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VMware Workstation – No Experience Necessary

VMware Workstation – No Experience Necessary

by Sander Van Vugt
Publisher: Packt Publishing
Release Date: August 2013
ISBN: 9781849689182
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Book Description

Get started from scratch with Vmware Workstation using this essential guide. Taking you from installation on Windows or Linux through to advanced virtual machine features, you’ll be setting up a test environment in no time.

  • Create virtual machines on Linux and Windows hosts
  • Create advanced test labs that help in getting back to any Virtual Machine state in an easy way
  • Share virtual machines with others, no matter which virtualization solution they’re using

In Detail

VMware Workstation runs on Linux as well as Windows hosts and handles different virtual machine formats, which allows you to share your work with users of other virtualization platforms, including VirtualBox, VMware Player, and VMware vSphere environments.

VMware Workstation: No Experience Necessary helps you in getting started with VMware Workstation. You’ll learn how to install VMware Workstation in any circumstance, and how to create virtual machines and keep different configurations for each virtual machine, which helps in setting up extensive test environments. You’ll also learn how to share these virtual machines with users of other virtualization products as well as the cloud.

In VMware Workstation: No Experience Necessary you’ll start learning about different virtualization solutions. In this introduction you’ll learn how VMware Workstation differs from other workstation virtualization platforms such as Oracle Virtual Box, and from data centre virtualization solutions such as VMware vSphere. Next, you’ll learn how to install VMware Workstation on either a Windows or a Linux host and how to create virtual machines on these host platforms.

After installing virtual machines, you’ll learn about advanced virtual machine features, including advanced networking and storage setups, which allow you to mirror a data centre setup as closely as possible. An important part of the setup of such an environment is working with snapshots and clones, which is discussed in detail. You’ll also learn how to use virtual machines that are created on other host computers.

The final part of the book teaches you how to share virtual machines with others. You’ll learn how to upload virtual machines to VMware vSphere, and how to share virtual machines with users of VMware Player.

Table of Contents

  1. VMware Workstation – No Experience Necessary
    1. Table of Contents
    2. VMware Workstation – No Experience Necessary
    3. Credits
    4. About the Author
    5. About the Reviewers
    6. www.PacktPub.com
      1. Support files, eBooks, discount offers and more
        1. Why Subscribe?
        2. Free Access for Packt account holders
        3. Instant Updates on New Packt Books
    7. Preface
      1. What this book covers
      2. What you need for this book
      3. Who this book is for
      4. Conventions
      5. Reader feedback
      6. Customer support
        1. Errata
        2. Piracy
        3. Questions
    8. 1. Installing VMware Workstation
      1. Configuring the host computer
        1. CPU and CPU cores
        2. Memory
        3. Disk space
      2. Getting VMware Workstation
        1. Purchasing VMware Workstation
        2. Setting up your VMware account
      3. Installing VMware Workstation on Windows
      4. Installing VMware Workstation on Linux
      5. Starting VMware Workstation for the first time
      6. Summary
    9. 2. Installing Virtual Machines
      1. Before you start
      2. Starting the installation
        1. RAM and CPU
        2. Networking
        3. Disk options
      3. Installing a Windows 8 virtual machine
      4. Installing a Linux virtual machine
      5. Summary
    10. 3. Working with Virtual Machines
      1. Performing common tasks
      2. Working with hardware
        1. Booting your virtual machine from a CD-ROM
        2. Modifying virtual hardware
      3. Working with shared folders
      4. Setting virtual machine options
        1. Automatic snapshots
        2. Time synchronization
        3. VNC connections
      5. Securing virtual machines
      6. Summary
    11. 4. VMware Workstation behind the Scenes
      1. Understanding VMware Workstation files
        1. VMware Workstation program files and services
          1. Program files on Windows hosts
          2. Program files on Linux hosts
          3. VMware services
      2. Working with VMware Workstation files
        1. VMware Workstation virtual machine definition files
        2. VMware Workstation disk files
      3. Configuring advanced storage
        1. Using devices as virtual machine disks
        2. Mounting virtual disk files
        3. Managing VMware virtual disks
      4. Summary
    12. 5. Networking VMware Workstation
      1. Using different networking modes
        1. Using bridged networking
        2. Using NATted networking
        3. Using host-only networking
      2. Configuring virtual networks
        1. Setting bridged network properties
        2. Setting host-only network properties
        3. Setting NAT network properties
        4. Creating your own virtual network
      3. Using advanced network properties on virtual machines
        1. Setting advanced network properties on virtual machines
        2. Using multiple network cards within a virtual machine
      4. Summary
    13. 6. Accessing Virtual Machines Remotely
      1. Setting up shared machines with the VMware Web Service
        1. Shared virtual machines and user accounts
          1. Creating a Windows user account
          2. Creating a Linux user account
        2. Sharing a virtual machine
        3. Accessing a shared virtual machine
      2. Using VNC for remote virtual machine access
        1. Enabling VNC access on a virtual machine
        2. Connecting remotely to virtual machines using VNC
      3. Using TeamViewer for remote access through a firewall
        1. Installing the TeamViewer agent
        2. Using the TeamViewer client
      4. Accessing VMware Workstation from tablets and mobile devices
      5. Summary
    14. 7. Converting Virtual Machines
      1. Converting physical machines to VMware Workstation
        1. Virtualizing a physical Windows machine with VMware Converter
        2. Performing a physical-to-virtual conversion of computers running Linux
      2. Performing a V2V conversion and virtual machine import
        1. Importing raw image files into VMware Workstation
        2. Importing VMDK files into VMware Workstation
        3. Importing other disk file formats into VMware Workstation using OVF
        4. Importing third-party virtual machines using VMware vCenter Converter
      3. Summary
    15. 8. Cloning and Snapshots
      1. Understanding when to apply which tools
      2. Working with snapshots
        1. Creating snapshots
        2. Reverting a snapshot
        3. Using autoprotect snapshots
        4. Snapshots and powering off
        5. Working with the Snapshot Manager
      3. Creating clones
        1. Preparing virtual machines before cloning
        2. Using Sysprep on Windows to create a template
      4. Backups in a virtual environment
      5. Summary
    16. 9. Sharing Virtual Machines
      1. Uploading virtual machines to vSphere and the cloud
        1. Making virtual machines ready for vSphere
        2. Uploading virtual machines to vSphere
      2. Sharing virtual machines with VMware Player
        1. Preparing to move virtual machines to VMware Player
        2. Starting a copied virtual machine for the first time
      3. Using VMware appliances
      4. Making screen movies
      5. Summary
    17. Index