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Monthly Archives: October 2009

We’re Listening

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VMware Fusion® 3 launched just two days ago and we're starting to hear some comments in social media circles. There are tons of accolades and we appreciate everyone saying how much they love the new release!

As with any product however there might be an annoyance here or there that we didn't think about. Here's an example Tweet we heard this morning:

Don't like how VMWare Fusion 3 adds a menu bar item that I can't get rid of

Here's the menu bar item (leftmost)

That was enough for the Knowledgebase Team to spring into action to publish a new KB on how to turn this menu bar item off. Some people want the control of whether they want to see this icon or not, and we did put this option into the product. It's just not obvious how to change this setting.

Presenting KB article: Modifying the VMware Fusion 3 menu bar item

We went one step further and also created related KB: Understanding Unity and the Windows System Tray in Fusion 3 (1015362) in case there is any confusion about that change to the product too.

Hopefully these two KB articles will help many of you get Fusion setup just the way you want it, so you can get down to really using it. We are committed to monitoring social networks for customer feedback about our products, and responding. We benefit directly from your reactions to our products – so please keep up the chatter!

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VMware Fusion 3.0 / VMware Workstation 7

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On October 27th VMware launched VMware Fusion® 3 as well as Workstation 7. Unfortunately, our servers were not up to the task of dealing with the demand. Not only that, customers were not able to retrieve their serial keys or access the Licensing site. It was like a perfect storm was brewing.

While our IT Teams scurried to resolve the issues, the Knowledge Base Team too responded by creating an up-to-the-minute live document:

Licensing and Upgrading VMware Fusion 3.0 / Workstation 7
Alert: Licensing and upgrading VMware Fusion 3.0 / VMware Workstation 7

This KB article is still being updated as new information becomes available. If you have been affected by this, please read the KB. If you know how to spread the word to your friends and colleagues, please do so.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you.

UPDATE: Please read the Fusion Team’s Response here…

VMware ESX and ESXi 4.0 Comparison

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You may already be familiar with our popular KB article: VMware ESX and ESXi 3.5 Comparison (1006543).  A lot of you weren’t quite sure of which product had which specific feature. We know you all love wading through our marketing material but some of you are strangely drawn to just plain facts.

Just for you folks, we have created a new KB which talks about the latest version of VMware ESX and ESXi, that is, version 4. The article provides a detailed comparison of VMware ESX and ESXi 4.0. It is separated into capabilities or features and compared at that level.

Here you go, enjoy!: VMware ESX and ESXi 4.0 Comparison (1015000)

Answer Wizards

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We have an announcement today!

The VMware Knowledge Base now features Answer Wizards!

What is an answer wizard you ask? An Answer Wizard is an easy-to-use tool that guides you through the process of resolving your problem.  You start by picking the problem that most closely resembles your problem. After that, you are guided through a series of checks and tests in a logical order to help resolve your problem in the simplest way.

Look for the new link to the Answer Wizards on the main Knowledgebase page shown here to get started.

answer-wizard

Watch for the number of Answer Wizards available to grow as we roll this out!

VMware Fusion and Time Machine

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Mac OS X (10.5 and above) includes Time Machine, a utility that makes backups of all changed files on your Macintosh HD. This is suitable for Mac files, but many customers are unaware that Time Machine is not a suitable solution for virtual machine files. If you have ever tried restoring a VM from a Time Machine backup it will most likely fail.

Below are some highly recommended Knowledgebase articles that address these very issues for Mac users and help you backup your virtual machines.

 

KB # Title
1014511 Protecting data from accidental loss
1013628 Best Practices for virtual machine backup (Programs and Data)
1014046 Excluding the Virtual Machines folder from being backed up by Time Machine

 

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New Answers to License Questions

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We continue to see a high demand for answers about the licensing of VMware products, so today we’re highlighting some new KB articles that are quickly gaining in popularity.

If you don’t see what you’re looking for here perhaps we already covered it in this previous post.

 

KB # Title
1005132 Creating a Single Host and Centralized License file on the License Portal
1003303 VMware Partner Activation Codes (PAC) Explained
1005513 Verifying purchased licenses meet current need
1005554 Troubleshooting Missing or Incorrect Licenses on the Portal

How do you rate these aspects of the Knowledgebase?

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We completed our earlier poll and while we were happy with the result, we know there is always room for improvement.

Please help us by answering these 4 quick follow-up questions.

VMware Server articles getting the most traction

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Following up with our latest product focused KB lists, today we present the top VMware Server (previously known as GSX) articles. Some of these actually apply across several products, but those of you searching for Server KBs used these ones the most.

Remember that if you wish to provide us with feedback on the Knowledge Base, or request a new KB be written, you can do so by clicking on the Send us your feedback link in the right sidebar.

KB # Title
1168 FAQ: VMware Product Features and Functionality
102 Problems Reading or Booting from DVD/CD-ROM Media
128 VMware Tools Installer Does Not Start Automatically
1359 Network Failure Between Guest and Physical Network
1554 Host Hangs or Freezes When Virtual Machine Powers On
1744 Gracefully Shutting Down a Windows Guest When the Virtual Machine Powers Off
775 Improving Virtual Machine Performance
818 Enabling Autorun on the Host
820 Security Response to CA-2002-23: Installing OpenSSL Patch to Correct Vulnerabilities in VMware GSX Server 2.0.0 and 2.0.1
1687 Excessive Page Faults Generated By Windows Applications May Impact the Performance of Virtual Machines

VMware Workstation articles getting the most traction

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In September we saw the following KB articles for VMware Workstation getting the most reuse. You can tell by the low article numbers that these are some of the first we ever published, yet they remain at the top of our list of popularity. Of course many of them have been updated to keep up with product changes. Perhaps you’ve run into one of these situations?

KB # Title
1168 FAQ: VMware Product Features and Functionality
1447 VMware Workstation Full License Not Overriding Evaluation License
1541 Changing or Keeping a UUID for a Moved Virtual Machine
113 Installing Workstation on a Slackware Host
69 Virtual Machine Performance Problems
1359 Network Failure Between Guest and Physical Network
102 Problems Reading or Booting from DVD/CD-ROM Media
1669 Linux Kernels Out-of-Memory Process Killer Can Terminate Virtual Machine to Free Memory
92 Changing the Temp Variable on a Windows Host
128 VMware Tools Installer Does Not Start Automatically

Announcing Knowledge Base Videos

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Top Video SolutionsToday marks a milestone for the VMware Knowledge Base. We have made the leap into video content to help simplify the message being presented.

Many procedures outlined in KB articles can be confusing, especially when you are dealing with new terminology or when you’re not sure of which product is being referenced.

By presenting a video, VMware can show you "how to" as well as "what to" do. Included with each video are printed instructions as well.

Our inventory of videos is still pretty small, but we expect it to grow substantially over the months.

Click here to watch our first batch of videos.

If you have any feedback on our videos use the comment box below, and you like the videos, be sure to use our Star Rating System in the KB to say so!