Adding a Windows XP VM to ESX 3
Posted by Steve on July 23, 2008
I have encountered another little issue with ESX 3, you cannot straight add a Windows XP VM. I tried to Add the VM as I would any other VM, click add VM, follow the wizard steps, attach the Windows ISO and boot up. Unfortunately this causes an error with XP; during the bootup the Windows setup cannot find any Hard Drive. Then when you try to boot again, it boots to a blank screen, and the VM is dead.
This is actually a known issue with ESX, there are, unfortunately, a few extra steps you have to follow when adding a WinXP machine.
- Select custom, instead of typical, when you add the VM
- For I/O Adapter select Bus Logic (instead of LSI)
- When booting up the VM you MUST press F6 when the first blue setup screen shows up (if you don’t you have to create the VM again!)
- When prompted to, connect the floppy that is located in /vmimages/floppies
- Click through and proceed like you would a normal install
That is the work around, not too bad, but it would be nice to have known this going in! There is also a quite detailed explanation of this over at the vmware site: http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/search.do?cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&externalId=1000863&sliceId=1&docTypeID=DT_KB_1_1&dialogID=17352968&stateId=1%200%2017356472
–Steve
