Sending custom parameters into virtual machines under Virtual Server

re: Sending custom parameters into virtual machines under Virtual Server

ruudboek — Thu, 12 May 2011 15:46:05 GMT

I'm trying to pass more then 1 argument to a windows xp mode application and it looks like a second parameter can not be added.

This is the command line that works:

vmsal.exe "SVGViewer" "||b5fa4934' "SVG Viewer" f:\pic1.svgz

This command give me an "Incorrect file association." error:

vmsal.exe "SVGViewer" "||b5fa4934' "SVG Viewer" f:\pic1.svgz "DETAIL1"

Is it at all possible to pass additional command line arguments to an Windows XP Mode application?

I can not find any official documentation on vmsal.exe, where can i find any?

re: Sending custom parameters into virtual machines under Virtual Server

David.Wang — Wed, 13 Jul 2005 17:26:16 GMT

There is one non-obvious caveat that I have encountered with this trick.

When the Guest OS has just booted up and user has just logged in, there is about a 30 second lag before the Parameter registry keys are populated in the Guest OS.

So, even if you have a little daemon inside the Guest OS waiting on the Registry key to execute commands posted by automation from the Host machine, you need to wait a little while before deciding "Registry key not available -- install VM Additions Unattended" vs. "Registry key is not available yet; wait a while and retry again".

//David