Knowledge Base

Windows 2000 (or 2003) virtual machines may be imaged/cloned by using Microsoft provided sysprep and the steps below.

Creating the virtual machine image guest operating system

1. Install the Windows guest operating system with all applications and operating system fixes/patches.

   Note: Please leave this virtual machine in a workgroup for now. You can add the virtual machine to a domain after booting the virtual machine image in its new location.

2. For Windows 2000 virtual machines, download the Sysprep 1.1 utility from Microsoft into the virtual machine from www.microsoft.com/windows2000/downloads/tools/sysprep/license.asp.

   For Windows 2003 virtual machines, use the sysprep utility included in the Windows Server 2003 SP1 Deployment Tools. For information, see support.microsoft.com/kb/892778.

3. Run the self-extracting executable and unzip to c:\temp.

4. Run c:\temp\tools\sysprep.exe.

5. Shut down the guest operating system and power off the virtual machine.

6. Copy the *.vmdk (virtual disks) and *.vmx (configuration) files. These files are the virtual machine image which can be copied to other systems running VMware products for quick use. Virtual machine images can be kept in a network share location like:
   \\image_repository_server\imaged_virtual_machines\win2kpro

   This directory would contain the *.vmdk and *.vmx files.

7. Change the UUID and MAC address for each cloned virtual machine.
   
   For VMware GSX Server, see:
   www.vmware.com/support/gsx3/doc/manage_uuid_gsx.html#1002531 and www.vmware.com/support/gsx3/doc/network_macaddr_gsx.html#1061969
   
   For VMware Workstation, see:
   www.vmware.com/support/ws45/doc/network_macaddr_ws.html#1061969

   
   

Implementing the virtual machine imaged guest operating system

1. Create the virtual machine's new directory on the target host operating system. For example, c:\vms\win2kpro.

2. Copy the *.vmdk and *.vmx files to c:\vms\win2kpro.

3. Open Workstation or a GSX Server console and browse to the .vmx file in c:\vms\win2kpro.

4. Power on the virtual machine.

5. Answer the setup program questions generated by sysprep:

   1. Accept the license agreement.
   2. Accept or change the Regional settings.
   3. Enter Name and Organization tied to the new virtual machine.
   4. Select the Licensing Mode.
   5. Enter the Computer's name and the administrator's password.
   6. Set the Date and Time.
   7. Select Network Settings.
   8. Select Workgroup.
   9. Click Finish to automatically reboot for your changes to take place.
   
   
   

If you still see error messages regarding SID conflicts, try using the Microsoft NewSid utility to change the SID. For more information, see http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897418.aspx.

Note: VMware has not officially tested NewSid, and therefore cannot support its use. Many customers, however, have reported success with it. For related discussions, search on "SID", "NewSid", or "sysprep" in the VMTN Discussion Forums at www.vmware.com/community/.