Windows Server 2003 This section contains product support, installation instructions, and known issues for the Windows Server 2003 operating system. Support 32-Bit Version This guest operating system is supported on the following VMware products: • VMware Workstation 4.0, 4.0.1, 4.0.2, 4.0.5, 4.5, 4.5.1, 4.5.2, 4.5.3, 5.0, 5.5, 5.5.1, 5.5.2, 5.5.3, 5.5.4, 5.5.5, 6.0, 6.0.1, 6.0.2—Windows Server 2003 Web Edition, Standard Edition, Enterprise Edition, Windows Small Business Server 2003 Windows Server 2003 R2 supported on Workstation 5.5.2, 5.5.3, 5.5.4, 5.5.5, 6.0, 6.0.1, 6.0.2 Service Pack 1 supported on Workstation 5.0, 5.5, 5.5.1, 5.5.2, 5.5.3, 5.5.4, 5.5.5, 6.0, 6.0.1, 6.0.2 Visual Studio Integrated Virtual Debugger support for Windows Server 2003 Web Edition, Standard Edition, Enterprise Edition, Small Business Server 2003, and Windows Server 2003 R2 Server on Workstation 6.0, 6.0.1, 6.0.2 Eclipse Integrated Virtual Debugger support for Windows Server 2003 Web Edition, Standard Edition, Enterprise Edition, Small Business Server 2003, and Windows Server 2003 R2 Server on Workstation 6.0, 6.0.1, 6.0.2 Experimental support for 2-way Virtual SMP on Workstation 5.5, 5.5.1, 5.5.2, 5.5.3, 5.5.4, 5.5.5, 6.0, 6.0.1, 6.0.2 • VMware ACE 1.0, 1.0.1, 1.0.2, 1.0.3, 1.0.4, 2.0, 2.0.1, 2.0.2—Windows Server 2003 Web Edition, Standard Edition, Enterprise Edition, Windows Small Business Server 2003 Service Pack 1 supported on VMware ACE 1.0.1, 1.0.2, 1.0.3, 1.0.4, 2.0, 2.0.1, 2.0.2 • VMware GSX Server 3.0, 3.1, 3.2, 3.2.1—Windows Server 2003 Web Edition, Standard Edition, Enterprise Edition, Windows Small Business Server 2003 Service Pack 1 supported on GSX Server 3.2, 3.2.1 • VMware Server 1.0, 1.0.1, 1.0.2, 1.0.3, 1.0.4—Windows Server 2003 Web Edition, Standard Edition, Enterprise Edition Windows Small Business Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2 Service Pack 1 supported on VMware Server 1.0, 1.0.1, 1.0.2, 1.0.3, 1.0.4 Experimental support for 2-way Virtual SMP on VMware Server 1.0, 1.0.1, 1.0.2, 1.0.3, 1.0.4 • VMware ESX Server 2.0, 2.0.1, 2.1, 2.1.1, 2.1.2, 2.5, 2.5.1, 2.5.2, 2.5.3, 2.5.4, 2.5.5, 3.0, 3.0.1, 3.0.2—Windows Server 2003 Web Edition, Standard Edition, Enterprise Edition Windows Small Business Server 2003 supported on ESX Server 2.5, 3.0, 3.0.1, 3.0.2 Windows Server 2003 R2 supported on ESX Server 2.5.3, 2.5.4, 2.5.5, 3.0, 3.0.1, 3.0.2 Service Pack 1 supported on ESX Server 2.1.2 Upgrade Patch 4 Service Pack 1 supported on ESX Server 2.5, 2.5.1, 2.5.2, 2.5.3, 2.5.4, 2.5.5, 3.0, 3.0.1, 3.0.2 Service Pack 2 supported on ESX Server 2.5.3, 2.5.4, 2.5.5, 3.0, 3.0.1, 3.0.2 Virtual SMP supported • VMware Fusion 1.0—Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition, R2 Enterprise Edition 64-Bit Version This guest operating system is supported on the following VMware products: • VMware Workstation 5.5, 5.5.1, 5.5.2, 5.5.3, 5.5.4, 5.5.5, 6.0, 6.0.1, 6.0.2 Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition SP1 supported on Workstation 5.5, 5.5.1, 5.5.2, 5.5.3, 5.5.4, 5.5.5, 6.0, 6.0.1, 6.0.2 Windows Server 2003 R2 supported on Workstation 5.5.2, 5.5.3, 5.5.4, 5.5.5, 6.0, 6.0.1, 6.0.2 Visual Studio Integrated Virtual Debugger support for Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition and Windows Server 2003 R2 Server on Workstation 6.0, 6.0.1, 6.0.2 Eclipse Integrated Virtual Debugger support for Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition and Windows Server 2003 R2 Server on Workstation 6.0, 6.0.1, 6.0.2 • VMware ACE 2.0, 2.0.1, 2.0.2—Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition, Enterprise Edition, Windows Small Business Server 2003 Service Pack 1 supported on VMware ACE 1.0.1, 1.0.2, 1.0.3, 1.0.4, 2.0, 2.0.1, 2.0.2 • VMware Server 1.0, 1.0.1, 1.0.2, 1.0.3, 1.0.4 (Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 and Windows Server 2003 R2 only) Experimental support for 2-way Virtual SMP on VMware Server 1.0, 1.0.1, 1.0.2, 1.0.3, 1.0.4 • ESX Server 3.0.1, 3.0.2 Standard Edition, Enterprise Edition Windows Server 2003 R2 supported on ESX Server 3.0.1, 3.0.2 Service Pack 1 