Table of Contents

Preparing a Container for Use

Step 1: Test the Container

You can test a container to make sure that the appliance runs correctly. Testing a container may include testing container services, for example. Once you are satisfied that the container runs correctly, you can then move the appliance to the destination machine.

You can test an appliance on the source machine (the computer upon which the application that is to be virtualized is installed) or on the destination machine.

Step 2: Move the Container

You must compress a container (.cap) to move it from the source machine to the destination machine. Then, you must uncompress the .cap file on the destination machine to begin using the container. One of the reasons for compressing the container is to preserve the short file names of the files in the container as they exist on the source machine.

See Moving Containers.

Step 3: Dock the Container

Docking a container integrates and prepares the container’s environment as part of the underlying operating system so that the application is ready to run.

Step 4: Start Container Services as Required

A container may require services to run. For information about starting container services, see Starting and Stopping Container Services.

You can now run your container.

Running Containers

Once a container is docked and any required container services are started, you can run a container application.

To Run a Container Using the Administrative Console

1. Select a container and then click the Dock command button.

2. If the container requires services to run, click the Services tab, and then start any required services that are not in a "Started" status.

3. Click the Run button.

Alternatively, you can right-click a docked container and select Run Default App if you want to start the default application for a container.

To Run a Container Using the CLI

At the command prompt, execute:

For example:

If you specify only the container, the container's startup application will run.

Running Multiple Containers

The virtarun command uses shared memory, which allows VirtaMove to reduce the amount of memory needed when running multiple containers. For example, if you run 10 containers, this does not mean that 10 times the amount of memory is being used.