VMware Server

Fedora 14

tags: vmware server virtual machine virtualization

This information was taken from HowToForge, checked and slightly modified.

• First, go to the VMware server page , click on download.
• Create your VMware account or login using an existing account.
• Check your mail, activate the account and store your license keys.
• Now, choose the right download for either 32bit or 64bit: Choose the .gz, not the .rpm file, using Manual Download.

Now we need to install some needed packages, open a terminal and enter:

bash code
​su - yum -y install kernel-devel-`uname -r` xinetd gcc gcc-c++ perl-devel perl-ExtUtils-Embed wget vim-enhanced exit​

VMware server 2.02 does not work with kernel 2.6.35 out of the box, so we need a small script:

bash code
​wget --no-check-certificate http://codebin.cotescu.com/vmware/vmware-server-2.0.x-kernel-2.6.3x-install.sh​

Look at your download directory. You should find these files:

  # -rw-r--r-- 1 user group      8696 Dec 16 16:46 raducotescu-vmware-server-linux-2.6.3x-kernel-release-1.5-1-g71f8b66.tar.gz
  # -rw-rw-r-- 1 user group 506047036 Dec 16 16:31 VMware-server-2.0.2-203138.i386.tar.gz

Now, unpack the file we got from the script:

bash code
​tar xvfz raducotescu-vmware-server-linux-2.6.3x-kernel-release-1.5-1-g71f8b66.tar.gz​

A new directory has been created:

 # ls -l
 # drwxrwxr-x 2 user group      4096 Nov 14 22:24 raducotescu-vmware-server-linux-2.6.3x-kernel-71f8b66
 # -rw-r--r-- 1 user group      8696 Dec 16 16:46 raducotescu-vmware-server-linux-2.6.3x-kernel-release-1.5-1-g71f8b66.tar.gz
 # -rw-rw-r-- 1 user group 506047036 Dec 16 16:31 VMware-server-2.0.2-203138.i386.tar.gz
 

Move the downloaded VMware server in the new directory:

bash code
​mv VMware-server-2.0.2-203138.i386.tar.gz raducotescu-vmware-server-linux-2.6.3x-kernel-71f8b66/ cd raducotescu-vmware-server-linux-2.6.3x-kernel-71f8b66 ls -l​

Your directory should now look like this:

 # -rw-rw-r-- 1 user group      1321 Nov 14 22:24 LICENSE
 # -rw-rw-r-- 1 user group      1980 Nov 14 22:24 README
 # -rwxrwxr-x 1 user group       702 Nov 14 22:24 start-VMware-console.sh
 # -rw-rw-r-- 1 user group      1111 Nov 14 22:24 vmware-config.patch
 # -rw-rw-r-- 1 user group 506047036 Dec 16 16:31 VMware-server-2.0.2-203138.i386.tar.gz
 # -rw-rw-r-- 1 user group     13618 Nov 14 22:24 vmware-server-2.0.2-203138-update.patch
 # -rwxrwxr-x 1 user group     11095 Nov 14 22:24 vmware-server-2.0.x-kernel-2.6.3x-install.sh
 

To install VMware server, we need the script vmware-server-2.0.x-kernel-2.6.3x-install.sh. To execute it, root rights are required.

bash code
​./vmware-server-2.0.x-kernel-2.6.3x-install.sh​

The installer will ask a lot of questions which can be answered by defaults by hitting Enter. At the question:

 # What is the location of the directory of C header files that match your running kernel? [/usr/src/linux/include]

the installer will get stuck. Close it with Ctrl-C.

The VMware configfile must be edited to continue:

bash code
​chmod 755 /usr/bin/vmware-config.pl vim /usr/bin/vmware-config.pl​

You can of course use another editor, but he should isplla line numbers. Around line 2702, replace

Text
​[...] if (-e $answer . '/linux/utsrelease.h') { $uts_headers .= "#include <linux/utsrelease.h>\n"; } [...]​

with

Text
​[...] if (-e $answer . '/generated/utsrelease.h') { $uts_headers .= "#include <./generated/utsrelease.h> \n"; } [...]​

Now run the configuration script:

bash code
​/usr/bin/vmware-config.pl​

to finish the installation.

Only two questions need specific answers, answer the default values withEnter for the others again:

 # The current administrative user for VMware Server is . Would you like to specify a different administrator?
 

Answer yes and enter root as the administrator.

For the question:

 # In which directory do you want to keep your virtual machine files? [/var/lib/vmware/Virtual Machines]

you may enter a directory of your choice if you wish.

Next, you will be prompted for the serial number you received at the beginning.

After successful installation, the install directory can be deleted.

Open your browser.

You can access the management interface over HTTPS (https://<IP ADDRESS>:8333) or HTTP (http://<IP ADDRESS>:8222); the management interface can be accessed locally and also remotely. Use your HDA IP for remote access, and 127.0.0.1 for local access.

As login name, enter root and as password your root password.

That should be it.