine. On a Linux, FreeBSD, or Solaris guest, the script starts networking for the virtual machine.

7. Select a setting for the reset control.

   Option	Description
   Reset	(Hard option) Workstation Pro resets the virtual machine abruptly with no consideration for work in progress.
   Restart Guest	(Soft option) Workstation Pro shuts down and restarts the guest operating system gracefully. VMware Tools runs scripts before the virtual machine shuts down and when the virtual machine starts up.

8. Click OK to save your changes.