Installing Virtual Machines on Dell Servers Using Dell OEM Media
Date
:
9/22/2010
When you purchase a Dell™ PowerEdge™ server with Windows® Server® 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2 OS, the system is shipped with the corresponding Dell original equipment manufacturer (OEM) media. With Dell OEM media, you don't need a product key to install the OS, and the OS on the Dell system will be activated automatically after the OS installation is complete.
The activation process is different, however, when you use the Dell OEM media to install a virtual machine or guest OS. The activation code included in the Dell OEM media will not work in a virtualized environment. The guest OS is not automatically preactivated. Instead, you must use a virtual product key to activate the guest OS.
This article describes the steps required to activate a guest OS installed on a virtual machine with Dell OEM media. It also describes how to create a preactivated master virtual machine image. You can use the master virtual image as a template to deploy onto multiple virtual machines in the same hypervisor environment or in different virtual environments.
The activation process is different, however, when you use the Dell OEM media to install a virtual machine or guest OS. The activation code included in the Dell OEM media will not work in a virtualized environment. The guest OS is not automatically preactivated. Instead, you must use a virtual product key to activate the guest OS.
This article describes the steps required to activate a guest OS installed on a virtual machine with Dell OEM media. It also describes how to create a preactivated master virtual machine image. You can use the master virtual image as a template to deploy onto multiple virtual machines in the same hypervisor environment or in different virtual environments.