Difference between revisions of "HowTo Install Virtual Machines with VMware Player"
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[[File:VMplayer_tut_026.png|thumb|center|400px|14. Yep, Portuguese keyboard in my case ([[User:Wyldckat|Wyldckat]] 11:51, 7 July 2012 (CEST)).<br /><br />''Continue''...]] | [[File:VMplayer_tut_026.png|thumb|center|400px|14. Yep, Portuguese keyboard in my case ([[User:Wyldckat|Wyldckat]] 11:51, 7 July 2012 (CEST)).<br /><br />''Continue''...]] | ||
− | [[File:VMplayer_tut_027.png|thumb|center|400px|15. Here you can configure your user information. '''Do not''' choose a <tt>username</tt> with spaces in it! <tt>Your name</tt> can have spaces and periods and so on, but the ''username'' should be as simple as possible!<br />Log in automatically is very useful for testing OpenFOAM installations, so leave it on.<br />Nonetheless, '''always''' define a password. Just because it's a virtual machine, it doesn't mean it's safe from potential security problems!<br /><br />''Continue''...]] | + | [[File:VMplayer_tut_027.png|thumb|center|400px|15. Here you can configure your user information. '''Do not''' choose a <tt>username</tt> with spaces in it! <tt>Your name</tt> can have spaces and periods and so on, but the ''username'' should be as simple as possible!<br />Log in automatically is very useful for testing OpenFOAM installations, so leave it on.<br />Nonetheless, '''always''' define a password; it doesn't (or shouldn't) have to be the one you use on the real machine. Just because it's a virtual machine, it doesn't mean it's safe from potential security problems!<br /><br />''Continue''...]] |
[[File:VMplayer_tut_028.png|thumb|center|400px|16. And now you wait for it to install...]] | [[File:VMplayer_tut_028.png|thumb|center|400px|16. And now you wait for it to install...]] | ||
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[[File:VMplayer_tut_029.png|thumb|center|400px|17. While you wait, press the key combination <tt>Ctrl+Alt</tt>, or move the mouse to the outside of the virtual machine. On the main window of VMplayer, choose the menu entry <tt>File -> Player Preferences</tt>. The window above will appear. The options shown in this image are personal preferences ([[User:Wyldckat|Wyldckat]] 11:51, 7 July 2012 (CEST)), but feel free to configure as you desire.<br /><br />Press the <tt>Close</tt> button when done.]] | [[File:VMplayer_tut_029.png|thumb|center|400px|17. While you wait, press the key combination <tt>Ctrl+Alt</tt>, or move the mouse to the outside of the virtual machine. On the main window of VMplayer, choose the menu entry <tt>File -> Player Preferences</tt>. The window above will appear. The options shown in this image are personal preferences ([[User:Wyldckat|Wyldckat]] 11:51, 7 July 2012 (CEST)), but feel free to configure as you desire.<br /><br />Press the <tt>Close</tt> button when done.]] | ||
− | [[File:VMplayer_tut_030.png|thumb|center|400px|18. In the mean time, Xubuntu might have finished installing. Press the <tt>Restart Now</tt> button.<br /><br />*Note*: If you didn't already have control inside the virtual machine, you will have to click a second time. You have control in the virtual machine when the message on the lower left shows <tt>press Ctrl+Alt</tt> | + | [[File:VMplayer_tut_030.png|thumb|center|400px|18. In the mean time, Xubuntu might have finished installing. Press the <tt>Restart Now</tt> button.<br /><br />*Note*: If you didn't already have control inside the virtual machine, you will have to click a second time. You have control in the virtual machine when the message on the lower left shows <tt>To release input, press Ctrl+Alt</tt>.]] |
[[File:VMplayer_tut_031.png|thumb|center|400px|19. While starting to reboot, Xubuntu will ask you to hit the <tt>Enter</tt> key. This is because there is an intermediate step of ejecting the CD.]] | [[File:VMplayer_tut_031.png|thumb|center|400px|19. While starting to reboot, Xubuntu will ask you to hit the <tt>Enter</tt> key. This is because there is an intermediate step of ejecting the CD.]] | ||
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[[File:VMplayer_tut_032.png|thumb|center|400px|20. After it boots up, onward to installing the valuable VMware Tools for refining the interaction between real and virtual machines. This basically means that you'll be able resize the virtual screen on-demand, as well as using copy-paste for transferring text or files between the two.<br /><br />Therefore, start a new terminal window.]] | [[File:VMplayer_tut_032.png|thumb|center|400px|20. After it boots up, onward to installing the valuable VMware Tools for refining the interaction between real and virtual machines. This basically means that you'll be able resize the virtual screen on-demand, as well as using copy-paste for transferring text or files between the two.<br /><br />Therefore, start a new terminal window.]] | ||
− | [[File:VMplayer_tut_033.png|thumb|center|400px|21. | + | [[File:VMplayer_tut_033.png|thumb|center|400px|21. Now press the key combination <tt>Ctrl+Alt</tt>, or move the mouse to the outside of the virtual machine. Go to the VMplayer's menu and choose <tt>Virtual Machine -> Install VMware tools</tt>. The window shown will pop-up. Press the <tt>Install</tt> button.]] |
− | [[File:VMplayer_tut_034.png|thumb|center| | + | [[File:VMplayer_tut_034.png|thumb|center|450px|22. The ISO with the tools will be loaded into the virtual machine. So go back into the virtual machine and run the command shown in it: <bash>tar -xf /media/VMware\ Tools/VMwareTools-8.8.4-743747.tar.gz</bash><br />Note: the file name may be different, so use the <tt>Tab</tt> for auto-completion: <bash>tar -xf /media/VM<tab> |
+ | tar -xf /media/VM\ Tools/VM<tab></bash>]] | ||
− | [[File:VMplayer_tut_035.png|thumb|center|400px|23. | + | [[File:VMplayer_tut_035.png|thumb|center|400px|23. Next run the commands: <bash>cd vmware-tools-distrib/ |
+ | sudo ./vmware-install.pl -d</bash> | ||
+ | This will ask for root access, namely your user password that you defined for the virtual machine. It will then install the drivers that will establish the connection between virtual and real machine.<br /><br />*Note:* In case you are using some other Linux distribution, make sure that before this command you install the GCC package!]] | ||
[[File:VMplayer_tut_036.png|thumb|center|400px|24. TODO...]] | [[File:VMplayer_tut_036.png|thumb|center|400px|24. TODO...]] |
Revision as of 10:01, 7 July 2012
Contents
1 Introduction
Testing OpenFOAM installations on several different Operating Systems can take its toll. But at least with virtualization, one person can handle 3, 4 or even more virtual machines at the same time or in sequence, all with a single real machine.
