Vmware to Computer

[ben946210]

Is there any way to setup a computer on vmware and then make an image of the vm and put it on a physical computer (multiple computers if possible)?

 

[jimbo45]

Hi there

from vmware workstation Easy --- just choose CLONE VM from the menu

then back it up with say acronis (or a similar program)
then RESTORE the backed up image with the "Universal restore" option ==> this process is known as PV2P (convert Virtual to physical)

if you are using vmplayer then just copy the vhd data to another directory with windows explorer and simply open it when you start vmplayer. Then do the same process as above.

After you've done the restore you might get a load of stuff -- such as physical drivers that need to be installed but the base system should boot ok. You can then fix the othe stuff manually,

cheers
jimbo

 

[pparks1]

are you asking about running the VM as a VM on other machines....or do you want to transfer the VM to the actual physical machine...to become the operating system running on that physical machine.

 

[ben946210]

I would like to set up a VMware image and then put it onto a computer using a program like Acronis. The issue I am facing is that when I do this, the computer bluescreens due to the lack of drives for each computer. I want an official way of doing this that actually works.

I want to put it on 10 different computers and really don't want to set each one up since there is a lot of stuff I need to install.

Thanks for the replys,
Ben

 

[pparks1]

It's a complex topic. You will need to search for V2P (virtual to physical) conversion;
Virtual to Physical Documentation and Sample Configurations

Performing V2P migrations « VM Junkie

 

[fafhrd]

The virtual machine you have set up in Vmware is running drivers for the components of the virtual system - the multiple machines you wish to clone to - will be running physical hardware.

If the OS of your VM is Windows XP or later - you should not only have licenses and product keys for each new clone, you will also have to sysprep and generalize the image of your virtual OS, and specialize each new installation with drivers and the product license on unattended installation, some of which will be updated automatically from Microsoft if an internet connection can be made.

If there are volume licenses for all the physical machines, then this is an ideal way to load the same Windows OS, applications, and branding across an organization. Most, if not all of the functionality to do this is available from Microsoft, in the form of the freely downloadable Windows Automated Installation Kit (WAIK) and other Microsoft Windows Deployment Toolkits, but it is not a trivial task to master the techniques and scripts needed and to work out all the bugs. For just a few machines, it would be more economical to apply the images machine by machine. On its own, imagex.exe (part of the WAIK and MDT) is such a quick and simple tool, it is hardly worth using a third party system image tool to do the same job.

To be honest, I don't know what happens with VM of other OS flavours like Linux being transferred to physical systems - I suppose they are not installed across organizations to the extent Windows is.