supported on ESX Server 3.0.1, 3.0.2 Service Pack 2 supported on ESX Server 3.0.1, 3.0.2 Virtual SMP supported • VMware Fusion 1.0—Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition, R2 Enterprise Edition Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition SP1 supported on Fusion 1.0 This guest operating system has experimental support on the following VMware products: • ESX Server 3.0 Standard Edition, Enterprise Edition Note If you are installing a guest operating system through VMware VirtualCenter, be sure it is supported under the VMware product—ESX Server or VMware Server—on which you are running the virtual machine. General Installation Notes 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 Windows Server 2003, Web Edition, Standard Edition or Enterprise Edition or Windows Small Business Server 2003 in a virtual machine using the corresponding Windows Server 2003 distribution CD. If your VMware product supports it, you can also install from a PXE server. If an Internet connection is not available while installing a Windows Server 2003 guest, the driver for the multimedia audio controller will not be installed. The Windows Device Manager will indicate that the driver for the multimedia audio controller is missing. To install the required driver, configure an Internet connection, and run Windows Update on the Windows Server 2003 virtual machine. VMware Workstation or VMware ACE: If you are using the virtual LSI Logic SCSI adapter, Windows Server 2003 automatically installs the SCSI driver when you install the guest operating system. To use the virtual BusLogic SCSI adapter in a Windows Server 2003 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 Windows Server 2003. If you have a virtual machine with a SCSI virtual disk and a Windows NT or Windows 2000 guest operating system and want to upgrade it to Windows Server 2003, install the new SCSI driver before upgrading the operating system. GSX Server, ESX Server or VirtualCenter: If you are using the virtual LSI Logic SCSI adapter, Windows Server 2003 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 Windows Server 2003. If you have a virtual machine with a SCSI virtual disk and an earlier Windows guest operating system and want to upgrade it to Windows Server 2003, install the new SCSI driver before upgrading the operating system. Installation Steps If you want to run Windows Server 2003 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. Installing the Guest Operating System 1 Insert the Windows Server 2003 CD in the CD-ROM drive. 2 Power on the virtual machine to start installing Windows Server 2003. 3 If you are using the virtual BusLogic SCSI driver downloaded from the VMware Web site, you must take some special steps at this point in the installation process. As the Windows Server 2003 installer loads, press the F6 key. This allows you to select the additional SCSI driver required for installation. Press S to specify the additional driver. After you specify the SCSI driver, press Enter to continue with setup. 4 Follow the remaining installation steps as you would for a physical machine. VMware Tools 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 kb.vmware.com/kb/340. Sound Driver Needed for 64-Bit Guests VMware Workstation 6.x and VMware Server: If you want to use sound in a 64-bit Windows Server 2003 guest operating system, you must use the driver available on the VMware Web site at www.vmware.com/download/ws/drivers_tools.html under VMaudio Driver (experimental). Known Issues Product Activation The Microsoft Windows Server 2003 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 might require you to reactivate the operating system. There are some steps you can take to minimize the number of significant changes. • Set the final memory size for your virtual machine before you activate Windows Server 2003. When you cross certain thresholds—approximately 32MB, 64MB, 128MB, 256MB, 512MB and 1GB—the product activation feature sees the changes as significant. 