Windows Server 2008

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

You can install the Windows Server 2008 in a virtual machine using the Windows Server 2008 distribution CD. If your VMware product supports it, you can also install from a PXE server.

Fulfill these prerequisites before installing Windows Server 2008:

•	Create and configure a new virtual machine.

•	Ensure that the virtual machine has at least 512MB of RAM. The host computer must have more than 512MB of RAM to support this setting.

•	For the 32-bit version of Windows Server 2008, the hard drive for the virtual machine must be 16GB or larger.

•	For the 64-bit version of Windows Server 2008, the hard drive for the virtual machine must be 24GB or larger.

Consider these support and configuration issues for Windows Server 2008:

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If an Internet connection is not available while installing a 32-bit Windows Server 2008 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 2008 virtual machine.

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The Server Core role available in the Standard, Datacenter, and Enterprise editions of Windows 2008 Server is supported by ESX. VMware Tools still apply, unless Server Core disables parts of the operating system that are specifically supported by VMware Tools. See the Microsoft Developer Network Web site for more information about Server Core: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms723891(VS.85).aspx

Installation Steps

1	Insert the Windows Server 2008 CD in the CD-ROM drive.

2	Power on the virtual machine to start installing Windows Server 2008.

3	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.