HowTo Install Virtual Machines with VMware Player

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Revision as of 22:52, 6 July 2012 by Wyldckat (Talk | contribs)

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:


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:

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:

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 online 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...

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...