I have been hearing  lot of speculation  on Windows 7 release date since last year.

We are already in 2009 and i hope to see Windows 7 coming out either mid of this year or no later than end of this year. I have been looking for Microsoft Windows 7 pre-release version for long time finally i have got my hands on Windows 7 beta (build 7000). Since i don’t have any spare PC to install Windows 7, so i thought it would be worth to install Windows 7 on VMware workstation as virtual machine. In my VMware workstation virtual machine for Windows 7 i selected Windows XP Professional template.

 

Windows 7 beta requires minimum 512 Mb. Memory and 8 Gb. of disk space to install. After finishing Windows 7 virtual machine creation i have to mount the DVD image and then clicked on power on, within few seconds I got to see the Windows 7 installer screen which was very much like Windows Vista splash screen, so from Graphical user interface point of view Windows 7 is more like Windows 7. I was surprised to see that Windows 7 didn’t have any issues finding hard disk drive, this was huge for me because i remember there was lot of driver issue installing Windows vista on VMware. After setup finished copying installation file Windows 7 rebooted to continue with installation, while entering username and password i notice Windows 7 ultimate on screen so this tells me that Microsoft is going to release several similar version of Windows 7 like Vista – Home – Basic, Premium, Business and Ultimate. If you are not familiar with different versions of Windows Vista then you should check out pricing and feature differences on Microsoft Vista edition URL. Entire Windows 7 installation took me 20 minutes and I can say this time i am impressed with Windows 7 because installation was really a breeze, there was no driver issues i had to struggle with :-). Some of the improvement  I have noted on Windows 7 are:

1.) Quick installation

I have noticed Windows 7 Beta installs more quickly than does Windows Vista installation.

2.)Windows 7 New Task bar 

I quick find the new task bar which is still controversial , if you want to read about new task bar check out Paul Thurrott’s SuperSite Windows 7 review. The new taskbar at the bottom of the screen now functions somewhat like Mac OS X’s Dock, probably Microsoft want this feature to be part of Windows 7 to compete with Mac OS. X Large application icons on the taskbar launch programs when clicked on. You can customize which application live there, In addition, when you run applications, they run in the taskbar as well.

For enabling Windows XP/Vista VMware virtual machines to be accessible using VMware View portal you would need to install VMware View agents on the base (master) Windows VM used in desktop pool.

I ran into some permission issues while installing VMware View agent on base Windows XP image. If you are unable to install VMware view agent then you are definitely missing some of the requirements

For installing VMware View 3 agent on Windows XP/Vista virtual machines running on VMware ESX make sure you have latest VMware tools installed. While installing VMware View 3 agent on Windows XP virtual machine (vm) i received error “you need administrative privileges to install this software” even though i was logged in as Active directory domain administrator. This is more of Windows Security issue where vmware view active directory domain administrator accounts needs to be added to Windows XP local administrator group to install the VMware View agent software. If you cannot install VMware View 3 agent on Windows XP vm because of same error then try adding active directory administrator account to local administrator group.

1. Login in to Windows XP virtual machines using local administrator account on Windows XP vm.

2. Open Windows computer management by running compmgmt.msc from Run

3. Select Groups under Local users and Groups and add VMware View administrator active directory account. This VMware view administrator account has to be same account you use for VMware View Manager server.

What are Linked clone desktops ?

Linked clone desktops are virtual desktops that can be created using VMware View Composer from a single base image and use considerably less storage space than non linked clone desktops.

Because each linked clone virtual machine is cloned from a common source, desktops in the pool can be deployed extremely rapidly and simultaneously upgraded, patched, and maintained without affecting user data. Linked clone.

The VMware View Composer feature enables View Manager Administrators to rapidly clone and deploy multiple desktops from a single centralized base image, called a Parent VM. Once the desktops have been created they remain indirectly linked to a snapshot residing on the Parent VM. For using Linked clone technology you must install VMware View Composer agents on the parent virtual machine when you install VMware View agent on XP/Vista desktop.

As shown in picture above to generated linked clone VM’s VMware View composer first create a repica, replicas are created from base image (Parent VMware Virtual machine) and snapshot taken off that parent VM.These steps will appear as tasks under vCenter client when you use VMware View Manager to deploy Linked clone Virtual desktops.

In my lab environment i am successfully running Windows vista virtual desktops using VMware View linked clone feature, this is really one of the great feature i have ever seen in virtualization product. VMware View helped me save lot of disk storage space in deploying VMware virtual desktop using linked clone feature on my EMC SAN.

The VMware View Composer uses Linked Clone technology to rapidly create virtual desktops that share virtual disks with a master image, this reduces storage needs and costs by up to 70% while simplifying desktop management.

If you are planning to install VMware View 3 in your environment then you have two choices .First you can use VMware View 3 Composer with existing VMware Infrastructure environment or if you are planning to do new VMware infrastructure then you can install VMware View composer with it by purchasing VMware View 3 Premier Edition. Once you have completed VMware ESX 3 install, vCenter and VMware View 3 Connection Server install you need to setup View Composer server. When i was working on VMware View setup i was wondering where i need to install View Composer server. So Let me try to answer this question on where to install VMware View Composer?

