Install QNAP NAS on VMware

Understand What You Are Building

You are not installing a QNAP product the normal way. QTS normally ships only on QNAP hardware. The lab method in this video boots QTS inside a VMware virtual machine, so you can learn the system, test apps and rehearse settings without buying a NAS. The build has three moving parts: a VMware virtual machine, a system disk that QTS boots from, and data disks that hold your pools and files.

Prepare the Host and the Files

You need a working VMware host (ESXi or Workstation) with resources you can genuinely spare: a sensible starting point is 2 vCPU and 4 GB RAM for the VM, plus free datastore space for the data disks. Before you create anything, collect what the video shows for this install — the QTS system image used for the VM and a browser on the same LAN for the setup pages that follow. Keep a copy of every file you use outside the host: if the VM ever breaks, those files are your rebuild kit, and re-downloading them later is not always possible.

Three decisions to make before you start:

1. Confirm the host has free CPU, RAM and datastore space that stays free after the VM starts.
2. Collect the QTS image files the video uses, and store copies off the host.
3. Decide the NAS name and the IP address it will use on your LAN.

Create the Virtual Machine

Create a new virtual machine and choose a guest OS family of Linux / Other Linux 64-bit — QTS is a Linux-based system and this template gives it compatible virtual hardware. Give it 2 vCPU and 4 GB RAM to start; both can be raised later while the VM is powered off. Resist oversizing it on day one: a lab QTS idles happily on modest resources, and the host usually has other virtual machines to feed.

Name the VM clearly — QTS-Lab tells you far more, months later, than the default New Virtual Machine 3.

Attach the System Disk and Data Disks in the Right Order

Disk order is the step most failed installs get wrong, so follow it literally:

1. Attach the system disk first. This small disk holds QTS itself and must stay in the first slot for the life of the VM.
2. Add your data disks after it on the same controller. Two data disks let you build a mirrored storage pool later.
3. Set the boot order so the system disk boots first, every time.

Network Adapter and First Boot

Connect the VM to the virtual switch or port group your normal LAN uses, so your PC can reach it. Choose the E1000E adapter type first: QTS recognises it with built-in drivers, which makes the first boot boring — and boring is what you want. The faster paravirtual adapter only helps if the QTS build you run ships a driver for it, and a NAS that never appears on the network is the classic symptom when it does not.

Power on the VM and watch the console while QTS starts. The first boot is slow; give it several minutes before you touch anything.

Find the NAS and Run the QTS Setup

From a PC on the same network, open Qfinder Pro (QNAP's free finder tool) or type the VM's IP address into a browser. The new system appears uninitialised. The setup wizard will ask you to create the administrator account, name the NAS and set the time zone.

Create the Storage Pool and First Shared Folder

Open Storage and Snapshots and create a storage pool from the data disks. With two disks, a RAID 1 mirror gives one-disk fault tolerance inside QTS; with one disk you get capacity and no protection at all. Then create a volume and your first shared folder, copy some test files across, and — the step everyone skips — reboot the VM once and confirm the NAS comes back on its own with your folder intact. A lab you have not reboot-tested is a lab you do not actually have yet.

Set the Update Rule Before You Walk Away

Finish with the rule that keeps this lab alive: firmware updates on a virtualised QTS are manual and deliberate, always. On real QNAP hardware an update is routine maintenance. Here, a new QTS version can change what the virtual hardware must look like, and the NAS may simply not boot afterwards.

So: leave notifications on, automatic updates off, and when you do update, snapshot the VM first, export the QTS configuration backup, update, and test before you trust it again. And remember the standing rule from Step 1 — this VM is for learning QTS. Important files belong on a real, licensed NAS or another proper backup, never only here.