Which version of Linux for VMWare Server?

[InlineFive]

Hello all,

I want to install VMWare Server on a machine and obviously I want to pair it with a Linux OS. The only thing is that I would like a distrobution of Linux with a GUI and one that has a relatively small footprint. Now the requirements for VMWare Server say a Linux Server distrobution.

I was hoping to use Ubuntu but I'm not sure if this qualifies as a Linux Server.

Thanks!

I5

 

[cker]

VMTN thread 1
VMTN thread 2

Looks like it's unsupported but some people are working on it.

HowTo install VMware-Server-Beta on Ubuntu Breezy 5.10

 

[EatSpam]

I know Ubuntu is really popular around here for some reason. I'm not sure if its a good desktop distro or what, but anyway...

I highly recommend CentOS 4.3 for your host OS. The RPM of VMWare server installs perfectly and there is a prebuilt VMWare module for the installed kernel. No hassles at all.

CentOS is basically Redhat Enterprise Linux with the branding stripped off.

Remember, VMWare Server is truly a server, so run it on a server. Get VMWare Workstation for your workstation..

 

[InlineFive]

Originally posted by: EatSpam
I know Ubuntu is really popular around here for some reason. I'm not sure if its a good desktop distro or what, but anyway...

I highly recommend CentOS 4.3 for your host OS. The RPM of VMWare server installs perfectly and there is a prebuilt VMWare module for the installed kernel. No hassles at all.

CentOS is basically Redhat Enterprise Linux with the branding stripped off.

Remember, VMWare Server is truly a server, so run it on a server. Get VMWare Workstation for your workstation..

Thanks for the suggestion, I will try out CentOS as soon as I can! And I am aware that this is VMWare Server, I am going to be installing it onto a dedicated server computer in my basement.

 

[nweaver]

I wouldn't want to run vmware server and run a GUI on the host OS, as that will suck down resources you can use for the VM machines...just me though.

 

[Sunner]

Originally posted by: EatSpam
I know Ubuntu is really popular around here for some reason. I'm not sure if its a good desktop distro or what, but anyway...

I highly recommend CentOS 4.3 for your host OS. The RPM of VMWare server installs perfectly and there is a prebuilt VMWare module for the installed kernel. No hassles at all.

CentOS is basically Redhat Enterprise Linux with the branding stripped off.

Remember, VMWare Server is truly a server, so run it on a server. Get VMWare Workstation for your workstation..

There's really nothing special that makes RHEL/CentOS/Whitebox any more of a server OS than Debian/Slack/buntu/Random other dist.

 

[InlineFive]

Originally posted by: nweaver
I wouldn't want to run vmware server and run a GUI on the host OS, as that will suck down resources you can use for the VM machines...just me though.

Well I don't know enough about Linux to be able to get everything setup without the GUI.

 

[scottws]

Here is a step-by-step guide for Debian 3.1 (Sarge)

That's a barebones install of the OS, with no GUI. You use another workstation to setup the guest machines. It's all in the guide.

Rock-solid, low resource useage... it's great. I have two guest machines running on this setup on an old PIII 733Mhz PC with 512 MB of RAM.

 

[Brazen]

I suppose you could always get it set up and then set the computer to boot to init 3 by default to get rid of the gui. It is true though, you will have huge performance gains if you don't run a gui on your host OS. I also recommend CentOS 4.3 for the host. VMWare has always supported Redhat as the host and as guest operating systems, so you should have the least trouble with CentOS (as mentioned above it is just Redhat with the branding stripped out). It is super-easy to do without the GUI anyway.

You just do a minimal install of CentOS. Log in to the CentOS machine from a workstation using SSH and transfer the rpm and the mui tar file to the server with sftp. Install the rpm, then run "vmware-config.pl" and answer the questions. I do the defaults to all questions, except I do not install gcc and when it asks for it I say 'no.'

For the mui, just untar it with 'tar -xzf archinename.tar.gz' then cd to the directory, run './vmware-setup.pl' and answer the questions. Again, I just do the defaults. Use 'system-config-security-tui' to open up the necessary firewall tcp ports (902 and 8333) then you can connect from a workstation using either the vmware console or a webpage at https://ipaddr:8333.

Really, it is that easy. Use CentOS, and do not use a gui. When you install CentOS, when you have the option to customize the packages, just go all the way to the bottom and choose "minimal" and that will get you everything you need, and few things you don't need. Ask questions on here if you have problems at the text console... it will be a snap.

 

[ncage]

Originally posted by: InlineFive

Originally posted by: nweaver
I wouldn't want to run vmware server and run a GUI on the host OS, as that will suck down resources you can use for the VM machines...just me though.

Well I don't know enough about Linux to be able to get everything setup without the GUI.

