Chapter 2. Managing virtual machines

You can perform common virtual machine management tasks in the virtual machines pane:

  • Start a virtual machine by clicking the Run button ( Run ). It is available when the virtual machine is suspended or stopped.
  • Access the console of a virtual machine by clicking the Console button ( Console ). It is available when the virtual machine is running.
  • Temporarily stop a virtual machine by selecting Suspend from the drop-down menu. It is available when the virtual machine is running.
  • Stop a virtual machine by selecting Shutdown from the drop-down menu. It is available when the virtual machine is running.
  • Restart a virtual machine by selecting Reboot from the drop-down menu. It is available when the virtual machine is running.

2.1. Viewing virtual machine details

Viewing a virtual machine’s details

Click the virtual machine’s name in the virtual machines pane to view details of the virtual machine. The details are displayed in individual cards:

Virtual Machine Description and Status

  • Operating System
  • Name
  • State - For example, Running, Off, Asleep
  • Description

Details

  • Host
  • IP Address
  • FQDN - Virtual machine’s FQDN. The guest agent must be installed on the virtual machine to retrieve this value.
  • Cluster
  • Data Center
  • Template
  • CD
  • Cloud-Init (Sysprep on Windows virtual machines) status - On/Off
  • Boot Menu status - On/Off
  • Console
  • Optimized for - Desktop/Server/High Performance
  • CPUs
  • Memory

Utilization

  • Displays utilization statistics for CPU, Memory, Networking, and Disk usage (CPU, Memory, and Networking only display values when the virtual machine is running). The Disk usage display may differ when the guest agent is installed on the virtual machine.

Snapshots

  • Displays a list of snapshots that have been saved.

Network Interfaces

  • Displays a list of network interfaces defined for this virtual machine.

Disks

  • Displays a list of disks defined for this virtual machine.

2.2. Editing virtual machines

Note

Your user role must have permission to edit a virtual machine.

You can edit a virtual machine’s disks and network interfaces in the virtual machine’s details view. See Section 2.1, “Viewing virtual machine details”.

Editing a virtual machine

In the virtual machines pane, click the card of the virtual machine that you want to edit. The Virtual machine dashboard is displayed, which contains the following fields, organized in individual cards. Click the Edit icon ( Edit VM ) in the appropriate card to edit the values in that card:

Virtual Machine name and description

  • Name - The virtual machine name may contain only upper- or lower-case letters, numbers, underscores, hyphens, or periods. Special characters and spaces are not allowed.
  • Description - Enter a description of this virtual machine (optional).

Details

  • Template - Displays the name of the template used to create this virtual machine.
  • Change CD - Allows you to select an ISO file that is accessible to the virtual machine as a CD.
  • CPUs - Allows you to configure the number of virtual CPUs available to the virtual machine.
  • Memory - Allows you to configure the virtual memory available to the virtual machine.

Details - Advanced Options

  • Cloud-Init - The cloud-init tool allows you to automate the deployment of virtual machines. When this is set to ON, the Hostname and SSH Authorized Keys fields are displayed. See Explanation of Settings in the New Virtual Machine and Edit Virtual Machine Windows in the Virtual Machine Management Guide for details.
  • Operating System - Allows you to select the operating system installed on this virtual machine.
  • Boot Menu - When set to ON, the Boot menu appears in the console, enabling you to select a bootable device.

  • Boot Order

    • First Device - The first device to be checked for booting.
    • Second Device - The second device to be checked for booting.

Snapshots

Displays a list of snapshots that have been saved.

Network Interfaces

Displays a list of network interfaces defined for this virtual machine.

Disks

Displays a list of disks that are defined for this virtual machine.

2.3. Creating virtual machines

Creating a virtual machine

  1. Click the Create Virtual Machine button in the toolbar.

  2. Set the following fields:

    • Name of the virtual machine. The virtual machine name may contain only upper- or lower-case letters, numbers, underscores (_), hyphens (-), or periods (.). Special characters and spaces are not permitted.
    • Description (optional)
    • Cluster
    • Template
    • Operating System
    • Defined Memory
    • CPUs
    • Boot Menu

    • Boot Order

      • First Device
      • Second Device
    • Cloud-Init

    • Icon

      See Explanation of Settings in the New Virtual Machine and Edit Virtual Machine Windows in the Virtual Machine Management Guide for details.

  3. Click Create VM.

2.4. Connecting to virtual machines

Connecting to a virtual machine

  1. In the virtual machines pane, click the Run button in a virtual machine’s card to start that virtual machine.
  2. Click the Console button to connect to the virtual machine.
  3. You will be asked to download a .vv file.

  4. Open the file with remote-viewer. A console window displays.

    You can now use the virtual machine in the same way you would use a physical desktop.