Can't access a virtual machine which runs as a service

Question

I'm trying to start a virtual machine (I'm using VMware Workstation 7) as a service on my Windows 7 system, so that it starts automatically with my (physical) host.

I used instsrv and srvany.exe from the Windows Resource Kit to create a new service. This service runs a batch file when Windows is booting.

Thats the content of the batch file:

vmrun start "D:\Windows 7 VM\Windows 7.vmx"

Well, everything works fine. After logging in to my Windows 7 system, the virtual machine is already running. The only problem is, that I can't access to the virtual machine.

After starting VMware Workstation 7, it tells me, that my VM is running but I can't access it. If I try to open the virtual machine I receive an error message, which tells me that I have to take ownership of this virtual machine.

I tried to remove the .lock files and xxx-lock directory but nothing changed.

What else can I try to open my virtual machine?

Answer 1

You could switch over to using VMware Server (free), as it's intended to run VM's in the background on a host OS (as a service).

You then access them using the VMware Remote Console, or the VI Web Access, vSphere client, etc.