Where to install View Composer

VMware View 3 composer server can only be installed on vCenter (VirtualCenter) server, and requires the use of a Microsoft SQL database. You need to create the separate MS-SQL database instance and a new Data Source Name (DSN) which connects to VMware View database. You have to make sure that you are not configuring VMware View Composer to use the vCenter DSN. This would result in View Composer using the same database as used by vCenter serve, this is not supported . You can use the same MS-SQL database server as vCenter, but you need to setup separate database instance with separate DSN only to be used by View Composer server.I did find the one and only one documentation link on VMware View3 at VMware site, here is the link on VMware View 3 Server installation and administration that i had used to setup VMware View 3 :
http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/view_pubs.html

VMware View 3 is available in available in two editions Enterprise and Premier as bundled solutions. This sounds very confusing to some of the folks interested in purchasing VMware View 3, for some understanding what they  really need for your environment ,but it is not that complicated as what you think.

I will do my best to simplfy this for you .To get started lets take a case where  you are already running VMware Infrastructure in your environment and intesreted to purchase VMware View 3 for virtual desktop deployments ,then you only need to purchase VMware View 3 Enterprise edition which costs $50/concurrent desktop (ccd) .VMware View 3 Enterprise edition will give you ability to use VMware View Manager (Connection server - a broker  and a web console) , to manage virtual desktops, you would need to install VMware connection software on existing VMware vCenter Server (formerly VMware virtualCenter Server) . However if you are looking for  application virtualization and you have plans to deploy large number of virtual desktop then you should seriouly look into buying Premier version of VMware View 3, which comes with ThinAPP and linked clone technology offered by VMware View Composer , costs $150 ccd.

If you are not running VMware Infrastructure in your IT environment and planning to get your hands on VMware View 3 then it would cost $150 ccd for buying VMware View Enterprise editon and $250 for Premier edition. Those who are new to VMware they have to decide whether they want Application virtualization and Linked cloned technology to buy Premier or less expensive Vmware View 3 Enterpriser version. For large virtual desktop deployments buying Premier VMware View 3 really make much sense because by using VMware View Composer Linked Clone technology to create virtual desktops from a single master image they can save up to 70 percent less storage space.. that’s a huge saving on SAN expense.

Here is a link on VMware website for information on License pricing and features you will get with VMware View 3

VMware announced their revamped Provisioning and Virtualization product - VMware View 3 availability on December 2, 2008. VMware renamed their existing desktop virtualization product formerly known as VMware desktop infrastructure to VMware View 3.

VMware View 3 is not only a renamed product but newly  added technologies like VMware View Composer, VMware ThinAPP, Offline desktop, Unified Access, Virtual Printing and virtual desktop multimedia redirection really makes VMware View 3 a  enterprise-class solution available in today’s market.The VMware View  Composer is a new product which  uses Linked Clone technology to create virtual desktops rapidly from a baseline desktop (XP/Vista) image while consuming up to 70 percent less storage space. The VMware View composer comes with VMware View 3 premier Editon, i am going to talk about VMware View 3 product offering later on.The VMware View 3 Composer most outstanding feature is automated image preparation and provisioning technology which take only seconds and are centrally controlled by VMware View Manager. In addition, View Composer can reduce management costs by enabling IT to update thousands of individual virtual desktops by simply updating the single master image with a patch or application update and then applying the changes to each desktop cloned from the master image. View Composer provides this one-to-many image updating while preserving user data, settings, and preferences so patching is seamless to end users.

If you are new to VMware View 3 then you should look into VMware View 3 product offering.VMware View 3 is a family of products available in two editions:

• VMware View 3, Enterprise Edition: includes VMware Infrastructure Enterprise Edition and VMware View Manager 3, a flexible desktop management server enabling IT administrators to quickly provision and tightly control user access.
• VMware View 3, Premier Edition: includes VMware Infrastructure Enterprise Edition, VMware View Manager 3, VMware ThinApp for agentless application virtualization and VMware View Composer, a new product that enables IT staff to create multiple virtual desktops from a single image, increasing the speed of provisioning desktops and reducing storage requirements.

If you are currently running VMware Infrastructure Enterpirse in your environment then deploying VMware View 3 gets much easier because you can use existing VMware ESX hosts to create pool of virtual desktops and VMware vCenter server (formely VMware virtual center) to setup VMware View 3 Composer server. The only thing you will need to setup is VMware connection server (broker) that runs on Windows 2003 server, you can setup  VMware View 3 connection server on VMware ESX virtual machine (vm) or on physical servers.

If you want to try new VMware View 3 then VMware has 60 days trial program, here is the link for VMware View 3 trial offer :

Try  VMware View 3 for 60 days .

In VMware View 3 trial program you will get 60 days license for following products

VMware View Manager 3 with Composer and Offline Desktop for 100 VM’s

VMware ESX 3.5

VMware vCenter Server

VMware ThinApp 4.x Packager

VMware Workstation 6 (Windows)

In Next couple of days i will be deploying VMware View 3 in my lab and post my experience here. stay tuned.

