Creating and Managing Virtual Machines - Mastering VMware vSphere 5.5 - page 530

Install VMware Tools. For maximum performance of the guest OS, it needs to have
virtualization-optimized drivers that are specially written for and designed to work with the
ESXi hypervisor. VMware Tools provides these optimized drivers as well as other utilities
focused on better operation in virtual environments.
Master It A fellow administrator contacts you and is having a problem installing
VMware Tools. This administrator has selected the Install/Upgrade VMware Tools com-
mand, but nothing seems to be happening inside the VM. What could be the cause of the
problem?
Manage virtual machines. Once a VM has been created, the vSphere Web Client makes it
easy to manage. Virtual l oppy images and CD/DVD drives can be mounted or unmounted
as necessary. vSphere provides support for initiating an orderly shutdown of the guest OS
in a VM, although this requires that VMware Tools be installed. VM snapshots allow you to
take a point-in-time “picture” of a VM so that administrators can roll back changes if needed.
Master It What are the three different ways an administrator can bring the contents of a
CD/DVD into a VM?
Master It What is the difference between the Shut Down Guest command and the
Power Off command?
Modify virtual machines. vSphere offers a number of features to make it easy to modify
VMs after they have been created. Administrators can hot-add certain types of hardware,
like virtual hard disks and network adapters, and some guest OSes also support hot-adding
virtual CPUs or memory, although this feature must be enabled i rst.
Master It Which method is preferred for modifying the coni guration of a VM: editing
the VMX i le or using the vSphere Web Client?
Master It Name the types of hardware that cannot be added while a VM is running.