HowTo: VMware Server 1.0.1 on Ubuntu Server 6.10

I've been using VMware Workstation for quite a while now but HEY! Wake UP! You can get VMware Server for free now.

So this article is about installing this free version on a free OS.

Of course, you could also install this software on a Windows Server based computer but how about using < 100MB of RAM with Ubuntu server... leaving you plenty of room to run your virtual machines? (compared to > 350MB on Windows 2003 Server)

Sounds good isn't it?

Keep reading...

Step 1 - Installing Ubuntu Server

Go to http://www.ubuntu.com/products/GetUbuntu/download and download the ISO file for server version 6.10 (Edgy). Now it's up to you; either you install on a computer or you can play it safe (like I did at first) and install Ubuntu Server in a virtual machine!

But remember that you cannot start a virtual machine inside a virtual machine... you'll be able to play with the console and the Web management interface that's it.

So burn your ISO and start the installation (base install, no need for LAMP)

Intallation of Ubuntu Server 6

Step 2 - Configuration of Ubuntu Server

$ sudo -s
# nano -w /etc/apt/sources.list (uncomment universe and last 2 lines)
# apt-get update
# apt-get upgrade
# apt-get install libx11-6 libx11-dev libxtst6 xlibs-dev xinetd wget
# apt-get install linux-headers-`uname -r` build-essential

Step 3 - Installation of VMware Server 1.0.1

# cd /tmp
# wget http://download3.vmware.com/software/vmserver/VMware-server-1.0.1-29996.tar.gz
# tar xvfz VMware-server-1.0.1-29996.tar.gz
# cd vmware-server-distrib
# ./vmware-install.pl

From now on, the VMware install script will ask a bunch of question but all you have to do basically is to accept the default answer provided...

Also, the installation script will ask for a licence code that you can get on the VMware website

VMware Server Installed

Step 4 - Ready to Go!

If you've made it this far, congratulation! You're ready to fire up the VMware Server Console, connect to your new server and create some virtual machines.

Download the console here:

Windows Client
Linux Client

VMware Server Console
Ready to Run Virtual Machines!

Optional Step A - Web Interface Management

With the Web Management Console, you can monitor and configure your VMware Server from a Web Browser without having to install anything,

# rm -f /bin/sh
# ln -s /bin/bash /bin/sh
# cd /tmp
# wget http://download3.vmware.com/software/vmserver/VMware-mui-1.0.1-29996.tar.gz
# tar xvfz VMware-mui-1.0.1-29996.tar.gz
# cd vmware-mui-distrib
# ./vmware-install.pl

Disabling call to vmware_exec :

# nano -w /etc/init.d/httpd.vmware

case "$1" in
start)
# vmware_exec "Starting httpd.vmware:"
vmware_start_httpd
;;
stop)
# vmware_exec "Shutting down http.vmware:"
vmware_stop_httpd

You can now open your Web Browser and type your server's IP address (or name) in the URL field at port 8222 like:
For example: http://10.0.0.1:8222

You will be redirected to https://10.0.0.1:8333 and you'll be prompted to accept the VMware server's certificate...

Fire up your browser

Monitor and Configure your Server

A little Reminder - Moving virtual machines

When I moved some virtual machines from my VMware Workstation setup to the server, the console was totally black when I launched them. The virtual machines were fully functionnal but I wasn't able to see anything inside the VMware Server Console. This is related to the file permission in linux.

The .vmx file need r-x and the .vmdk need rw-

A Nice Addition - Using a Dual or Quad NIC

GET A INTEL QUAD NIC FOR HALF-PRICE!

On a VMware ESX Server, there is a recommendation about using the following scheme for ethernet ports. Interesting fact: you don't need to provide a valid IP address to your bridged vmnet adapter once your eth0 has one.

eth0 -› Access to your host (Remote Consoles & Web Management)
eth1 -› VMotion dedicated port (ESX Server Only)
eth2 -› Bridged to vmnet2 (for virtual machines)
eth3 -› Bridged to vmnet3 (for virtual machines)
etc...

Of course, the free VMware Server does not support VMotion but you can apply a similar concept to your setup.

There is a whole family of Intel Pro/1000 Server Adapter (MT, GT, PT) and you can expect to pay 200$ USD for a dual port and 500$ USD for a quad port. The interesting part about the Intel nic is that you already have a kernel driver for them so they should work right out of the box. Of course you can add multiple single, dual, quad adapter to your system if you wish. One last thing to mention, if you plan to migrate to ESX Server, check out the compatibility list and you'll notice that only Intel and Broadcom nic seems to be officially supported.

So here is my configuration:

# nano -w /etc/network/interfaces

# This file describes the network interfaces available on your system
# and how to activate them. For more information, see interfaces(5).

# The loopback network interface
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

# The primary network interface
auto eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp

auto eth1
iface eth1 inet static
address 0.0.0.1
netmask 255.255.255.0

auto eth2
iface eth2 inet static
address 0.0.0.2
netmask 255.255.255.0

etc...

You can now restart the networking stack:

/etc/init.d/networking restart

Use ifconfig to make sure your devices are active (UP)

Now you'll have to fire up the VMware config script to bridge your virtual adapter (vmnet) to your physical ports but leave vmnet1 and vmnet8 as they are

/usr/bin/vmware-config.pl

Now in the virtual machine, you would configure the virtual machine (VM -› Settings) virtual network adapter to use "Custom" networking and select vmnet2 if you wanted it to use the physical network adapter eth2...  

Update on Friday, November 16, 2007 at 21:54 by Patrick Laforte

Just a reminder to look in /etc/iftab for ethX association (with MAC address)

For newer distro, it is now handled in /etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-net.rules

Comments

[Rob]

Just a quick note: if you have the 64-bit version of Ubuntu installed, you need to add the 32 bit compat libraries to allow vmware's modules to compile correctly. 'apt-get install ia32-libs' during step 2 will work.

[civic_si]

The tutorial works great but whenever my machine restarts i cannot get back to the web interface to check on my virtual machines. I ran sudo /etc/init.d/httpd.vmware start and the service is already running so i tried to stop the service and start it again no luck. Any suggestions?

[Patrick Laforte]

There is a script here:
http://users.piuha.net/martti/comp/ubuntu/httpd.vmware.diff

I haven't tried yet but I have issues with reboot as well. Not the same as you described but similar

[Jane]

Pls. help.... my Vmware Server Console are not running..
here are some of the errors...


:~$ sudo /usr/bin/vmware-config.pl
Password:
ldd: /usr/lib/vmware-player/bin/vmware-vmx: No such file or directory
Making sure services for VMware Server are stopped.

Stopping VMware services:
Virtual machine monitor done
/etc/init.d/vmware: 766: /usr/lib/vmware-player/net-services.sh: not found
Virtual ethernet done
Unable to stop services for VMware Server

Execution aborted.

[LK]

wow, thanks a bunch for the permissions tip. my remote console screen was also black, and giving the vmx file r-x fixed it!