Youll make a trade off here do you want to put resource usage at the top of your priority list or do you want to put ease of use/install at the top of your priority list? Sure Fedora/OpenSuse are easy to set up but they give you less custimizing that the other distrubutions do an install more stuff and use more resources because of that. I like gentoo the best but its one of the harder distributions to set up but if you set it up correctly it will be more finely tuned. Both gentoo/debian or high on my list and this is why.

 

[scottws]

Originally posted by: InlineFive

Originally posted by: nweaver
I wouldn't want to run vmware server and run a GUI on the host OS, as that will suck down resources you can use for the VM machines...just me though.

Well I don't know enough about Linux to be able to get everything setup without the GUI.

The guide I posted walks you through everything you need to do on the command-line to get VMware Server running. It's actually amazingly easy.

 

[EatSpam]

Originally posted by: Sunner

Originally posted by: EatSpam
I know Ubuntu is really popular around here for some reason. I'm not sure if its a good desktop distro or what, but anyway...

I highly recommend CentOS 4.3 for your host OS. The RPM of VMWare server installs perfectly and there is a prebuilt VMWare module for the installed kernel. No hassles at all.

CentOS is basically Redhat Enterprise Linux with the branding stripped off.

Remember, VMWare Server is truly a server, so run it on a server. Get VMWare Workstation for your workstation..

There's really nothing special that makes RHEL/CentOS/Whitebox any more of a server OS than Debian/Slack/buntu/Random other dist.

True, but RHEL is supported by VMware ... Ubuntu is not.

 

[scottws]

Neither is Debian, but that didn't stop me from running VMware Server on it.

 

[Nothinman]

I suppose you could always get it set up and then set the computer to boot to init 3 by default to get rid of the gui.

Just an FYI, if Debian or a derivative like Ubuntu are chosen runlevel 2 is the default and 3 will still load GDM, KDM, etc. Display managers are treated like any other service on Debian, just kill /etc/rc2.d/S99gdm to stop GDM from starting on boot in runlevel 2.

True, but RHEL is supported by VMware ... Ubuntu is not.

Unless this is for a commercial project that requires a support contract I don't see why this would matter.

 

[EatSpam]

Originally posted by: Nothinman

True, but RHEL is supported by VMware ... Ubuntu is not.

Unless this is for a commercial project that requires a support contract I don't see why this would matter.

Ease of getting it all to work. I save my tweaking and fooling around for my VMs. CentOS provided a very simple way of getting VMware server to work - just install the RPM, run vmware-config.pl and that's it. Personally, I use Fedora Core for everything else - but going with a clone of a supported distro seemed like a good choice for a server that runs exclusively VMware VMs.

But to each his own - not criticizing anyone's host OS choice. We all have our distro preferences.

 

[Nothinman]

Ease of getting it all to work. I save my tweaking and fooling around for my VMs. CentOS provided a very simple way of getting VMware server to work - just install the RPM, run vmware-config.pl and that's it.

Using the non-RPM version should be as simple as untarring it and running their install script, just one extra step and not too terribly complicated if you ask me.

 

[scottws]

Originally posted by: Nothinman

Ease of getting it all to work. I save my tweaking and fooling around for my VMs. CentOS provided a very simple way of getting VMware server to work - just install the RPM, run vmware-config.pl and that's it.

Using the non-RPM version should be as simple as untarring it and running their install script, just one extra step and not too terribly complicated if you ask me.

Yeah, I second this. I didn't have to "fool around" to get it to work, as EatSpam seems to think it does. "Supported" just means that VMware "supports" that configuration: they've tested and it are willing to help out if you have trouble. It's not some magic word or anything.

For my Debian install, I just made sure I had the packages that VMware wanted, then simply ran the install script. Sure, it didn't have a pre-built kernel module like it does for Red Hat for instance, but it automatically built its own during the install process. No big deal.

Like you said, EatSpam, everyone has their own preferences and that's fine. Just don't go around spreading FUD. Installing and running VMware on unsupported Debian isn't any harder than running it on supported Red Hat.

 

[drag]

Ya vmware is pretty decent in it's support of Linux.

Maybe it's because the Linux kernel has special I/O hooks that allow more direct access to hardware resources then with other operating systems. I don't know. I know they employ a couple gnome hackers at least and probably do other stuff. I know that Vmware player will be provided by Ubuntu Dapper at least in it's multiverse stuff.

The best recommendation is to use a distribution that you are familar with and like and make sure that it is using a relatively recent kernel. I've used Debian quite well.

Out of Redhat (including clones like CentOS), Suse, Ubuntu, Debian, and others Debian is probably the 2nd most common distro you'd find in professional Linux stuff. Maybe Suse is second. Not sure.