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Creating Virtual Machine Templates on SCVMM

Use the following instructions to create Virtual Machine Templates that you can use for Guest Customization of Virtual Machines on System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM). The exact instructions depend on the operating system; instructions are provided for templates for Windows 2003, Windows 2008, Windows 2012, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

Creating templates on SCVMM for Windows 2003 (x86 and x64)

  1. On the SCVMM Admin Console, create a new Virtual Machine and install Windows 2003 on it.
  2. Set the Guest OS of the VM to Windows 2003.
     Depending upon your installation, select 32-bit or 64-bit.
  3. Install Virtual Guest Services (Microsoft Tools) on the VM, after ensuring that your Windows 2003 is patched with at least SP2.
  4. From the OS Installation disk, extract the files in Support/Tools/Deploy.cab, and copy the extracted files to the newly created VM to the following folder: C:\winsysprep
  5. Within the VM, open a command prompt and browse to the C:\winsysprep directory.

  6. Run the following command: sysprep.exe /reseal /quiet /shutdown

    Note

    Ensure that you run the Sysprep Shutdown command with the shutdown keyword and not the reboot keyword. Once the VM shuts down automatically, do not start it up. Convert it directly to a Template.

    The VM reboots and undergoes sysprep and will ultimately shut down.

  7. Right click on the VM and select Properties. Ensure that there are no floppy disks or DVDs connected to VM.
  8. Right click the VM and select New Template.
     During the process, do not make any hardware changes to the VM.

  9. During the Template creation process, a panel for Guest Customization appears.
     From the drop down menu, select the Customization not required option.

    Note

    Choosing any option other than Customization not Required during template creation will result in failures.

After the job has finished running, the template is ready for use.

Note

For Windows 2003 x64 — Windows 2003 x64 does not support the Emulated NIC OOB. While creating the VM, please ensure that you select the Synthetic NIC for this VM.

Creating templates on SCVMM for Windows 2008 (x86, x64, and r2) and Windows 2012

  1. On the SCVMM Admin Console, create a new VM and install Windows 2008 on it.
  2. Set the Guest OS of the VM to Windows 2008 or Windows 2012.
     Depending on your installation for Windows 2008, select 32-bit or 64-bit or R2.
  3. Install Virtual Guest Services (Microsoft Tools) on the VM.
  4. Within the VM, open a command prompt and browse to the C:\Windows\system32\sysprep directory.

  5. Run the following command: sysprep.exe /oobe /generalize /quiet /shutdown

    Note

    Sysprep Shutdown — Ensure that you have run the command with the shutdown keyword and not the reboot keyword. Once the VM shuts down automatically, do not start it up. Convert it directly to a Template.

    The VM reboots and undergoes sysprep and will ultimately shut down.

  6. Right click on the VM and select Properties. Ensure that there are no floppy disks or DVDs connected to VM.
  7. Right click the VM and select New Template.
     During the process, do not make any hardware changes to the VM.
    During the Template creation process, a panel for Guest Customization appears.

  8. From the drop down menu, select the Customization not required option.

    Note

    Choosing any option other than Customization not Required during template creation will result in failures.

After the job has finished running, the template is ready for use.

Creating templates on SCVMM for Red Hat Enterprise Linux

  1. Ensure that you have added the Linux OS ISOs to the Library Server.
  2. On the SCVMM Admin Console, create a virtual machine on a Linux Guest OS.
  3. Install the Linux Integration Services on the virtual machine.
  4. Turn off the virtual machine.
  5. Right click the VM and select New Template.
     During the process, do not make any hardware changes to the VM.
    During the Template creation process, a panel for Guest Customization appears.

  6. From the drop down menu, select the Customization not required option.

    Note

    Choosing any option other than Customization not Required during template creation will result in failures.

  7. Select the Library Server where you want to store this template and step through all other wizard steps.
    The virtual machine is converted to a template. After the job has finished running, the template is ready for use.

    Note

    In the SCVMM 2008 R2, after creating the Linux template, ensure that the proper OS is selected under the Template properties. For example, RedHat Enterprise Linux 5 instead of the Other Linux.

Creating Linux templates on SCVMM 2012

This section consists of:

 

Note

Before creating the templates, ensure that your SCVMM environment complies with the requirements discussed in SCVMM-2012-SP1-prerequisites.

For troubleshooting information, see Troubleshooting-SCVMM-2012-SP1.

 

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