Save specific Windows guest operating system settings in a customization specification, which you can apply when cloning virtual machines or deploying from templates.

Note: The default administrator password is not preserved for Windows Server 2008 after customization. During customization, the Windows Sysprep utility deletes and recreates the administrator account on Windows Server 2008. You must reset the administrator password when the virtual machine starts the first time after customization.

Prerequisites

Ensure that all requirements for customization are met. See Guest Operating System Customization Requirements.

Procedure

  1. Select Menu > Policies and Profiles, and under Policies and Profiles, click VM Customization Specifications.
  2. Click the Create a new specification icon.
    The New VM Guest Customization Specification wizard opens.
  3. On the Name and target OS page, enter a name and description for the customization specification and select Windows as a target guest OS.
  4. (Optional) Select the Generate a new security identity (SID) option and click Next.
    A Windows Security ID (SID) is used in some Windows operating systems to uniquely identify systems and users. If you do not select this option, the new virtual machine has the same SID as the virtual machine or template from which it was cloned or deployed.

    Duplicate SIDs do not cause problems when the computers are part of a domain and only domain user accounts are used. However, if the computers are part of a Workgroup or local user accounts are used, duplicate SIDs can compromise file access controls. For more information, see the documentation for your Microsoft Windows operating system.

  5. On the Registration Information page, enter the virtual machine owner’s name and organization and click Next.
  6. On the Computer name page, enter a computer name for the guest operating system.
    The operating system uses this name to identify itself on the network. On Linux systems, it is called the host name.
    Option Action
    Enter a name
    1. Enter a name.

      The name can contain alphanumeric characters and the hyphen (-) character. It cannot contain periods (.) or blank spaces and cannot be made up of digits only. Names are not case-sensitive.

    2. (Optional) To ensure that the name is unique, select the Append a numeric value check box. This action appends a hyphen followed by a numeric value to the virtual machine name. The name is truncated if it exceeds 63 characters when combined with the numeric value.
    Use the virtual machine name The computer name that vCenter Server creates is identical to the name of the virtual machine on which the guest operating system is running. If the name exceeds 63 characters, it is truncated.
    Enter a name in the Clone/Deploy wizard You are prompted to enter a name during cloning or deployment.
    Generate a name using the custom application configured with vCenter Server Enter a parameter that can be passed to the custom application.
  7. On the Windows license page, provide licensing information for the Windows operating system and click Next.
    Option Action
    For nonserver operating systems Type the Windows product key for the new guest operating system.
    For server operating systems
    1. Type the Windows product key for the new guest operating system.
    2. Select Include Server License Information.
    3. Select either Per seat or Per server.
    4. If you select Per server, enter the maximum number of simultaneous connections for the server to accept.
  8. On the Administrator Password page, configure the administrator password for the virtual machine and click Next.
    1. Type a password for the administrator account and confirm the password by typing it again.
      Note: You can change the administrator password only if the administrator password on the source Windows virtual machine is blank. If the source Windows virtual machine or template already has a password, the administrator password does not change.
    2. (Optional) Select the Automatically logon as Administrator check box to log users in to the guest operating system as Administrator, and select the number of times to log in automatically.
  9. On the Time zone page, select the time zone for the virtual machine and click Next.
  10. (Optional) On the Commands to run once page, specify commands to run the first time a user logs in to the guest operating system and click Next.
    See the Microsoft Sysprep documentation for information about RunOnce commands.
  11. On the Network page, select the type of network settings to apply to the guest operating system and click Next.
    • Select Use standard network settings so that vCenter Server configures all network interfaces from a DHCP server by using the default settings.
    • Select Manually select custom settings and configure each network interface yourself.
      1. Select a network adapter from the list or add a new one.
      2. For the selected NIC, click the vertical ellipsis icon and select Edit.

        The Edit Network dialog box opens.

      3. Click the IPv4 tab to configure the virtual machine to use IPv4 network.

        You can configure all the settings at that stage or you can select the Prompt the user for an IPv4 address when the specification is used option. In that case, vCenter Server prompts for an IP address when you select to apply that customization specification during cloning or deployment. With that option, you can also configure the gateways during cloning or deployment.

      4. Click the IPv6 tab to configure the virtual machine to use IPv6 network.

        You can configure all the settings at that stage or you can select the Prompt the user for an address when the specification is used option. In that case, vCenter Server prompts for an IP address when you select to apply that customization specification during cloning or deployment. With that option, you can also configure the gateways during cloning or deployment.

      5. Click the DNS tab to specify DNS server details.
      6. Click WINS to specify primary and secondary WINS server information.
      7. Click OK to close the Edit Network dialog box.
  12. On the Workgroup or Domain page, select how the virtual machine participates in the network and click Next.
    Option Action
    Workgroup Enter a workgroup name. For example, MSHOME.
    Windows Server Domain
    1. Enter the domain name.
    2. Enter the user name and password for a user account that has permission to add a computer to the specified domain.
  13. On the Ready to complete page, review the details and click Finish to save your changes.

Results

The customization specification that you created is listed in the Customization Specification Manager. You can use the specification to customize virtual machine guest operating systems.