Page Comparison

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Customize the Windows unattend file for hypervisor tools

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For guest tools with Windows, the platform default is to use a Windows unattend file.

Guest setup with a Windows unattend file runs the first time you deploy a VM. If the guest setup is not successful, the VM deploy or reconfigure will fail and roll back.

Using the Windows unattend file, Abiquo sets:

• Fully qualified domain name (FQDN)

• Guest password at deploy time

The Abiquo default Windows unattend file also includes these static settings:

• TimeZone with default W. Europe Standard Time

• JoinWorkgroup with default WORKGROUP

To configure a custom Windows unattend file for a datacenter

1. Log in to the Remote Services server as an administrator

2. Create your own custom unattend file and make the tomcat user the owner of the file

   1. By default Abiquo will replace the following variables:

      • $adminPassword

      • $domain

      • $hostName

3. Edit the abiquo.properties file and set the location of your custom unattend file. For example:

   Code Block
   // Path to Windows unattend file com.abiquo.esxi.experimental.customize.win.unattendfile=/root/windows_unattend.xml

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Configure Windows with a custom specification for hypervisor tools

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By default, Abiquo uses DHCP to configure IP addresses.

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If you are not using DHCP, prepare your VM templates for

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static IP injection

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Edit a VM template for guest setup

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To prepare a VM template for guest setup:

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Go to Catalogue

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Edit a template with cloud-init or hypervisor tools installed.

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Go to Advanced

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For Guest setup, select Cloud-Init or Hypervisor tools.

1. For Windows on AWS, you can select from: CLOUDBASE_INIT, EC2LAUNCH_V2, EC2LAUNCH, EC2CONFIG

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1. For Windows systems we strongly recommend this option

2. The platform will log in with the template User and Password (see below) and change the Password to the guest initial password.
   The platform will send the guest initial password to the user via mail or SMS, and users can display it with the VM key button

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1. On Windows, enter "Administrator"

2. On Linux, enter "root" or another user that can run chpassword, with sudo and by always entering the password

   1. If sudo is not available, please contact Abiquo Support to configure the “nosudoerrequiredforuser” property

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1. The platform does not save VM passwords

   1. On Linux, before deploying an instance template, edit the instance template's password to set it to the current VM password.

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Select the Operating system. If required, enter the OS version. For more details see Set the guest operating system for VMware

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Optionally, go to Variables and set variables for the VM template. The platform will add these variables to the VM using metadata or user data. See VM variables

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For Linux:

1. Download a minimal CentOS OVA, for example, https://sourceforge.net/projects/virtualappliances/files/Linux/CentOS/CentOS-7.0-amd64-minimal.ova/download

2. If Perl is not installed, then install it

3. Install VMware tools from vCenter, following the instructions for Option 2 at: https://webhostinggeeks.com/howto/how-to-install-vmware-tools/

For Windows:

1. Download a Windows template such as WS-2019-template-40GB-BIOS-1.vmdk

2. Install VMware tools

3. In Abiquo, for the Guest setup option, select Hypervisor tools, and select the Guest initial password checkbox

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Edit a VM template for guest setup

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Users can now automate their VMs with guest setup. See Automate first boot of a VM with guest setup