VMWare Guide


  1. This is a relatively simple installation guide to install VMware Server on a minimal Red Hat based system dedicated to running virtual machines.
  2. VMware Server installs virtual machines in /var ...ensure your /var directory has the necessary space allocated.
  3. VMware Server Console must be installed on a seperate machine with a GUI interface using Windows or Linux.
  4. This guide is tested on VMware Server 1.0 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES 4 update 3. CentOS would be very similar.
  5. The "system time" is important for VMware Server & system updates...please ensure NTP is working properly.
  6. Commands shown in a black box must be executed in the terminal window.
  7. Text shown in the dashed boxes must be entered into the file or interface mentioned in the instructions.
  8. "Copy" is accomplished by a left-click on the mouse and dragging to highlight text.
  9. "Paste" is accomplished by a right-click on the mouse. Pasted items appear below the cursor postion.


  1. Install Red Hat, include ssh and use the "minimum" package selection group. Choose appropriate settings to reflect your network requirements during the installation.

  2. From a remote workstation use Putty to open an SSH connection to the server. Use a full-screen shell to aviod any line-wrap problems. Login as root (as suggested in the VMware documentation) and issue the following commands:

  3. Download and install the following packages (NOTE: Libstdc++ may already be installed):

      4. rpm -Uvh compat-db-4.1.25-9.i386.rpm
rpm -Uvh compat-libstdc++-296-2.96-132.7.2.i386.rpm
rpm -Uvh compat-libstdc++-33-3.2.3-47.3.i386.rpm
rpm -Uvh cpp-3.4.5-2.i386.rpm
rpm -Uvh gcc-3.4.5-2.i386.rpm
rpm -Uvh glibc-devel-2.3.4-2.19.i386.rpm
rpm -Uvh glibc-headers-2.3.4-2.19.i386.rpm
rpm -Uvh glibc-kernheaders-2.4-9.1.98.EL.i386.rpm
rpm -Uvh libstdc++-devel-3.4.5-2.i386.rpm
rpm -Uvh ntp-4.2.0.a.20040617-4

  4. Issue the following commands to update the time and system packages:

      5. ntpdate
up2date -u
    • NOTE: CentOS would use yum for updates.

  5. Download and install the VMWare Server package where xxxx is the latest version number:

      6. rpm -Uvh VMware-server-xxxx.i386.rpm

  6. Run the VMware configuration script:

      7. vmware-config.pl
    • Answer the VMware configuration screens as appropriate to your environment.

  7. Download and install the VMware Management Interface where xxxx is the latest version number:

      8. tar zxf VMware-mui-xxxx.tar.gz
cd vmware-mui-distrib

  8. Run the installation script:

      9. ./vmware-install.pl
    • Answer the VMware installation screens as appropriate to your environment & allow the configuration program to run.

  9. Disable unecessary services:

      10. ntsysv
    • Uncheck the following:
      • autofs
cpuspeed
cups
isdn
netfs
portmap
rpcgssd
rpcidmapd

    • Select OK when finished.
      •

  10. Stop the above services:

      11. service autofs stop
service cups stop
service cpuspeed stop
service isdn stop
service netfs stop
service portmap stop
service rpcgssd stop
service rpcidmapd stop

  11. Finally, verify the services starting in run level 3:

      12. chkconfig --list | grep 3:on

  12. If you have a UPS attached (I use APC) follow these instructions. Download and install the apcupsd and gd packages. Check ntsysv to verify it's set to run at bootup. Use: apcaccess status hostname ...to see the current status of the APC UPS. If necessary, change the settings in apcupsd.conf.

      13. wget http://apt.sw.be/redhat/el4/en/i386/RPMS.dag/apcupsd-3.10.18-1.2.el4.rf.i386.rpm
rpm -ivh gd-2.0.28-4.4E.1.i386.rpm
rpm -ivh apcupsd-3.10.18-1.2.el4.rf.i386.rpm
ntsysv
apcaccess status hostname
nano /etc/apcupsd/apcupsd.conf
    • In VMWARE Server guest options, ensure the "Startup/Shutdown" section is set to "Shutdown Guest Operating System" instead of "PowerOff Virtual Machine" when the host shuts down. Then, ensure the host is set to power off with plenty of time to shut down all the guests before the battery runs out. When the APC UPS begins to shut down the host, the VMware Registration Service will tell all of the guest VM's to shutdown and wait for them to shut down before the service stops. Finally, the host will continue shutting down.

  13. Open a browser to: https://ip-address:8333



At this point, you might want to restart the machine to ensure everything is working correctly. Links:


VMware