Determine the guest OS from a VM configuration file
Article ID: 321876
Updated On:
Products
VMware vCenter Server
VMware vSphere ESXi
Issue/Introduction
Determine the guest OS type based on the guest ID within the VM configuration file
Environment
VMware ESXi 5.1.x
VMware ESXi 6.0.x
VMware vSphere ESXi 8.0.x
VMware ESXi 5.5.x
VMware ESXi 5.0.x
VMware ESXi 6.5.x
VMware ESXi 6.7.x
VMware vSphere ESXi 7.x
VMware ESXi 6.0.x
VMware vSphere ESXi 8.0.x
VMware ESXi 5.5.x
VMware ESXi 5.0.x
VMware ESXi 6.5.x
VMware ESXi 6.7.x
VMware vSphere ESXi 7.x
Resolution
VMX file parameters information about guest OS type :
- Some Guest OS names may be missing.
- The following Guest OS list is not compatible with all vSphere/VM hardware versions/VM tools.
- Make sure to use the compatible version for each Guest OS during installation.
The information below summarizes the guestid and guestfullname for each Guest OS, which can be verified through vm configuration file(VM_NAME.vmx).
Additionally, it facilitates the ease of identifying the Guest OS type based on the guest id in certain VM configuration files
- from vmfs/volume/datastore/VM_NAME/VM_NAME.vmx file
- guestos ="GUEST_OS_TYPE"
- Windows OS :
| GuestID | Guest OS Type |
| win2000ProGuest | Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional |
| win2000ServGuest | Microsoft Windows 2000 Server |
| win2000AdvServGuest | Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server |
| winXPProGuest | Microsoft Windows XP (32-bit) |
| winXPPro64Guest | Microsoft Windows XP (64-bit) |
| winNetEnterpriseGuest | Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise (32-bit) |
| winNetDatacenterGuest | Microsoft Windows Server 2003 DataCenter (32-bit) |
| winNetStandardGuest | Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Standard (32-bit) |
| winNetWebGuest | Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Web (32-bit) |
| winNetBusinessGuest | Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Business (32-bit) |
| winNetEnterprise64Guest | Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise (64-bit) |
| winNetDatacenter64Guest | Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise_DC_(64-bit) |
| winNetStandard64Guest | Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise_SE_(64-bit) |
| winVistaGuest | Microsoft Windows Vista (32-bit) |
| winVista64Guest | Microsoft Windows Vista (64-bit) |
| winLonghornGuest | Microsoft Windows Server 2008 (32-bit) |
| winLonghorn64Guest | Microsoft Windows Server 2008 (64-bit) |
| windows7Guest | Microsoft Windows 7 (32-bit) |
| windows7_64Guest | Microsoft Windows 7 (64-bit) |
| Windows7Server64Guest | Microsoft Windows 2008 R2 Server (64-bit) |
| windows8Guest | Microsoft Windows 8 (32-bit) |
| windows8_64Guest | Microsoft Windows 8 (64-bit) |
| windows8Server64Guest | Microsoft Windows 2012 Server (64-bit) |
| windows9Guest | Microsoft Windows 10 (32-bit) |
| windows9_64Guest | Microsoft Windows 10 (64-bit) |
| windows9Server64Guest | Microsoft Windows 2016 Server (64-bit) |
| windows2019srv_64Guest | Microsoft Windows 2019 Server (64-bit) |
| windows11_64Guest | Microsoft Windows 11 (64-bit) |
| windows2019srvNext_64Guest | Microsoft Windows Server 2022 (64-bit) |
| windows12_64Guest | Microsoft Windows 12 (64-bit) |
| windows2022srvNext_64Guest | Microsoft Windows Server 2025 (64-bit) |
- Linux OS :
| GuestID | Guest OS Type |
| asianux3Guest | Asianux Server 3 (32-bit) |
| asianux3_64Guest | Asianux Server 3 (64-bit) |
| asianux4Guest | Asianux Server 4 (32-bit) |
| asianux4_64Guest | Asianux Server 4 (64-bit) |
| asianux5_64Guest | Asianux Server 5 (64-bit) |
| asianux6_64Guest | Asianux Server 6 (64-bit) |
| asianux7_64Guest | Asianux Server 7 (64-bit) |
| asianux8_64Guest | Asianux Server 8 (64-bit) |
| asianux9_64Guest | Asianux Server 9 (64-bit) |
| centosGuest | CentOS 4/5 (32-bit) |
| centos64Guest | CentOS 4/5 (64-bit) |
| centos6Guest | CentOS 6 (32-bit) |
| centos6_64Guest | CentOS 6(64-bit) |