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. • Install VMware Tools before you activate Windows Server 2003. When the SVGA driver in the VMware Tools package is installed, it activates features in the virtual graphics adapter that make it appear to Windows Server 2003 as a new graphics adapter. • If you want to experiment with any other aspects of the virtual machine configuration, do so before activating Windows Server 2003. Keep in mind that typically you have 14 days for experimentation before you have to activate the operating system. (Your EULA might define a different period before activation is required.) For more details on Windows Server 2003 product activation, see the Microsoft Web site. Display Hardware Acceleration Windows Server 2003 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 Windows Server 2003 guest, open the Control Panel, and 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. Guest Screen Saver 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. Hibernation Should you experience difficulties with the hibernation feature for this guest operating system, suspend the virtual machine instead. Checked (Debug) Build VMware GSX Server: In order to install and run a checked (debug) build of Windows Server 2003 in a virtual machine, you must first edit the virtual machine’s configuration file (.vmx). Add the following line: uhci.forceHaltBit = TRUE ESX Server and Support Microsoft Clustering Service with Windows Server 2003 SP1 For information about support of Microsoft Clustering Service (MSCS) with Windows 2003 SP1, see the knowledge base article at kb.vmware.com/kb/2021. vlance Ethernet Adapter Fails to Start for Windows Server 2003 Virtual Machine in PAE Mode VMware ESX Server, VMware Workstation: In a Windows Server 2003 virtual machine in PAE mode, the vlance Ethernet adapter fails to start. VMware recommends that you download and install the NDIS5 Driver for AMD PCnet Ethernet Adapter, version 4.5.1, from the AMD Web site at http://www.amd.com/us-en/ConnectivitySolutions/ProductInformation/0,,50_2330_6629_2452%5E2454%5E2486,00.html Disable PAE in ESX Server Virtual Machines ESX Server 2.5.x: Although ESX Server 2.5.x virtual machines are compatible with Physical Address Extension (PAE), they are not optimized for it. As a result, guest operating systems with PAE enabled might experience poor performance. For best performance, VMware recommends that you disable PAE in guest operating systems. For more information and instructions on disabling PAE, see the knowledge base article at kb.vmware.com/kb/2020. ESX Server 3.x: Note that disabling PAE also disables NX (no execute) and ED (execute disabled) features found in recent AMD and Intel processors. These features are not supported by ESX Server versions before ESX Server 3.x. ESX Server Virtual Machine Running Windows Might Fail to Power On If Not Rebooted after VMware Tools Installation ESX Server 2.5.x: After you install VMware Tools on an ESX Server 2.5.x virtual machine that is running Microsoft Windows, the VMware Tools installer asks you to reboot the virtual machine. If you choose not to reboot at that time, and subsequently remove power from the virtual machine, either by using the button Power Off Virtual Machine in the remote console, or by shutting down the ESX Server, you might then be unable to power on the virtual machine again. When you attempt to do so, the virtual machine might fail to boot up, displaying the message STOP 0x0000007B: INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE. To avoid this problem, after installing VMware Tools, be sure to reboot the virtual machine when the VMware Tools installer prompts you. On Intel Woodcrest-Based Hosts, Installing 64-Bit Windows 2003 Enterprise Server R2 in Virtual Machine Might Cause Virtual Machine to Crash ESX Server 3.0.1 and 3.0.2: On ESX Server 3.0.1or 3.0.2 hosts running on Intel Woodcrest processors, installing 64-Bit Windows 2003 Enterprise Server R2 in a virtual machine might cause the virtual machine to crash to bluescreen with the stop code STOP: 0x00000109. Testing indicates that this problem occurs intermittently, in approximately 10 percent of installations.