Add a Parallel Port to a Virtual Machine in the VMware Host Client

To connect peripheral devices to virtual machines, such as printers and scanners, you can use a parallel port. You send the output of such devices to a file on the host computer.

Note: To add a parallel port to a virtual machine that runs on an ESXi 4.1 or earlier host, you can also select to send output to a physical parallel port on the host. This option is not available with ESXi 5.0 and later host versions.

Prerequisites

• Power off the virtual machine.

• Verify that you have the Virtual machine.Configuration.Add or remove device privilege on the virtual machine.

Procedure

1. Click Virtual Machines in the VMware Host Client inventory.
2. Right-click a virtual machine in the list and select Edit settings from the pop-up menu.
3. On the Virtual Hardware tab, select Add other device and select Parallel Port.
   The parallel port appears in the hardware list.
4. In the virtual hardware list, expand the parallel port and click Browse to locate a folder to create the file in.
5. Choose a folder from the list and click Select.
   The file path appears in the Connection text box.
6. (Optional) Select Connect at power on to configure the device to connect when the virtual machine powers on.
7. Click Save.