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Opinion Needed: Is it wise to deploy a Windows Virtual Machine via Self Service

  • July 26, 2017
  • 6 replies
  • 15 views

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Hi Everyone,

My organization is testing the use of Self Service to deploy Windows virtual machines, the VM file we want to deploy is very large (~10GB or more). We are testing this because we can keep the Windows image more updated with security patches and Windows updates so a network deploy is preferred.

My question for everyone is this, is deploying a Win VM via Self Service a wise course of action? Are there other, more efficient ways of doing this? Any caveats to be aware of or other thoughts/ideas/suggestions?

Responses are much appreciated, thanks guys!

6 replies

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  • Valued Contributor
  • July 27, 2017

I wouldn't say 10 GB was overly large, we deploy a number applications of a similar size using Self Service.
You just have to make sure your checking space and ensuring the machine is going to sleep, it probably also isn't a great idea to try it over Wi-Fi.
My answer is not really specific to VM's just to large files in general.


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  • Valued Contributor
  • July 27, 2017

You can cache it before running it. Eg rtrouton OS upgrade


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  • Valued Contributor
  • July 27, 2017

Also if you are using SCCM to manage Windows Workstations inc VM, it can be a nightmare when you are providing a compliance report to the management for Software Updates as VMs are rarely online.


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  • Contributor
  • July 27, 2017

We've done it before with about a ~7GB size VM, and it does indeed work, but often we just resorted to plugging in a local drive to get it installed. Much faster, and like @Look said, you have to make sure the machine doesn't go to sleep and it's not over wifi.


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  • Author
  • Valued Contributor
  • November 15, 2017

Agree @jkuo we used to deploy via a thumb drive but IT Security doesn't want us doing it that way anymore since the version on those drives aren't updated regularly.


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  • Contributor
  • November 15, 2017

@lakingsfn yes, indeed, we were running into that problem as well, our prepackaged VMs got stale really fast. :(