Configuring a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM Drive or ISO Image

Select: Edit > Virtual Machine Settings > CD-ROM

A CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive can be used only by the host operating system or by one virtual machine at a time. If you run more than one virtual machine simultaneously, you may wish to select which one (if any) has access to the drive. To disable or enable access to a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive while a virtual machine is running, choose the drive from the Edit > Removable Devices menu.

You can change some configuration settings for a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive while the virtual machine is running. Some settings can be configured only when the virtual machine is powered off, and you must power off the virtual machine if you want to remove a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive. You cannot configure or remove the drive while the virtual machine is suspended.

You can set the following options under Device status:

Connected — Check or uncheck this option to connect or disconnect the drive while the virtual machine is running.
Connect at power on — Check this option if you want the drive to be connected automatically whenever you power on the virtual machine. You can change this setting when the virtual machine is powered on or powered off.

You can set the following options under Connection:

Use a physical drive — Select this setting if you want the virtual machine to use a physical drive on the host computer. Use the drop-down list to specify whether you want to use a specific drive or let VMware GSX Server auto-detect the drive to use.
Legacy emulation— checking this option causes the virtual hardware to work as it did in the prior release of GSX Server. By default, GSX Server attempts to make available the advanced features of your drive, but in some cases this may cause the drive to not work with your virtual machine. Checking this option reverts GSX Server to the prior emulation mode for CD-ROM drives.
Note: This option is not available for ISO images.
Use ISO image — select this setting if you want to use a CD-ROM image file. Click Browse and locate the ISO image file you want to use in the virtual machine.

Under Virtual device node you can select which SCSI or IDE device identifier to use for the drive. For example, if you select SCSI 0:2, the guest operating system sees the drive as ID 2 on controller 0. It does not matter whether the physical drive is IDE or SCSI. For example, if your physical CD-ROM drive is an IDE device, you may still select a SCSI node. In that case, the virtual machine sees the drive as a SCSI device.

If you are adding a new CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive, click Add to install the device.

To remove an existing drive, select that drive, then click Remove.

Click OK to save the configuration and close the Virtual Machine Control Panel.