Ensuring the guest operating system type is set correctly

Products

• VMware vCenter Server
• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

This article guides you through the process of determining the correct guest operating system type to set for your virtual machines. Having the wrong guest operating system type set causes template deployment failure.

Symptoms:

• Deploying templates fails
• Installing VMware Tools fails
• Cannot install VMware Tools

Environment

VMware ESX Server 3.0.x
VMware vCenter Server 5.0.x
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.0
VMware ESXi 3.5.x Embedded
VMware VirtualCenter 2.5.x
VMware VirtualCenter 2.0.x
VMware ESXi 4.0.x Embedded
VMware vCenter Server 5.5.x
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Installable
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Embedded
VMware vCenter Server 5.1.x
VMware ESX Server 3.5.x
VMware ESXi 4.0.x Installable
VMware ESXi 3.5.x Installable
VMware ESX 4.1.x
VMware ESX 4.0.x
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.1
VMware vCenter Server 4.0.x
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.5
VMware vCenter Server 4.1.x

Resolution

Determining the version of the guest operating system from within the virtual machine

To determine the version of guest operating system for Windows:

1. Click Start > Run.
2. Type winver.
3. Click OK. A dialog appears and indicates the version of operating system that you are running.
4. Record the information from two places within the About Windows dialog. The version displayed as a graphical image next to the flag, and the text version below the graphics.

To determine the version of guest operating system for Linux:

1. Log in to the command-line console of the virtual machine.
2. Find the file that describes your version of Linux. Run:
   
   # ls /etc/*-release
   
   The output appears similar to:
   
   # ls /etc/*-release
   lsb-release
    
3. View the contents of the -release file:
   
   # cat /etc/lsb-release
   
   The content appears similar to:
   
   # cat /etc/lsb-release
   DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu
   DISTRIB_RELEASE=7.10
   DISTRIB_CODENAME=gutsy
   DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 7.10"
    
4. Record the version information.

To determine the version of guest operating system for Novell Netware:

1. Log in to the console of the virtual machine.
2. Run the version command:
   
   :version
    
3. Record the version information.

To determine the version of guest operating system for Solaris:

1. Log in to the command-line console of the virtual machine.
2. View the /etc/release file. Run:
   
   # cat /etc/release
    
3. Record the version information.

Determining the current operating system setting of your virtual machine

To determine the current operating system setting of your virtual machine:

1. Right-click the name of the virtual machine to examine and click Edit Settings in the vSphere Client.
2. Click the Options tab at the top of the Virtual Machine Properties window.
3. The Guest Operating System section on the right displays the class of OS and version, set it to match the description you recorded above. Take care to select the proper bit-size. For example, 32bit versus 64bit.
   
   Note: For more information about support for 64bit guest operating systems on 32bit Intel hardware
   with VT support, see Hardware and firmware requirements for 64-bit Guest Operating Systems (1003945).
4. Click OK to apply the settings and exit the Virtual Machine Properties window.

If the version of the virtual machine's operating system that you recorded is not shown in the Virtual Machine Properties, confirm that your guest operating system is supported for this version of ESX/ESXi. For more information on Guest OS compatibility, see the Guest Operating System Installation Guide.

Additional Information

 

System requirements to install a 64-bit guest operating system on a 32-bit host
ゲスト OS のタイプが正しく設定されていることを確認する