Sometimes we choose incorrect names for virtual machine images while creating the image by using VMWare Player (or VMWare Workstation) software. Over the period, we may create multiple instances of the same virtual machine image with custom settings. It would be good if we follow certain naming conventions for each virtual machine we create in such cases. Now the question is how to change the name of virtual machine images that are created earlier? In this article, learn how manually you can rename a VMWare Virtual Machine image already created or available.
For better understanding, assume that you have created a 32bit virtual machine image and named it “Windows 7 Virtual Machine”. After a few days, you have created another virtual machine for 64-bit processors and called it “Windows 7 Virtual Machine 64”. Later you found that the naming convention used for earlier created virtual machine (32 bit) images is not unique compared to newly created virtual machine image names. In such cases, the optimum solution would be renaming the image name “Windows 7 Virtual Machine” to “Windows 7 Virtual Machine x86” to keep consistent naming conventions.
How to rename VMWare Virtual Machine image?
I have a Virtual Machine image with the name “Windows 7 Virtual Machine” for demonstration purposes. At the end of this article, you will see that it is renamed “Windows 7 Virtual Machine x86”.
There are mainly two steps involved in renaming a virtual machine image name with a new name.
Step 1:
Find the current virtual machine name occurrences in the .vmx (VMWare configuration) file and replace the same with a new virtual image name.
1
Open .vmx (VMWare configuration) file in notepad.
2
On the. vmx configuration file, locate the current virtual machine name, which is the same as the .vmx file name. Copy old Virtual Machine image name [Ctrl + c].
3
3. Replace the current virtual machine image name with the new one. Steps below
1. Enter the old virtual image name.
2. Enter a new virtual machine name.
3. Click on Replace All button.
4
On successful replacement, verify the .vmx file whether all occurrences of virtual machine image name replaced with new image name.
5
Save the .vmx file and exit.
Step 2:
Rename all VMWare image files such as .vmx, .nvram, .vmsd, vmdk, vmxf files with the new image name.
1
Rename all VMWare image files such as .vmx, .nvram, .vmsd, vmdk, vmxf files with the new name.
You can open the .vmx file on the VMWare player after steps 1 and 2 are performed. The renamed VMWare virtual machine image will power on without any issues.
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Awesome article.