Hey Guys -
I've been tasked with creating a couple of templates on our VMM 2008 server from an existing Windows XP VM and an existing Windows 7 VM. I have a few questions about the process, please:
Current State of Both VMs
Windows 7 VM - Configured system the way I want it, ran sysprep in Audit Mode to remove local accounts, then reran sysprep to make Out of Box and Generalized it. It's currently shut down and listed in VMM
Windows XP VM - This is one I've never signed into, but that another team wanted made into a template. I shut it down then copied it's VHD from the node it's hosted on into our VMM library. The VHD currently appears in the library but I did not run sysprep prior to shutting it down. Cloning on our VMM fails every time and they needed the VM I copied back ASAP so only choice was to copy the VM folder / VHD then bring the original back up for them to use
Environment
- VMM 2008 SP1 (2.0.4521.0 SP1) running on Windows Server 2008 R2
- VMs hosted on 5 nodes running Windows Server 2008 R2
- vWorkspace used as frontend to it all
Questions
1. Does it make a difference if I create the template from VHD instead of from currently active VM? From what I've read, it seems the VHD option is for VMs / VHDs which have already been sysprepped and the "from currently active/hosted VM" option for ones which have not been sysprepped. Does it even make a difference?
2. I started making a template for the Win7 one from currently active/hosted VM. I got stuck when I got to "Identity" on the Guest OS Profile page. I know we currently have templates that are automatically numbered (Win7-001, Win7-002, etc) but when I use the "#" variable, it says it's invalid. I saw where this could be done online, but must had been for 2012. How can I make template to where it sequentually numbers the VMs? Do I need to do it in vWorkspace (which I'm not too familier with?)
3. I see many previously used answer files in the library where all settings are stored in plain text. For their computer names, they were set statically. For those familaier with vWorkspace, were these created by vWorkspace and used when creating the template or are there created after I make a Guest OS Profile - even if I didn't choose to use an answer file when creating it.
Any help is appreciated - Thanks!
Ben K.