Modifying a VMware virtual machine

Using the VMware Modify Virtual Machine Task, you can modify the disk size, memory size, and number of processors of existing virtual machines from the BigFix console.

Before you begin

You cannot modify templates using this procedure. Ensure that the analysis VMware Host Overview is active. If you need to activate this analysis, a warning message is displayed in the VMware Modify Virtual Machine Task. You cannot proceed without activating the analysis. After you activate the analysis, it can take a few minutes for the results to gather.

To check the status of the analyses, from the navigation tree in the Server Automation domain, click Virtualization > Setup and Maintenance > Activate Analyses. Ensure that the Status changes from Not Activated to Activated Globally. In the Activate Analyses list, click Host Overview. In the Analysis: VMware Host Overview window, click the Results tab. When the Results window is populated with one or more computer names, the analysis is activated. If any of the computer names displays the message "not reported", the analysis is not gathered.

For non-English users: VMware vCenter supports only Simplified Chinese, Japanese, German and French. You can use this Task only if the console language that you selected in BigFix console is identical to the console language selected in VMware.

About this task

This Task is automatically populated with data from VMware. To work with other data, you need to turn off validation and enter your own values into the parameter field. To override the data that is provided in the form, check whether a button exists in the Validation column for the parameter that you want to disable and select OFF. For more information, see Turning off validation in a task.

Complete the following steps to modify a virtual machine.

Procedure

  1. Open the Server Automation domain
  2. From the navigation tree in the Server Automation domain, click Virtualization > Host Management > Host Configuration. This opens the list of Host Configuration Tasks.
  3. From the Host Configuration list, select VMware Modify Virtual Machine.
  4. In the Task: VMware Modify Virtual Machine window, from the Host list, select the host on which the virtual machine that you want to modify is running.
  5. From the Virtual Machine Name list, select the name of the virtual machine that you want to modify. If the virtual machine name that you want to modify is displayed more than once in the Virtual Machine Name list, you can verify that the virtual machine that you select is correct by viewing the Virtual Machine UUID and the IP Address field. If you want to modify a virtual machine that does not display in the Virtual Machine Name list, select OFF on the validation button for Virtual Machine Name in the Validation column. For example, if you want to modify a virtual machine that does not exist, but is scheduled to be created, you can turn off validation and enter the name of the virtual machine to be modified. You can then schedule the Task to take action when the virtual machine exists. If you disable validation for Virtual Machine Name, the validation for the Power State and Disk Size is also disabled. The validation for Power State and Disk Size is disabled because the BigFix console cannot validate that the power state or disk size of a virtual machine name that has been entered while validation is disabled. You must ensure that the virtual machine name that you enter is correct or the Task fails in VMware.
  6. You can use the Power State field to view whether the virtual machine that you want to work with is powered on or off. VMware only allows you to modify virtual machines that are powered off. However, if you want to modify a virtual machine that is currently powered on, but is scheduled to be powered off at a later stage, select OFF on the validation button for Power State in the Validation column. You can then schedule the Task to take action when the virtual machine is powered off.
  7. From the Disk Name list, select the disk that you want to modify. You can use the Maximum Size field to view the maximum size that you can configure a virtual machine.
  8. In the Maximum file Size field, you can view the maximum file size that can be allocated to a virtual machine that is created on the datastore. You cannot modify the disk size of the virtual machine to be greater than the maximum file size allowed for the datastore.
  9. In the Datastore free space field, you can view the free space available on the datastore. You can add the value that is displayed in the Datastore free space field to the value that is displayed in the Disk Size field.
  10. In the Disk Size field, enter the disk size that you want to allocate to your virtual machine. In VMware, you can only increase the disk size, you cannot decrease it. You cannot exceed the maximum file size configured for the datastore. You cannot exceed the free space available on the datastore. If you want to enter a value for the disk size that is greater than the size that is currently available on the datastore, select OFF on the validation button for the Disk Size in the Validation list. For example, if you know that virtual machines on the datastore are scheduled to be deleted and free disk capacity will become available, you can enter a greater disk size than that which is currently available. You can schedule the Task to take action when more disk space becomes available. You must ensure that this information is correct. You cannot modify a virtual machine with a provisioned disk size greater than the Maximum file size for the datastore even if you disable validation.
  11. From the Memory Size list, select the memory size that you want to allocate to your virtual machine.
  12. In the Number of Virtual Processors list, select the number of processors that you want to allocate to your virtual machine. You must enter a number greater than zero.
  13. In the Take Action dialog box, ensure that Specific computers selected in the list below is selected and from the list of Computer Names, select the host of the virtual machine that you want to modify and click OK.

Results

When your virtual machine is modified, the Status changes to Completed in the Action: VMware Modify Virtual Machine window.