To do this, connect to the Virtual Center using the vSphere Client.

Before making any changes, place the server into Maintenance Mode.

• In the Hosts and Clusters section, click the Update Manager tab
• Right-click on an ESX host server and select Scan for Updates
• After the scan, right-click the server again, and select Remediate…
• Check the box for the desired baseline, and click Next to run through the wizard

Note that the server may reboot several times and appear unresponsive during the update process.

VirtualBox has the capability to add VMware .VMDK files into its Disk Manager. However, when launching a new VM from these, a few extra steps may be needed. Read more »

(From http://blarts.wordpress.com/2007/12/03/how-to-launch-a-virtualbox-virtual-machine-from-a-shortcut/)

One of the things I like about VirtualBox 1.5.0 is the seamless windows mode. The only annoyance I have with this feature is you have to launch the VirtualBox GUI and select your virtual machine. However, VirtualBox does provide a way to launch your Virtual Machine from the command line, this article tells you how to use the command line to create a shortcut or launcher to run your virtual machine without having to run the VirtualBox GUI. Read more »

To start a VM in Unity mode (seamless window), use the following command:

vmplayer -U "D:\pathtovm\vmname.vmx"

Note: The “U” has to be uppercase

(From http://ubuntu-tutorials.com/category/virtualization/)

With the release of VirtualBox 1.5.0 Innotek added the seamless integration feature. This is similar to what is available on Parallels on Mac, allowing you to run individual applications from a virtual environment seamlessly on your native desktop. Read more »