Configuring Windows-based Virtual Machines

After installing a Windows-based virtual machine, configure the additional resources and software necessary for production use, as described in:

• Updating the VirtIO Drivers (Windows-based VMs)
• Creating and Initializing a Disk (Windows-based VMs)
• Installing Applications (Windows-based VMs)

In addition, ensure that you configure the following settings:

• Change the time zone in the guest operating system to correspond to the time zone configured on the Date and Time preference page in the ztC Edge Console (see Configuring Date and Time); otherwise, the VM’s time zone changes whenever VMs restart or migrate. Network Time Protocol (NTP) is recommended for both the VM and the ztC Edge system.
• Disable hibernation (enabled by default in some cases) to prevent the guest operating system from going into a power-saving state.

• Configure the power button action in the guest operating system to shut down the guest (and not to hibernate it) to allow the Shutdown VM button in the ztC Edge Console to work properly (see Shutting Down a Virtual Machine).

• Configure the guest operating system to generate a crash dump file if the operating system crashes. Follow the instructions in the Microsoft article, How to generate a complete crash dump file or a kernel crash dump file by using an NMI on a Windows-based system (Article ID: 927069). Follow the instructions in the More Information section.

For information on monitoring Windows-based VMs on systems licensed for such monitoring, see Monitoring Windows-based Virtual Machines.