Operating system profiles are used to create standardized virtual machines. You can define operating system profiles in two ways: by using the Create New Guest OS Profile manually or by using a wizard within the New Template Wizard.
Creating a new standalone guest operating system profile
In VMM, you define operating system profiles in the library by clicking Create and then clicking New Guest OS Profile. Doing so begins the New Guest OS Profile dialog box (see Figure 1-19).
FIGURE 1-19 Creating a new standalone guest operating system profile.
You configure the main settings for the profile in the Guest OS Profile pane of the New Guest OS Profile dialog box. Within this pane you can configure the computer name, administrator password, product key, time zone, and operating system to be used when this profile is used to create a virtual machine. Roles and features to be auto-installed are configured, as are the joining of a domain and pointing to a script file, among other settings. Figure 1-20 shows this pane.
FIGURE 1-20 The Guest OS Profile pane enables the configuration of a guest operating system profile.
Defining a guest operating system profile with template creation
You can also define a guest operating system profile when creating a template via the Create VM Template Wizard. Doing so reveals a configuration page for the operating system profile that is similar to that found when creating a standalone profile. Figure 1-21 depicts the guest operating system profile definition as part of the Create VM Template Wizard.
FIGURE 1-21 Creating a guest operating system profile as part of the Create New VM Template Wizard.