For the readers that don't know what machine virtualization is, here are some pages on this subject at Wikipedia:
- Page about what a Virtual machine is.
- The global description of what Virtualization is.
- Extended descriptions of selected virtualization software.
From the last link there are 2 popular and free virtualization applications for the general public:
- VirtualBox - The preferred among the open-source community, given the code is open-source.
- VMware Player - The one described in this How To page and which will be referred to from here on as VMplayer.
The choice of using VMplayer is somewhat simple: it's free, very good (if not best) performance and easy to use. (and personal preference - Wyldckat 00:11, 7 July 2012 (CEST)) Nonetheless, VirtualBox is a very good competitor, specially for testing PXE boot images. (Wyldckat 00:11, 7 July 2012 (CEST))
This wiki page is divided into the following chapters:
- How to install VMplayer
- How to create a new virtual machine
- Troubleshooting - as in don't shoot your computer, shoot only the troubles themselves
Final introductory note: this tutorial would probably be more appreciated as a video tutorial, but that exercise is left to the readers that wish to contribute!
2 How to install VMplayer
First a few links for reference:
- The official page for VMware Player: www.vmware.com/vmplayer
- Official documentation: Getting Started with VMware Player
Go to the first link and take care of registering and downloading VMplayer for your desired Operating System (Windows, Linux or Mac OS X). (If you don't want to register... search on-line for other possible solutions, but be careful not to download damaged software.)
TODO:
- Describe existing installers and how to run them on each OS.
- Show pictures of the installation process, which should be nearly identical for all of them.
3 How to create a new virtual machine
TODO... 1st upload pictures, then write dialogue...
Here it will be exemplified how to create and install a virtual machine with Xubuntu 12.04 x86_64 (64bit). This assumes you've already downloaded the desktop ISO of Xubuntu 12.04 x86_64, which we'll leave to the reader to figure out how and were to get it.
3.1 Create a New Virtual Machine
This section will take you step by step on how to create a new virtual machine, mainly oriented to test building OpenFOAM. This example will use Xubuntu 12.04 x86_64 (aka 64bits and amd64).
To run the VMplayer, it will depend on the Operating System you are using on your real machine:
- Windows
- Should be on the programs menu, on the lower left corner of the screen, in the button also known as the Start button.
- Linux
- Depends a bit on the distribution. The more modern ones work the same way you run any other application: you write the name of what you want to run (vmplayer, vmware or even player) and it will show you what it thinks you mean. On the more classic ones, it usually is put in the System Tools section.
You can also go old school and run in a terminal/console window:vmplayer
- Mac OS X
- If you have one, then you should already know where to look ;)
So, after you've managed to figure out how to run VMplayer, here are the steps to be taken (you can click on the images to see them bigger):
3.2 Installing Xubuntu 12.04 x86_64
Now onward to installing Xubuntu 12.04 x86_64 inside the virtual machine:
4 Troubleshooting
On this chapter is shown various known issues and solutions. Other issues and solutions can be found in the official documentation (see chapter How to install VMplayer) and on-line.
4.1 The yield() function is not activated
Issue: A message dialogue box appears saying:
The yield() function is not activated
And doesn't allow running the machine.
Note: This is happens on Linux with kernel versions greater or equal to 2.6.31.
Solution: To fix this until next boot, run as root:
echo "1">/proc/sys/kernel/sched_compat_yield sysctl -w kernel.sched_compat_yield="1"
For a permanent solution, run as root as well:
echo -e "\n\n#This is needed for Virtual Machines to run at full power\!\nkernel.sched_compat_yield = 1" >> /etc/sysctl.conf
4.2 Unable to operate the VMplayer window
Issue: Error and warning windows sometimes pop to the wrong side of the window, namely to the back of the VMplayer window!
Note: This is more common on Linux.
Solution: The main window is sometimes still usable, in the sense that it can still be moved out of the way, to reveal the small error/warning dialogue in the back of the main window.
4.3 /dev/vmmon does not exist
Issue: A dialogue appears with the message:
/dev/vmmon does not exist
Note: This is more common on Linux.
Solution: run as root:
/etc/init.d/vmware stop /etc/init.d/vmware start
5 History
Readers are welcome to improve this document if they so see fit to do it. Links to video tutorials directly related to this tutorial are also welcome.
Below is a short edit history. For the complete history, see the History link at the top-right of the page.
- Wyldckat 00:30, 7 July 2012 (CEST) - Still editing the page...