Configure a Host Device Type for the CD/DVD Drive

You can configure the CD/DVD drive of a virtual machine to connect to a physical CD or DVD device on the host so that you can install a guest operating system, VMware Tools, or other applications.

When you create a virtual machine, a controller is added by default and the CD/DVD drive is attached to that controller. The controller and driver type depend on the guest operating system. Typically, virtual machines with newer guest operating systems have a SATA controller and CD/DVD drive. Other guests use an IDE controller and CD/DVD drive.

If you connect to media that does not require you to power off the virtual machine, you can select the media to connect to from the CD/DVD drive connection icon on the virtual machine Summary tab.

When you add a CD/DVD drive that is backed by a USB CD/DVD drive on the host, you must add the drive as a SCSI device.

For information how to add, remove, and configure SCSI devices, see https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/78978.

Prerequisites

• Verify that the virtual machine is powered off.
• You cannot use vMotion to migrate virtual machines that have CD drives that are backed by the physical CD drive on the host. Disconnect these devices before you migrate the virtual machine.
• Verify that you have the Virtual machine .Interaction.Configure CD media privilege on the virtual machine.

Procedure

1. Right-click a virtual machine in the inventory and select Edit Settings.
2. On the Virtual Hardware tab, expand CD/DVD and select Host Device from the drop-down menu.
3. (Optional) Select Connect At Power On to connect the device when the virtual machine powers on.
4. If more than one type of CD/DVD media is available on the host, select the media.
5. In the Virtual Device Node drop-down menu, select the node the drive uses in the virtual machine.
   The first available node is selected by default. You do not typically need to change the default.
6. Click OK.
7. Power on the virtual machine and click the Summary tab.

Results

The connected CD/DVD device appears in the VM Hardware list.