VMware VIX is an API which allows for the automation of virtual machine operations and which allows to manipulate files within a guest operating system. The VIX API needs to be installed on the same machine as RayPack Studio and it is required in order to use the virtual machine feature in RayPack Studio. VMware VIX is automatically installed together with the VMware Workstation. If it is not present on a machine, it can be downloaded from the following location: https://www.vmware.com/support/developer/vix-api/.
Compatibility
The minimum versions that are supported by RayPack Studio are:
- VMware vSphere 5.5
- VMware Workstation 10
There is an experimental support for VMware Workstation 7, 8, and 9. There is also an experimental support for VMware vSphere 4.x, 5, and 5.1.
The VIX API version that is required is depending on the system to which it should connect to. The below table represents the supported versions of VMware products depending on the installed VIX API version.
| VIX API Version | VMware Platform Products | Library Location |
| 1.11 | vSphere 5, Workstation 8 or earlier | Workstation-8.0.0-and-vSphere-5.0.0 |
| 1.12 | vSphere 5.1, Workstation 9 or earlier | Workstation-9.0.0-and-vSphere-5.1.0 |
| 1.13 | vSphere 5.5, Worksation 10 or earlier | Workstation-10.0.0-and-vSphere-5.5.0 |
| 1.14 | Workstation 11 or earlier | Workstation-11.0.0 |
| 1.15.0 | Workstation 12 or earlier | Workstation-12.0.0 |
Configuration
The default installation directory for VIX API is C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware VIX\. The main configuration file for VIX is vixwrapper-config.txt which translates the product version specifications into the appropriate VIX implementations. In case of connection problems, the file should be configured as shown in the screenshot below.
- Provider type - possible types:
- ws - VMware Workstation
- player - VMware Workstation Player
- esx - VMware ESX/ESXi
- viserver - VMware Server
- Supported API version - the apiVersion supported as passed in from VixHost_Connect()
- IPC type - possible types:
- none
- vmdp
- vmodl
- cim
- Product version - the product version string
- Implementation directory - the path to the file that implements the version described by the first four parameters.
Note: The list of entries in the configuration file is built using the LIFO (Last In First Out) order. This means that the last entry in the configuration will always be used first. If for some reason this value fails, it will continue through.
Note: Please ensure, that the current version of the VMware Workstation is listed in the vixwrapper-config.txt file.
Testing
It is possible to verify whether the VIX API works by running the vmrun.exe. This executable is located in the installation folder of VIX API. By default, it can be found at C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware VIX\vmrun.exe.
The following represents a sample command line for the usage of the vmrun.exe:
vmrun.exe -h https://192.168.0.123/sdk -T esx -u MyDomain\user -p Start123 start
"[DATASTORE1] MyMachine/Windows10.vmx"
For additional information you can take a look at this article: RSC200351: Executing Virtual Machine Operations on VMware Workstation 14.
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