Register an Existing Virtual Machine in the VMware Host Client

If you unregister a virtual machine from a host, but you do not delete the virtual machine from the datastore, you can re-register the virtual machine by using the VMware Host Client. Re-registering a virtual machine makes it appear in the inventory.

Use the datastore browser to select either a datastore, a directory, or a .vmx file to add to the list of virtual machines that you register. Selecting a datastore or directory searches for all .vmx files in that location. You can browse more than once to append virtual machines to the list.

Procedure

1. Right-click Host in the VMware Host Client inventory and select Create/Register VM.
   The New virtual machine wizard opens.
2. On the Select creation type page, select Register an existing virtual machine and click Next.
3. On the Select VMs for registration page, click Select one or more virtual machines, a datastore, or a directory, locate the virtual machine that you want to register, and click Select.
4. To remove a virtual machine from the list, select the name of the file and click Remove selected.
5. To clear your selection and start again, click Remove all.
6. Click Next.
7. On the Ready to complete page, review the details and click Finish.