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Migrating a virtual machine to an upgraded version of Workstation

The best way to take advantage of performance and technology improvements in this version of VMware Workstation is to create new virtual machines. Use the Configuration Wizard to set up a new virtual machine and install a guest operating system in the virtual machine.

However, if necessary, you can migrate existing virtual machines to the upgraded version of VMware Workstation.

Note: On Linux hosts, VMware Workstation 3.0 will offer to convert virtual disk .dsk filenames to use the new .vmdk extension the first time you run a virtual machine after installing Workstation. If you are storing virtual disk files on a Windows XP computer -- such as a file server -- it is especially important that you allow Workstation to make this change in order to avoid conflicts with the Windows XP system restore feature. The .vmdk extension can be used for virtual disks under any VMware product. Workstation 3.0 automatically updates references to the virtual disk files in configuration files on the host computer. If you are using the same virtual disk file from any other computer, you need to update the configuration files with the new filename.

There are two ways to migrating existing virtual machines to newer versions of VMware Workstation:

Using an Existing Virtual Machine Configuration File

You can use an existing virtual machine with this release of VMware Workstation if you do not need the new features of this release.

Note the following:

Upgrading the Virtual Hardware in an Existing Virtual Machine

You can upgrade the virtual hardware in an existing virtual machine to take advantage of the new features of this release. Be aware that after you upgrade the virtual hardware in an existing virtual machine, you cannot use the upgraded virtual machine with older versions of VMware products. Follow these steps to upgrade the hardware of a virtual machine and migrate the virtual machine to an upgraded version of VMware Workstation:
  1. Install the latest version of VMware Tools, including the SVGA driver in the virtual machine you wish to upgrade. See Installing VMware Tools for an overview of the process, and for links to specific instructions for your guest operating system.

    Note: If there is an older version of VMware Tools installed in the virtual machine, do not remove it.

  2. Power off your virtual machine.
  3. From the Settings menu, choose Upgrade Virtual Hardware. A dialog box appears, warning that the upgrade process cannot be reversed.
  4. Click Yes to continue, then follow the on-screen directions.

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