If you are VMware ESX user you must be aware of Windows XP guest VM booting issue that only happens during Windows XP installation.

If you are first time installing Windows XP guest VM on VMware ESX then you will notice instead of booting from CDROM new Windows XP guest VM gets into network boot.Windows XP guest VM gets into network boot because in boot order first boot device needs to be changed to CDROM in BIOS settings. However getting into BIOS isn’t that easy because boot screen splashes too fast that it wouldn’t allow you to interrupt boot process.

In past to delay boot I had to get into Windows XP guest VM configuration file (.vmx) to add BIOS setting. If you are using older version of VMware ESX then can get into Windows XP guest VM .vmx file and using nano or vi editor add following lines , this will allow you to find enough boot delay time so that you can enter guest VM BIOS setting to set CDROM as first boot device:

bios.forceSetupOnce = “TRUE”

bios.bootDelay = “6000″

Where boot delay time is in milliseconds

Next you need to get into BIOS to set the CDROM as first boot device for Windows XP guest VM, you will need to enable CDROM as first boot device if you are using Windows XP ISO image for installation. If you have recently created a new Windows XP or Windows vista VM and you are unable to boot the VM from CDROM then you can fix the problem using this method.

In VMware ESX 3.5 you don’t have to do all these manual changes to enable VM BIOS delay. This enables administrators using VMware ESX 3.5 to get into guest VM BIOS settings right from VMware Infrastructure client by doing few clicks.

Here is how you can enable BIOS boot delay in Windows XP/Windows Vista Guest vm’s in ESX 3.5

1. Select the guest VM in VMware infrastructure and use right click to select Edit Settings:

2. Select option tab and click on Boot options

In boot option change the boot delay time to 2000 or 5000 (milliseconds) ,it says right there that whenever this virtual machine is powered on or reset you can delay the boot for following time period.

You need to check the Force BIOS setup this will enable to get into BIOS setup screen when the virtual machine will boot next time.

Recently I am hearing lot about Citrix XenServer virtualization so i thought let’s give it a try. On Citrix website 30 days XenServer trial is available for download so I started downloading XenServer 5 Enterprise Edition. I have to fill out a lengthy form before i got to actual download page. Citrix XenServer 5 product installer includes XenServer and XenCenter administration console which is like VMware ESX infrastructure client. The Citrix XenServer 5 Product installer is available in form of ISO with download size of 296 MB.

There is note on Citrix XenServer download page regarding ISO image that image should be burn onto CD before installation use. However if you are going to install XenServer 5 on HP, Dell or IBM blade servers then you can directly mount ISO image on blade server to proceed with Citrix XenServer installation. In my lab i am using HP blade server to install XenServer 5 so i started my installation without CDROM.I started Citrix XenServer 5 installation but after running installation for several minutes i received this error

Problem found.

Some Packaged appeared damaged. These were dom0fs.

I restarted Citrix XenServer 5 installation again but it failed with same error related to dom0fs package error.I tried XenServer 5 download again but i received same error again and again. I searched online but didn’t find much information. After several failures i felt like giving up but then i decided to give it a last try so i tried downloading XenServer but this time instead of using Citrix download manager i decided to use manual download. It turned out there was error with the Citrix download manager because when i downloaded ISO manually and Citrix XenServer installation worked fine without any package error. I hope Citrix will fix this issue soon.

VMware recently changed name of VMware desktop infrastructure to VMware view 3. In fierce competition with Citrix Xendesktop VMware added Thin application virtualization and streaming technology into VMware View 3. VMware View is a reworking of the company’s VMware Desktop Infrastructure product that adds other components to solve the problem of managing virtualized desktop environments, said Raj Mallempati, a group product manager of desktop products at VMware.

VMware View is part of an initiative that VMware is calling vClient, which it unveiled at its VMworld conference in September 2008. Mallempati said that with the vClient strategy, VMware hopes to solve the “desktop dilemma” of not only virtualizing applications and desktops, but also managing and deploying those environments. VMware view 3 include View Composer, a new product that creates virtual desktops from a master image , this is huge benefit from saving perspective on SAN storage. A single master desktop image with disk storage size of 10 GB should be able to run several hundred VM’s without taking extra disk space.

Want to try VMware View 3

If you are looking to try VMware View in your environment you can get 60 days trial license including VMware view 3 download.If you are already a registered user at VMware then you can download VMware View 3 from links listed below or if you are new to VMware then you can get your own resgitered account.

VMware View 3 download

VMware View 3 is available in two editions VMware View 3 Premier 3 Edition and VMware View 3 Enterprise edition.

VMware View connection Sever Version 3.0.0 – 110 MB download

VMware View Agent Version 3.0.0 – 29 MB download

VMware View client Version 3.0.0 - 10 MB download

VMware View client with Offline desktop Version 3.0.0 - 79 MB download

VMware View composer Version 1.0.0 - 66 MB download