Windows Server 2003

Be sure to read General Installation Instructions for All VMware Products and this section before installing this operating system.

You can install Windows Server 2003 in a virtual machine using the corresponding Windows Server 2003 distribution CD. If your VMware product supports it, you can also install from a PXE server.

Fulfill these prerequisites before installing Windows Server 2003:

•	Create and configure a new virtual machine.

Consider these support and configuration issues for Windows Server 2003:

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If an Internet connection is not available while installing a Windows Server 2003 guest, the driver for the multimedia audio controller will not be installed. The Windows Device Manager will indicate that the driver for the multimedia audio controller is missing. To install the required driver, configure an Internet connection, and run Windows Update on the Windows Server 2003 virtual machine.

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If you are using the virtual LSI Logic SCSI adapter, Windows Server 2003 automatically installs the SCSI driver when you install the guest operating system. If you are using the virtual BusLogic SCSI adapter, you need a special SCSI driver available from the download section of the VMware Web site at www.vmware.com/download. Follow the instructions on the Web site to use the driver with a fresh installation of Windows Server 2003.

•	If you have a virtual machine with a SCSI virtual disk and an earlier Windows guest operating system and want to upgrade it to Windows Server 2003, install the new SCSI driver before upgrading the operating system.

•	You need to manually configure the e1000 network adapter driver in ESX 3.0.2 to support Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition. Refer to knowledge base article 1003020 at http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003020.

Installation Steps

1	Insert the Windows Server 2003 CD in the CD-ROM drive.

2	Power on the virtual machine to start installing Windows Server 2003.

3	If you are using the virtual BusLogic SCSI driver downloaded from the VMware Web site, you must take some special steps at this point in the installation process.

4	As the Windows Server 2003 installer loads, press the F6 key.

This allows you to select the additional SCSI driver required for installation.

5	Press S to specify the additional driver.

6	After you specify the SCSI driver, press Enter to continue with setup.

7	Follow the remaining installation steps as you would for a physical machine.

VMware Tools

Be sure to install VMware Tools in your guest operating system. For an overview of VMware Tools and for a listing of the manuals that contain instructions for installing VMware Tools in your guest, see knowledge base article 340 at http://kb.vmware.com/kb/340.