Working with Virtual Machines in Syslab
Creating Linked Clones
1. Browse to “C:\Virtual Machines” and find the VM that you would like to work with.
2. Open the needed VM’s folder and double click on the .vmx file in that folder. VMWare Workstation will start and load the selected VM.
3. To actually use the VM (where you can save your information for later use), you will need to create a linked clone. In the Commands section on screen, click “Clone this virtual machine.” -This will start the Clone Virtual Machine Wizard.
4. When prompted for the Clone Source, choose to clone from “An existing snapshot” and select the snapshot labeled Master.
5. Choose to create a Linked Clone.
6. Choose a name and for the location, select the P: drive on the local PC. The P: drive will provide the option on reboot of saving your work in the event of reboot or failure.
NOTE: As the name implies, you have created a copy of the selected VM which is linked to the original. This allows the copied version to take up very little disk space and be very fast to transfer to and from the file server. However, your copy will not work on any computer outside of the lab because it needs the original “base” VM in order to operate.
Using Linked Clones (DONOT RUN CLONES ON THE SERVER…THE SERVER WILL FAIL)
1. If this is the first time you are using the linked clone, then browse to the folder in which you placed your created clone(s), otherwise if you have saved your linked clones to your student account on the server, you must connect to the server with your credentials and copy the clone back to the P: drive on the local PC before use. Open the clone’s folder and open the clone itself by double clicking the .vmx file.
2. In the Commands section on screen, click “Start this virtual machine.”
3. When you are done with your work, halt your VM by either shutting it down or suspending it.
4. Close your VM’s tab within VMWare Workstation.
5. Save any linked clones you have modified back to your server account.
NOTE: Always store your work in progress on the P: drive of the PC. The P: drive is called a “Thaw Space” and DeepFreeze does not remove the data from this drive when rebooted. A script is run to remove any data in this area on reboot. If you rebooted by accident, when you log in, you will see a command prompt offering to keep the data in the P: drive. You MUST respond to NOT delete the data OR IT WILL BE REMOVED!
Saving Linked Clones (10GB max space for 421 students 20GB for 422 and 516 students)
1. Click Start > Run and at the prompt, enter the name of the server for your data storage (\\ackbar or \\jabba) as provided by your instructor and press enter. –This will display the shared files on the server.
2. Browse to the Students folder and find the appropriate subfolder for your quarter, course-section, and username. –EXAMPLE: jabba\students\20082\516-01\abc1234
3. When prompted for credentials, log in with your username and the password your instructor created for you when they set up your account for the course. –Example Username: netsys\abc1234
4. You can copy your linked clones and other files to/from this folder and the P: drive as desired.
Deleting Linked Clones
1. Make sure the clone is turned off and no longer open in VMWare Workstation.
2. Browse to your clone’s folder.
3. Select the entire folder (the one directly containing the .vmx file).
4. Delete the folder.
5. This same procedure can be used for deleting files from your server account to regain space. Log in to your share as in Saving Linked Clones and select the folder and delete it.