Prepare for guest setup with hypervisor tools

This page describes how to configure guest setup for hypervisor tools on VMware vCenter and VCD.

With hypervisor tools, Abiquo can do the following:

Set a fully qualified domain name (FQDN)
Generate a random password at deploy and optionally send by email and/or SMS to owner
Inject network configuration if no DHCP server is available
Inject variables into the VM

To inject a network configuration (static IP address) in Windows, you must use a custom specification. You cannot use an unattend file.

Customize the Windows unattend file for hypevisor tools

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Configure Windows with a custom specification for hypervisor tools

If you do not want to use an unattend file, then you can use a custom specification. See Limitations of a custom specification to configure Windows.

If there is no DHCP service available and you use a custom specification, Abiquo can assign a static IP address to the VM. The guest setup will run the first time you deploy a VM and when you add a NIC to a powered-off VM

On VMware, to use a custom specification to configure Windows, set the unattend file property to false.

com.abiquo.esxi.experimental.customize.win.unattendfile=false

You can also configure these properties to ensure that Abiquo waits for guest setup stages to complete.

com.abiquo.esxi.experimental.customize.configure.timeoutms=1200000
com.abiquo.esxi.experimental.customize.waitpassword.timeoutms=1200000

Configure guest initial password

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Configure default FQDNs for guest setup

Abiquo can set a hostname and fully qualified domain name (FQDN) before the VM is deployed.

If a user enters an FQDN when they configure the VM, this will override the defaults because it is the highest priority FQDN

If the user does not enter an FQDN, Abiquo uses the following default:

Abiquo database ID (on Windows) or the VM_uuid (on Linux); and
VM network domain name (from the network of the VM’s NIC or the VDC default network) or localdomain

To change the default to always generate the automatic VM name from the database ID:

Login to the Abiquo API Server as administrator
Edit the abiquo.properties file and set the following property

# Generate VM name from database ID. If false use VM_uuid on Linux and VM_database ID on Windows  
abiquo.api.experimental.hostname13charsFromVirtualMachineDatabaseId=true

After the user deploys the VM, the user can change the FQDN in the VM operating system. In this case, Abiquo will update the FQDN stored in the platform.

Prepare VM templates for static IP injection with hypervisor tools

By default, Abiquo uses DHCP to configure IP addresses.

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Edit VM templates for guest setup

TODO Customize this page for hypervisor tools, and other options as required.

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