| centos7_64Guest | CentOS 7 (64-bit) |
| centos8_64Guest | CentOS 8 (64-bit) |
| centos9_64Guest | CentOS 9 (64-bit) |
| coreos64Guest | CoreOS (64-bit) |
| debian6Guest | Debian GNU/Linux 6 (64-bit) |
| debian6_64Guest | Debian GNU/Linux 6 (64-bit) |
| debian7Guest | Debian GNU/Linux 7 (32-bit) |
| debian7_64Guest | Debian GNU/Linux 7 (64-bit) |
| debian8Guest | Debian GNU/Linux 8 (32-bit) |
| debian8_64Guest | Debian GNU/Linux 8 (64-bit) |
| debian9Guest | Debian GNU/Linux 9 (32-bit) |
| debian9_64Guest | Debian GNU/Linux 9 (64-bit) |
| debian10Guest | Debian GNU/Linux 10 (32-bit) |
| debian10_64Guest | Debian GNU/Linux 10 (64-bit) |
| debian11Guest | Debian GNU/Linux 11 (32-bit) |
| debian11_64Guest | Debian GNU/Linux 11 (64-bit) |
| oracleLinuxGuest | Oracle Linux 4/5 (32-bit) |
| oracleLinux64Guest | Oracle Linux 4/5 (64-bit) |
| oracleLinux6Guest | Oracle Linux 6 (32-bit) |
| oracleLinux6_64Guest | Oracle Linux 6 (64-bit) |
| oracleLinux7_64Guest | Oracle Linux 7 (64-bit) |
| oracleLinux8_64Guest | Oracle Linux 8 (64-bit) |
| oracleLinux9_64Guest | Oracle Linux 9(64-bit) |
| rhel5Guest | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 (32-bit) |
| rhel5_64Guest | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 (64-bit) |
| rhel6Guest | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 (32-bit) |
| rhel6_64Guest | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 (64-bit) |
| rhel7Guest | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 (32-bit) |
| rhel7_64Guest | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 (64-bit) |
| rhel8_64Guest | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 (64-bit) |
| rhel9_64Guest | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 (64-bit) |
| fedoraGuest | Red Hat Fedora Linux (32-bit) |
| fedora64Guest | Red Hat Fedora Linux (64-bit) |
| opensuseGuest | OpenSUSE Linux (32-bit) |
| opensuse64Guest | OpenSUSE Linux (64-bit) |
| sles10Guest | Suse Linux Enterprise Server 10 (32-bit) |
| sles10_64Guest | Suse Linux Enterprise Server 10 (64-bit) |
| sles11Guest | Suse Linux Enterprise Server 11 (32-bit) |
| sles11_64Guest | Suse Linux Enterprise Server 11 (64-bit) |
| sles12Guest | Suse Linux Enterprise Server 12 (32-bit) |
| sles12_64Guest | Suse Linux Enterprise Server 12 (64-bit) |
| sles15_64Guest | Suse Linux Enterprise Server 15 (64-bit) |
| sles16_64Guest | Suse Linux Enterprise Server 16 (64-bit) |
| ubuntuGuest | Ubuntu Linux (32-bit) |
| ubuntu64Guest | Ubuntu Linux (64-bit) |
| rockylinux_64Guest | Rocky Linux (64-bit) |
| coreos64Guest | CoreOS Linux (64-bit) |
| otherlinuxguest | Linux 2.2x Kernel (32-bit) |
| otherlinux64guest | Linux (64-bit) |
| other4xLinuxGuest | Other 4.x Linux (32-bit) |
| other4xLinux64Guest | Other 4.x Linux (64-bit) |
| other5xLinuxGuest | Other 5.x Linux (32-bit) |
| other4xLinux64Guest | Other 5.x Linux (64-bit) |
- Mac OS :
| Guest ID | Guest OS Type |
| darwin14_64Guest | Apple macOS 10.10 (64-bit) |
| darwin15_64Guest | Apple macOS 10.11 (64-bit) |
| darwin16_64Guest | Apple macOS 10.12 (64-bit) |
| darwin17_64Guest | Apple macOS 10.13 (64-bit) |
| darwin18_64Guest | Apple macOS 10.14 (64-bit) |
| darwin19_64Guest | Apple macOS 10.15 (64-bit) |
| darwin20_64Guest | Apple macOS 11 (64-bit) |
| darwin21_64Guest | Apple macOS 12 (64-bit) |
| darwin22_64Guest | Apple macOS 13 (64-bit), Apple macOS 14 (64-bit) |
- Other OS:
| Guest ID | Guest OS Type |
| dosGuest | MS-DOS |
| eComStationGuest | eComStation 1.x |
| eComStation2Guest | eComStation 2.0 |
| freebsdGuest | FreeBSD |
| freebsd64Guest | FreeBSD x64 |
| solaris10Guest | Solaris 10 (32 bit) (experimental) |
| solaris10_64Guest | Solaris 10 (64 bit) (experimental) |
| solaris11_64Guest | Solaris 11 (64 bit) |
- VMware products:
| Guest ID | Guest OS Type |
| vmwarePhoton64Guest | VMware Photon (64 bit) |
| vmkernel7Guest | VMware ESXi 7 |
| vmkernel8Guest | VMware ESXi 8 |
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