How To Install Windows Server 2008 R2 x64 On VMware 8 Part II

To configure the Virtual Machine please read How To Install Windows Server 2008 R2 x64 On VMware 8 Part I


Installing Windows Server 2008     

Installing Windows Server 2008 is done in the same way as you would on a stand alone computer. You insert the Windows Server 2008 DVD in the DVD drive of the Host computer, and click on "Start this virtual machine" in your newly created virtual machine. VMware will boot the DVD from the DVD drive and the installation will begin.

[1] If you have the DVD image double click on devices or  go to VM then click on settings

[2] On that window browse for the image from your computer under CD/DVD(IDE) option

[3] After that, verify that all parameters are properly configured and click reset in VM tab under power

[4]  The first screen you come to in the install is the language and keyboard layout screen. Make your choices and click Next.

[5] The Install process begins. Click install Now. The rest of the installation will take place according to normal procedure within VMware.

[6] Choose the hard drive to install Windows on. Notice that Windows recognizes the 15GB virtual hard drive (the virtual machine) we created.

Note:

On this screen, you can click the Next button if you want Windows to use all the drive space and perform a quick NTFS format. If you want more control over the creation and formatting of the partition,

click on Drive Options (advanced).

[7] If you have installed Windows Vista, the installation of Windows Server 2008 is very similar. Windows will now install files and reboot twice.

[8] You will be prompted to change password at first login after which you can start configuring and using Windows Server 2008 R2 x64. The same procedures more or less apply for installing a 32-bit version. However, unlike a 32-bit OS a 64-bit machine will not install without configuring the bios settings.

[9] After following the aforementioned procedure your will be successfully able to install a x64 or x86 version of Windows server 2008.

Installing VMware Tools     
VMware Tools is a suite of utilities that will enhance the performance of your Guest operating system. They are included in the installation of VMware Server. Once your Guest operating system has been installed, in your virtual machine, the first thing you should do is install VMware Tools. VMware Tools will install enhanced video, mouse, and network drivers as well as utilities to configure your virtual machine. See the VMware Server online documentation for more information about VMware Tools.

To install VMware Tools, click the VM menu option, in the VMware Server Console, and choose "Install VMware Tools".  

Note: you cannot install VMware Tools, in a virtual machine, until the Guest operating system has been installed first.

Additional Notes    

• When working in the VMware Server Console, you can press CTRL+ALT to move the mouse focus from the virtual machine to the Host computer desktop.
• With the focus in a virtual machine, use CTRL+ALT+Insert instead of CTRL+ALT+Delete.
• If you are going to shutdown or reboot your Host computer, shutdown your virtual machine operating systems first.


Important
Once the virtual machine reboots, you will login to Windows Server 2008 and the Initial Configuration Tasks window will again appear. Go through the configuration tasks so your Win2008 server is setup. Do the following:
• Set your Time Zone
• Rename your Server. Windows will assign it some random name during the install. Give it a normal name.
• Set a static IP address for your NIC (as a server, it should have a static IP address). It should be on the same subnet as your Host server, but have a different IP address. Note: you can actually create virtual switches and networks among your virtual machines using VMware. Read the VMware online documentation for more information about this.

At this point, think of this virtual server as a "real server". You will configure and use it in the same way as if it was a stand alone server. And it will function as if it was a stand alone server running Windows Server 2008. You can access it from the network, make it a domain controller and join PCs to it, install operating system components and applications on it, and all the while it will be running at the same time and on the same physical server as your Host operating system, Windows Server 2003.



• Read the VMware online documentation along with the PDF help files you can download from the VMware site. There is a lot to VMware Server that you should investigate. There are also VMware forums where you can find useful information and ask questions.
• Like any software, VMware is not without its bugs. Some may affect you, some not. Again, the VMware forums are a good place to find help and information.
• Books on VMware Server are few and far between. I would have thought there would have been numerous books out there on this popular virtualization software, but there are surprisingly few. One I would suggest is
VMware Server and VMware Player by Dennis Zimmer. It is a little expensive, and somewhat crudely published, but it has a great deal of useful information. Especially if you are new to VMware Server.

• Windows Server 2008 is still in BETA so don't expect perfection. Microsoft has announced Windows Server 2008 will go Gold in February of 2008, so there is plenty of time to start experimenting with it.
• One thing that does not work in Windows Server 2008 is GPMC - Group Policy Management Console. At least up to and including the June 2007 CTP. Hopefully, in subsequent builds/releases, this will be fixed.
• Windows Server 2008 reminds me of Vista in that like Vista, it has similarities to its predecessors, but yet in many ways is quite different. There will be a learning curve, but Microsoft supplies an abundance of documentation to help you get started.