1   installation files:

• /usr/local/src/zip/VMWARE/vmware-distrib-5.0.0

2   files:

• most files in /usr/local/vmwire/
• some conf files in /etc/vmware/
• some kernel modules in /lib/modules/2.6.8-2-686-smp/misc/
• devices:

• Bridged networking on /dev/vmnet0 done
• Host-only networking on /dev/vmnet1 (background) done
• Host-only networking on /dev/vmnet8 (background) done
• NAT service on /dev/vmnet8 done

3   steps to run vmware:

start the server -- /usr/local/vmwire/etc/vmware start (might need to move it to /etc/init.d/

start the workstation -- /usr/local/vmwire/bin/vmware

new virtual machine -- click the button and follow the instructions

network option -- nat(guest os uses dhcp and host needs to touch iptables(masquerade)

Note:

• first run needs to enter SN (there's a button in menu 'help')
• Press Ctrl+Alt+Ins to send Ctrl+Alt+Del to the guest OS
• Press Ctrl+Alt to switch cursor and keyboard between guest and host OS

4   2006-08-06 kernel incompatibility

This version (above) of vmware doesn't work with kernel 2.6.15-26-386. The file include/linux/file.h was changed.

5   2008-03-25 competitors

bochs http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bochs

qemu http://fabrice.bellard.free.fr/qemu/

6   2008-4-5 new installation

ubuntu no longer maintains vmware player package. go to http://www.vmware.com/download/player/download.html to download the tar.gz and install. converting the rpm to deb doesn't work.

unpack the tar.gz and run the vmware-install.pl script. Most stuff is installed relative to /usr/local/. some went to /etc/rc0-6.d and /etc/init.d.

/usr/local/vmwire/bin/vmware-config.pl