Building a Master Image - Part 1: VMware

Submitted by dfnkt_ on Fri, 2008-04-04 10:13.

This is the first part of a series on creating a master image for use with hardware independent imaging and covers using VMware to create virtual machines that can be deployed to physical boxes.

VMware is a great tool for creating a testing environment for various software. I use a virtual Notification Server for testing helpdesk customizations and other tweaks. The power of VMware can help you decrease the amount of time needed to create and do upkeep on your image(s).

There are several products from VMware that you can use. If you don't have a copy or feel like purchasing a copy of Workstation ($189 for a single license), you can go here and download VMware server for free. You will need to register for a key from their website and that is also free.

Check This Out First

VMware has a site setup that has a document you can download that covers virtual to physical (v2p) deployment. Please visit this site and download the PDF.

Getting Started

Once you've gotten it downloaded and installed, you can open it up and take a look around at the interface. I am using Workstation 6.0.3 for this article so your interface may appear a bit different.

Main interface of VMware workstation. From here you can create a new VM or create a team, which is outside the scope of this article.

Click to view.

If you build it...

Once you have the main window open, click on "New Virtual Machine". Click OK on the first screen to get on with the wizard. You can select either a Typical or a Custom VM on this part. Selecting Typical will get your VM created just a bit faster than Custom because you can choose mostly defaults and be ready to go in a minute. Here I will walk through a Custom creation. With Custom, you can tweak settings such as the hardware compatibility that you want to use, basically meaning what version of Workstation do you want to run your VM on; you can go back as far as Workstation 4.

One Processor!

Another option you will have with Custom is selecting the number of processors to run, I always choose One. Running multiple processors on the VM can cause problems with your build later. Selecting the amount of RAM you want the virtual machine to use is the next step. I would advise here to pick at least 512MB of RAM. The program will default to 256 for WinXP and higher for the server OS's.

Decisions Decisions...

The next step covers the type of networking you want to use.

Various types of networking options can be used. I generally pick Bridged which gives the Guest OS its own IP address.

Click to view.

Your next option lets you pick the type of SCSI adapter you want to use. The options are BusLogic or LSI Logic, to simplify things, you can pick the default which should be BusLogic. We're almost finished! The next option lets you select a disk, you will want to "Create a new virtual disk". You can also tell the program to use your physical hard drive, please do not choose this unless you know what you're getting into. The next step asks you which type of Disk you want to make. I always choose IDE for an XP machine. I have had problems with running sysprep with SCSI selected and getting a BSOD on reboot.

Give her some space...

Virtual machines, like women, sometimes need space. You can go ahead and give your virtual machine space without the fear of it hooking up with that awfully good looking copy of Windows Server 2008 down the block.This step also gives you an option to "Allocate all disk space now". You can choose to allocate it all now, or have your VM start out small and grow. I place all my virtual machines on an external hard drive and choose to allocate the space now. Finally name your disk file, the default is fine unless you have some other preference.

That's great...What now?

What now!?! Now you have a mini computer within a computer, any geek would be proud. Now that you have the virtual machine setup you have a few options as to how to get windows on it.

Option #1 - CD Install

The first option you have is to do the good 'ole fashioned installation from CD. Insert the CD in you computers drive and click "Start This Virtual Machine".

Click to view.

After you press play you should see a quick flash that looks something similar to this:

Press F2 to enter the "BIOS", F12 for a Network Boot, or ESC for the boot menu when you see this. You have to be speedy, it's a quick flash.

Click to view.

Option #2 - Use an ISO

If you have an ISO of Windows to use, you can point your virtual machines CD-ROM to use the ISO and it can boot straight from it, I can't tell you how many CD-Rs this has saved me.

Click on the tab that contains the name of your virtual machine and select "Settings". Select the CD-ROM device from there and click the radio box to "Use ISO Image:".

Click to view.

If you don't have a windows ISO, you can make one with nLite which will also allow you to cut out some of the bloat of Windows if you want to experiment. nLite will also slipstream a service pack and hotfixes into your ISO if you want it to. If you prefer to slipstream the service pack yourself, I recommend Paul Thurrott's Guide.

Get Windows Installed

Everything from now on should be a standard windows installation. Once its installed you should have a vanilla copy of Windows and if you followed my advice from earlier, service pack 2. If you don't slipstream SP2 into your ISO or install CD, you're going to create unneeded files for a service pack uninstall.

Look for Part #2 Soon!

I know technical reading can be boring, hopefully I haven't bored you to death with this. In part #2 we will continue on with our VM and get to tweaking it for use in a HII. And for any ladies reading this, no hard feelings. See you soon!