Install Windows 8 Consumer Preview as VM in VMware vSphere 5

Today the Windows 8 Consumer Preview is launched. To install the Windows 8 Consumer Preview as VM in VMware vSphere 5, use the following steps:

1. Install VMware ESXi 5.0 patch release ESXi500-201112001. If you didn’t install the patch the following screen appears when booting the Windows 8 ISO:

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Your computer ran into a problem and needs to restart

2. When the patch is installed, create a new VM and choose the following settings:

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1. Choose custom 2. Enter VM Name
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3. Select datastore 4. Virtual Machine Version 8
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5. Choose Microsoft Windows 7 64-bit 6. Select the amount of processor and cores needed
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7. Enter memory 8. Select E1000 network adapter
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9. Select default SCSI controller 10. Create New disk
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11. Enter the desired disk size (default) 12 Select controller
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13. Finish

3. Edit the VM configuration and change the following settings:

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Enable 3D graphics Choose the Windows 8 ISO to boot from
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Select as guest OS “Microsoft Windows 8 Server (64-bit)”

4. Boot the VM and install Windows 8

Now you’re able to install Windows 8 as VM in VMware vSphere 5.

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More information can be found here.

 

Updated: March 8 2012, Removed typos in blog.

 

 

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5 thoughts on “Install Windows 8 Consumer Preview as VM in VMware vSphere 5”

  1. I installed Windows 8 CP on VMWare Workstation 8 and my network is not working. How do I use the e1000 driver on it?

  2. @Ivo I did select Windows 7 as OS – still no network. How do I select e1000 driver in VMWare Workstation as opposed to vSphere

  3. Solved the problem by adding the following line in the .vmx configuration file.
    ethernet0.virtualDev = “e1000”

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