How to Boot VM from ISO Images/CD/DVD in VMware Workstation/vSphere?

VMware is a popular hypervisor among the world. Users could easily create and manage virtual machines with it. Usually, you could install an operating system with the help of New Virtual Wizard. What if you would like to boot VMware from ISO images?

Users in VMware community says that they have problem with their VMs and need to boot VM in this way. Actually, you could easily complete this with VMware Workstation/vSphere.

The benefits of booting VM from ISO

Use ISO to boot virtual machine is a necessary skill for VM users.

If your there is a problem with your VM, and you can’t start it, you could use ISO booting to repair your system. You could also install guest operating system from ISO images on a fresh virtual machine.

Some users also use this skill to change the size of drives or upgrade operating system.

How to boot VM from ISO images in VMware Workstation?

Before you try this method, remember to prepare you ISO files first. You could download it from the Internet and store it on the host machine. If you want to let more users to use the ISO file, move it to the shared storage. If you have a DVD or CD containing the needed image file, make sure your computer has DVD player and the image file is readable.

Step 1. create a VMware (if you want to execute the operation on an existing VM, move to step 2).

Open VMware Workstation. Click File in menu > then click New > click Virtual Machine > complete configuration > select Installer disc image file > use the image file you have > follow New Virtual Wizard to install the operating system.

Step 2. Set virtual CD/DVD device is to use the ISO image

Select the VM in VMware workstation > right-click the name of the VM > select Edit virtual machine settings in the drop-down list> click Hardware > select CD/DVD drive > select Connect at power on > select Use ISO image file > Click Browse and add the path of your ISO file > click OK.

Step 3. boot VM from ISO

Start the VM > press ESC (or F2, F10, F12) for boot menu > select CD-ROM Drive > your VM would be booted from ISO

Tips: How to easily enter boot menu?

If the option disappears too fast and there is not enough time to press ESC, you could extend the time in VM settings.  

Right-click the name of the VM > select Edit virtual machine settings in the drop-down list> click Options > select Boot Options > set Power On Boot Delay as 5000 or more to gain 5 seconds.

How to Boot VM from ISO in vSphere client?

vSphere is the enterprise-class virtualization solution, which use ESXi as the hypervisor. There is also the option to let users boot VM using ISO file from datastore in vCenter.

1. Log into the vSphere client via a web browser

2. Locate the VM you would like to boot from ISO

3. Right-click the VM and select Edit Settings

4. Expand CD/DVD drive 1

5. Select Datastore ISO File

6. Click Browse to select ISO file from datastore

7. Check Connect At Power On and click OK

Protect the data on the virtual machine with Vinchin Backup & Recovery

Hypervisor makes users conveniently create VMs to manage all kinds of system. For long-term planning, data protection shouldn’t be ignored.

No one could avoid accident, but it could be properly disposed to minimize the damage and loss. Vinchin Backup & Recovery is a comprehensive VM backup solution that can help you easily reach the goal.

With its powerful features, it has gained a good reputation among clients. It supports not only VMware vSphere backup, but also XenServer, Hyper-V, XCP-ng backup, etc.

Agentless backup: You don’t need to deploy agents on operating system to backup VM data. Vinchin Backup & Recovery allows you to backup VMs by directing interacting with the hypervisor layer. It’s more convenient and cost-effective.

Instant Recovery: System crash might take hours or a couple of days to recover in the past, which could cause unmeasurable effects on the business operation, but with Instant VM Restore in Vinchin Backup & Recovery, your interrupted business can be immediately recovered, because any crashed VM can be seamlessly recovered on the original or a new host machine in 15 seconds.

Vinchin Backup & Recovery would also help migrate VM from one ESXi host to another including hosts on another platform like Citrix XenServer, Red Hat Virtualization, Oracle Linux KVM, etc., up to 9 mainstream virtualization platforms.

Want to know more advanced features? Just a start a 60-day full-featured free trial. Click the button to get the installation package.

Conclusion

VMware users might need to boot VMware virtual machine from ISO file for some reason. This passage gives the detailed steps to help users to use virtual CD/DVD drive.

By the way, don’t forget to backup VM with Vinchin Backup & Recovery.

If this passage solves your problem, you could share it on social media platforms to help more people.