IMPORTANT:
Whilst vSphere supports one of the widest range of guest operating systems available – that does not mean all OSes are supported for Guest Customization. This is particularly significant when it comes to Linux distributions where the sheer vast array of Linux distributions, and the rapidity of their release restricts the Guest Customization options. However, there cases where a Windows OS is supported by vSphere, but not for Guest Customization for instance Windows 2000 is no longer supported for guest customization. In terms of Linux, CentOS is not supported for Guest Customization at all (although it is a support guest operating system), and as such if a template is made from it and deployed as a VM the administrator will receive this warning:
This is a recent list of Linux Systems and their status in terms of Guest Customization Support:
- RedHatEnterpriseLinux 6.x – Yes
- RedHatEnterpriseLinux 5.x – Yes
- RedHatEnterpriseLinux 4.x – Yes
- RedHatEnterpriseLinux 3.x – No
- RedHatEnterpriseLinux 2.1 – No
- SLES11 SP3 – Yes
- SLES11 SP2 – Yes
- SLES11 SP1 – Yes
- SLES11 SP0 – No
- SLES10 SP4 – Yes
- SLES10 SP3,SP2, SP1, SP0 – No
- SLES9 – No
- SLES8 – No
- Ubuntu13.1 – Yes
- Ubuntu13.04 – Yes
- Ubuntu12.1 – Yes
- Ubuntu12.04 LTS – Yes
- Ubuntu11.10 – Yes
- Ubuntu11.04 – Yes
- Ubuntu10.10 LTS – Yes
- Ubuntu10.04 – Yes
1. At this stage the administrator will see the Guest Customization window. In a clean installation this will be blank. The screen grab below shows an environment where some guest customizations specs have all already be saved. Guest Customizations hold the typical question need to automate the generalization of the guest operating system. The question asked can be saved to guest customization spec settings which saves lots of time – by not having to set variable such as Computer Name, TimeZone, Networking and DNS/Domain settings. The guest customization wizard differs from Windows to Linux so its look and feel alters depends on the OSes contained in the template.
The page icon with a green plus, can be used to add a new customization spec:
Note: When this icon is clicked the Deploy from template wizard is minimised to Work in progress pane, and the New VM Guest Customization Spec window is loaded
2. Next we can set the Computer Name. It is possible to input manually, and have that name appended with unique characters. Alternatively, we can make the system make set the computer name to be the same as name specified in the Deploy from template wizard – alternatively we can pause the cloning process to ask the user to set the computer name. Finally, custom applications can be registered with vCenter to set the name, and hold this as record in a database.
Note: It’s recommend to use lower-case for the VM name to ensure the hostname in Linux is set in lower-case as well.
3. Next the TimeZone that is appropriate for the VM.
4. The Configure Network, allows the administrator set the VM to use either a DHCP address or configured with a Manual IP Address. If a manual IP address is selected again the administrator can opt to set a Static IP Address or stall the customization process to allow an operate to set it manually.
Once selected, the “pencil icon” can be used to the edit the IP configuration – with the ability to set the IP/Subnet Mask/Default Gateway and Alternative Gateway
5. Finally, the administrator can configure the Primary, Secondary, Tertiary DNS IP Addresses together for the default DNS Search Path.
6. Once the Guest Customization Wizard has completed the wizard will be dismissed and the Deploy VM from a Template wizard will appear allowing the administrator to select the Guest Customization Spec from the list.
