Configuring a Virtual
Machine
You can configure a virtual machine during
creation (
Folder.CreateVM_Task
) or
cloning (VirtualMachine.CloneVM_Task
).
You can also reconfigure a virtual machine using
VirtualMachine.ReconfigVM_Task
.
However, do not use the
VirtualMachine.ReconfigVM_Task
call to create or add a disk.
In vSphere 5.5 and later, the
ReconfigVM_Task
method will
throw an error when it attempts to change certain virtual machine properties
while the virtual machine is powered on. In previous releases, the server would
modify the properties in the configuration specification and the changes would
take effect after the virtual machine resets, reboots, or performs a fast
suspend and resume.
Since vSphere 5.5, a reconfigure operation
modifies the virtual machine in real time, so that the virtual machine
properties have been changed by the time the method returns control to the
client.
You cannot reconfigure a virtual machine
successfully if you specify any of the following properties in the
VirtualMachineConfigSpec
when
you call the
ReconfigVM_Task
method.
Property
| VirtualMachineConfigSpec Path
|
|---|---|
VirtualDevice.unitNumber
| deviceChange.device.unitNumber
|
VirtualDevicePciBuslSlotInfo.pciSlotNumber
| deviceChange.device.slotInfo.pciSlotNumber
|
VirtualDiskFlatVer1BackingInfo.diskMode
VirtualDiskFlatVer2BackingInfo.diskMode
VirtualDiskRawDiskMappingVer1BackingInfo.diskMode
VirtualDiskSeSparseBackingInfo.diskMode
VirtualDiskSparseVer1BackingInfo.diskMode
VirtualDiskSparseVer2BackingInfo.diskMode
| deviceChange.device.backing.diskMode
|
VirtualDiskFlatVer2BackingInfo.digestEnabled
VirtualDiskSeSparseBackingInfo.digestEnabled
| deviceChange.device.backing.digestEnabled
|
VirtualMachineConfigSpec.changeTrackingEnabled
| changeTrackingEnabled
|
VirtualEthernetCard.addressType
| deviceChange.device.addressType
|
VirtualEthernetCard.macAddress
| deviceChange.device.macAddress
|
VirtualEthernetCard.wakeOnLanEnabled
| deviceChange.device.wakeOnLanEnabled
|
VirtualSCSIController.sharedBus
| deviceChange.device.sharedBus
|
VirtualSerialPort.yieldOnPoll
| deviceChange.device.yieldOnPoll
|
VirtualUSBController.autoConnectDevices
VirtualUSBXHCIController.autoConnectDevices
| deviceChange.device.autoConnectDevices
|
VirtualUSBController.ehciEnabled
| deviceChange.device.ehciEnabled
|
VirtualMachineVideoCard.useAutoDetect
| deviceChange.device.useAutoDetect
|
VirtualMachineVideoCard.videoRamSizeInKB
| deviceChange.device.videoRamSizeInKB
|
VirtualMachineVideoCard.numDisplays
| deviceChange.device.numDisplays
|
VirtualMachineVideoCard.use3dRendererSupported
| deviceChange.device.use3dRendererSupported
|
The
API Reference
lists all properties
and includes information about required permissions for these configuration
methods. The following sections describe some commonly specified attributes.