VSPlus - Virtual Server 2005 Management Utility

Another example of a really useful utility is VSPlus written by Jin Mao. VSPlus is essentially a thick client implementation of the web admin interface to Virtual Server 2005. As you may know, Virtual Server 2005 has a very comprehensive scripting capability fully documented in the programmers guide for Virtual Server which is installed in the Start menu when you install Virtual Server.

Why do I like this utility?

Without having to try very hard, I found three really great reasons with functions which I hope the product group take on board in future releases:

  • A one click print-screen and simultaneous save of the JPG image on the host
  • The ability to duplicate a virtual machine from the GUI.
  • The ability to see running VMs in tabs like in the screenshot below

All wasn't perfect though. There were a couple of things which I problems with. However, remember is a work in progress rather than a polished finished product. I clicked accidentally on the "Reset VM" icon on the toolbar and didn't get a "Are you sure?". Reminds me of the joke about "...if Microsoft made cars....". VSPlus also crashes a few times, but I could live with these just for the ease of saving images and duplicating VMs easily.