When trying to create a new Virtual Machine from a template in VMWare ESX v3.5 via the VM Virtual Center you may receive the following error message: ‘Warning: Windows customization resources were not found on this server’.

The reason for this message is that you don’t have ‘SysPrep’ files copied onto your local machine (ie: the machine from which you are running Virtual Center) and if you do chances are they’ve been copied to the wrong place or are the wrong version of the files (ie: xp sysprep files in the w2k3 folder).

Resolving this is easy enough. All you have to do is extract the contents of the ‘deploy.cab’ from your OS source CD into the one of the sub-directories under (depending on the OS of the image):

‘C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\sysprep’

In this directory you will see 6 sub-directories each representing a Windows OS version. So if your VM template is for a Windows Server 2003 x32 copy the contents of ‘deploy.cab’ into the ‘svr2003′ folder, if its the x64 version then copy the files into ‘svc2003-64′, etc.

Exit the from the ‘Deploy Wizard’ and restart it again. Now when you get to the ‘Select Guest Customization Option’ screen the other customization options will be available.

Technorati Tags: vmware,warning,windows customization resources were not found on this server,windows customisation resources were not found on this server,template,esx,3.5,sysprep