This beta operating system has experimental support as a guest operating system on the following VMware products:
Note: If you are installing a guest operating system through VMware VirtualCenter, be sure it is supported under the VMware product - ESX Server or GSX Server - on which you are running the virtual machine.
Because Longhorn is still in the beta stage of devlopment, you should expect it to install and run more slowly than other guest operating systems.
Be sure to read General Guidelines for All VMware Products as well as this guide to installing your specific guest operating system.
You can install the beta of the next version of Windows, code-named Longhorn, in a virtual machine using the Longhorn distribution CD. If your VMware product supports it, you may also install from a PXE server.
VMware Workstation or VMware ACE: If you are using the virtual LSI Logic SCSI adapter, Longhorn automatically installs the SCSI driver when you install the guest operating system. To use the virtual BusLogic SCSI adapter in a Longhorn virtual machine under VMware Workstation or VMware ACE, you need a special SCSI driver available from the download section of the VMware Web site at www.vmware.com/download. Follow the instructions on the Web site to use the driver with a fresh installation of Longhorn. If you have a virtual machine with a SCSI virtual disk and a Windows 9x, Windows Me, Windows NT or Windows 2000 guest operating system and want to upgrade it to Longhorn, install the new SCSI driver before upgrading the operating system.
GSX Server: If you are using the virtual LSI Logic SCSI adapter, Longhorn automatically installs the SCSI driver when you install the guest operating system. If you are using the virtual BusLogic SCSI adapter, you need a special SCSI driver available from the download section of the VMware Web site at www.vmware.com/download. Follow the instructions on the Web site to use the driver with a fresh installation of Longhorn. If you have a virtual machine with a SCSI virtual disk and an earlier Windows guest operating system and want to upgrade it to Longhorn, install the new SCSI driver before upgrading the operating system.
If you want to run Longhorn in a virtual machine, be sure you have a full installation CD for the operating system.
Before installing the operating system, be sure that you have already created and configured a new virtual machine.
At that screen, you must change the choice to the disk (instead of the partition), then click Continue.
Be sure to install VMware Tools in your guest operating system. For details, see the manual for your VMware product or follow the appropriate link in the knowledge base article at www.vmware.com/support/kb/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=340.
VMware GSX Server: The sound device is disabled by default and must be enabled with the virtual machine control panel (VM > Settings) after the operating system has been installed. To set up the virtual machine to play sound, see Configuring Sound in the GSX Server documentation.
Longhorn build 5048 does not install in a virtual machine with a new, blank virtual disk (for example, with a newly created virtual machine). This problem has also been observed with physical hardware.
To work around this issue, see knowledge base article 1688 at www.vmware.com/support/kb/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=1688.
Longhorn uses a new method to install drivers. As a result, warning messages appear at several stages during installation of VMware Tools in Longhorn guest operating systems. Sometimes these messages are hidden. The driver installation appears to hang. However, if you press Alt-Tab, you can bring the warning message to the foreground. There are two types of messages.
You may also see a message asking you to restart before the VMware Tools installer has finished. Do not restart the guest operating system at that time. Wait until the Installation Wizard Completed screen appears, click Finish, then restart the guest operating system when you are prompted to do so.
The AMD Ethernet card driver included with certain Longhorn builds - including 4074 and possibly others - does not work correctly. To use networking in these Longhorn guest operating systems, you must switch to the vmxnet network adapter. A driver for this adapter is included in VMware Tools.
VMware GSX Server on a Linux host: Choose VM > Settings, select Network Adapter, then select vmxnet as the virtual device to use. You may install VMware Tools either before or after changing the virtual network adapter.
VMware GSX Server on a Windows host: Choose VM > Settings, select NIC, then select vmxnet as the virtual device to use. You may install VMware Tools either before or after changing the virtual network adapter.
VMware Workstation on a Linux host: Choose VM > Settings, select Network Adapter, then select vmxnet as the virtual device to use. You must install VMware Tools after changing the virtual network adapter.
VMware Workstation or VMware ACE on a Windows host: Use a text editor such as Notepad to edit the configuration (.vmx) file for your Longhorn virtual machine. Add the following line:
Ethernet[n].virtualDev = "vmxnet"
Replace [n] with the number of the Ethernet adapter. The first Ethernet adapter is number 0, so the line for that adapter is
Ethernet0.virtualDev = "vmxnet"
Include a line for each Ethernet adapter configured for the virtual machine. You may install VMware Tools either before or after changing the virtual network adapter.
The Longhorn product activation feature creates a numerical key based on the virtual hardware in the virtual machine where it is installed. Changes in the configuration of the virtual machine may require you to reactivate the operating system. There are some steps you can take to minimize the number of significant changes.
Note: The size reported to the Windows product activation feature is slightly less than the actual amount configured for the virtual machine. For example, 128MB is interpreted as falling in the 64MB-127MB range.
For more details on Longhorn product activation, see the Microsoft Web site.
Longhorn has display adapter hardware acceleration disabled by default. This slows down graphics performance and mouse responsiveness in the guest operating system.
To enable hardware acceleration in a Longhorn guest, open the Control Panel, then open the Display Properties control panel. On the Settings tab, click Advanced. On the Troubleshoot tab, drag the Hardware acceleration slider all the way to Full.
On a Linux host with an XFree86 3.x X server, it is best not to run a screen saver in the guest operating system. Guest screen savers that demand a lot of processing power can cause the X server on the host to freeze.
The hibernation feature is not supported in this release. Instead of using the guest operating system's hibernate feature, suspend the virtual machine.
VMware GSX Server: In order to install and run a checked (debug) build of Longhorn in a virtual machine, you must first edit the virtual machine's configuration file (.vmx). Add the following line:
uhci.forceHaltBit = TRUE