cp VMware-<xxxx>.tar.gz /tmp
This page contains links to product documentation and release notes for all currently released VMware products. For technical resources, including white papers, technical notes and compatibility guides, see VMware Technical Resources http://www.vmware.com/support/resources/.
Guest Operating System Installation Guide http://www.vmware.com/support/guestnotes/doc/
documented on: 2006.12.10
Workstation 5.0 Documentation http://www.vmware.com/support/ws5/doc/index.html
Introduction and System Requirements Installing VMware Workstation Upgrading VMware Workstation Learning VMware Workstation Basics Creating a New Virtual Machine Running VMware Workstation Using Disks Moving and Sharing Virtual Machines Preserving the State of a Virtual Machine Cloning a Virtual Machine Configuring Teams Configuring a Virtual Network Configuring Video and Sound Connecting Devices Performance Tuning Special-Purpose Configuration Options # Glossary
documented on: 2005.04.20
Getting started with VMware Workstation is simple. The key steps are
Install the VMware Workstation software as described in Installing Workstation on a Linux Host.
Start VMware Workstation
Enter your serial number.
You need to do this only once. If you don't already have a serial number configured from a previous installation, you are prompted for the serial number when you start Workstation. To enter the serial number choose Help > Enter Serial Number. Note: You can install Workstation without a serial number. However you cannot power on a virtual machine without entering a serial number.
Create a virtual machine using the New Virtual Machine Wizard. See Creating a New Virtual Machine.
Install a guest operating system in the new virtual machine. You need the installation media (CD-ROM or floppy disks) for your guest operating system. See Installing a Guest Operating System and VMware Tools.
Install the VMware Tools package in your virtual machine for enhanced performance. See Installing VMware Tools.
Start using your virtual machine.
Copy the tar archive to a temporary directory on your hard drive - for example, /tmp.
cp VMware-<xxxx>.tar.gz /tmp
Change to the directory to which you copied the file.
cd /tmp
Unpack the archive.
tar zxf VMware-<xxxx>.tar.gz
Change to the installation directory.
cd vmware-distrib
Run the installation program.
./vmware-install.pl
Accept the default directories for the binary files, library files, manual files, documentation files and init script.
% vmware-install.pl Creating a new installer database using the tar3 format. Installing the content of the package. In which directory do you want to install the binary files? [/usr/bin] What is the directory that contains the init directories (rc0.d/ to rc6.d/)? [/etc] What is the directory that contains the init scripts? [/etc/init.d] In which directory do you want to install the library files? [/usr/lib/vmware] The path "/usr/lib/vmware" does not exist currently. This program is going to create it, including needed parent directories. Is this what you want? [yes] In which directory do you want to install the manual files? [/usr/share/man] In which directory do you want to install the documentation files? [/usr/share/doc/vmware] The path "/usr/share/doc/vmware" does not exist currently. This program is going to create it, including needed parent directories. Is this what you want? [yes] The installation of VMware Workstation 5.0.0 build-13124 for Linux completed successfully. You can decide to remove this software from your system at any time by invoking the following command: "/usr/bin/vmware-uninstall.pl". Before running VMware Workstation for the first time, you need to configure it by invoking the following command: "/usr/bin/vmware-config.pl". Do you want this program to invoke the command for you now? [yes]
Answer Yes when prompted to run vmware-config.pl.
This completes the tar archive installation instructions.
Start VMware Workstation.
If this is the first time you have launched VMware Workstation, enter the serial number. Use Help -> Enter Serial Number. The serial number you enter is saved and VMware Workstation does not ask you for it again.
Start the New Virtual Machine Wizard.
The New Virtual Machine Wizard presents you with a series of screens that you navigate using the Next and Prev buttons at the bottom of each screen. At each screen, follow the instructions, then click Next to proceed to the next screen.
Select the method you want to use for configuring your virtual machine.
If you select Typical, the wizard prompts you to specify or accept defaults for
The guest operating system
The virtual machine name and the location of the virtual machine's files
The network connection type
Allocate all the space for a virtual disk at the time you create it
Choose whether to split a virtual disk into 2GB files
If you select Custom, you also can specify how to set up your dis - create a new virtual disk, use an existing virtual disk or use a physical disk - and specify the settings needed for the type of disk you select. There is also an option to create a legacy virtual disk for use in environments with other VMware products.
Select Custom if you want to
Make a legacy virtual machine that is compatible with Workstation 4.x, GSX Server 3.x, ESX Server 2.x and ACE 1.x.
Make a virtual disk larger or smaller than 4GB
Store your virtual disk's files in a particular location
Use an IDE virtual disk for a guest operating system that would otherwise have a SCSI virtual disk created by default
Use a physical disk rather than a virtual disk (for expert users)
Set memory options that are different from the defaults
This document covers the installation and configuration of VMware Workstation 4.
As mentioned, this guide uses the CD version of VMware from the box set. However, the installation routine should apply to the demonstration version of VMware available from their website. You will need to give your personal details to get a demonstration key.
Ensure that module support is compiled into your kernel and that parallel port support is compiled as a module. If this is not the case for your kernel, you will need to recompile it with these conditions. See the main Core Linux installation guide for details of how to do this. If you do compile a new kernel, be sure to run lilo and reboot using your new kernel.
Create the directories rc0.d to rc6.d under the /etc/rc.d directory.
Ensure that the PCI Utilities are installed.
Place the CD-R in the CD-ROM drive. Mount the CD-ROM drive under /mnt/ cdrom.
Change to the Linux directory on the CD-R.
Copy the VMware-workstation-4.0.0-4460.tar.gz file to the directory /tmp.
Change to the /tmp directory and extract the binaries from the .tar.gz file.
Change to the /tmp/vmware-distrib directory.
Run the vmware-install.pl script.
Answer the questions that the installation script asks you.
Start XFree86 using the command startx.
Open a terminal window, such as xterm.
At the terminal prompt, enter:
vmware
VMware Workstation should start. Once you are satified that VMware runs OK, exit the program. You may stop XFree86 or continue to work in your terminal window under X.
Delete the /etc/rc.d/rc?.d directories where ? is an integer between 0 and 6.
Move the /etc/rc.d/vmware script to the directory /etc/vmware.
or
Creating a Wrapper Script
VMware requires the kernel modules created during the installation script to be loaded prior to running the program. You can do this by adding the vmware script in the /etc/vwmare directory to the end of you rc.mu script. This will load the modules on system start, and so they will ready whenever you run VMware. Alternatively, you could create a wrapper script for VMware that would load and unload the modules on demand.
If you have created a wrapper script called vmware-wrap as suggested, remember to start VMware by invoking this script. If you set up your window manager menu to include VMware, set it up to start the script, not vmware directly.
documented on: 2005.04.20