ShoreTel currently has three virtual appliances that can be used in place of the Orange ShoreGear voice gateways and conference servers.  These three virtual appliances are shipped within the ShoreTel core Server Software and consist of OVA files and ISO images.  The tree appliances consist of the phone switch; the trunk switch and the Service Appliance, a virtual replacement for the SA-100 and SA-400 conference servers.   Once they are virtualized, they install exactly like the hardware versions of the Orange ShoreGear boxes.   The only noticeable difference, is that the configuration page in the ShoreWareDirector does not seem to offer up the image of the switch as it does with the hardware version.    There are no drop down boxes for configuration of switch feature options in large part because each option is defined by the OVA file.    We note only two ISO images in the FTP root of the HQ server, so we have concluded that  the same ISO is used for the phone switch as is used for the trunk switch, the differences being set by the OVA file. Each of the virtual devices install in a very similar manner, with little difference as it relates to the bring up under VMware.    Open the proper OVA file and the hardware is appropriately configured.  Launch the machine and you will be required to provide the normal Network configuration data and identify the location of the ShoreTel HQ/FTP server.   After the machine is configured you can log in as root, run Ifconfig to check your network card settings and note the MAC address for configuration in the ShoreWareDirector.    Then bring up the cli interface using “stcli” and you will be greeted with the familiar and easy to navigate ShoreTel Switch menu system.  You will need to add the FTP, NTP and DNS address information.   Having a primary NTP source is of critical importance especially when configuring the Service Appliance used for conferencing applications. Now that the virtual machine is configured and running you can add it in the ShoreWareDirector.   Again aside from the lack of an orange switch image on the configuration page, it installs like any other ShoreGear device.  From a license perceptive, no harm done until you actually configure a SIP trunk.   In addition to the normal SIP trunk licenses you will need for any of the hardware gateways, the vTrunk switch will require licenses as you add trunks to the virtual appliance.   All in all this is sweet stuff and you should have a ball playing with virtual switches!  The video walks you through the entire setup! - DrVoIP@DrVoIP.com