VMware Fusion® (for Mac) : A Beginner's Guide to VMware Fusion : Comments

RE: A Beginner's Guide to VMware Fusion

rschramm — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 23:24:46 GMT

But where do you actuall GET a virtual machine file?

RE: A Beginner's Guide to VMware Fusion

etung — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 00:04:03 GMT

Not sure what you mean - you create a virtual machine with Fusion > New..., and the files are located on disk as described in Where to Find Things. You could also download premade virtual machines.

RE: A Beginner's Guide to VMware Fusion

rschramm — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 16:54:54 GMT

OK, so keeping in mind this a beginners guide... virtual machine = virtual appliance correct? And they arent distributed by VMWare but off of various 3d party web sites and I need to install bittorrent, or for some (like Fedora) I need to have something called VMPlayer?
I was able to get ubutu but just a hint to other beginners out there, my new Macbook PRO it placed it on my desktop, not in /Users/yourusername/Documents/Virtual Machines.. I was able to create that folder manually, drag the files there and reopen it and it now appears in Fusions Virtual Machines Library.
T etung - I am very appreciative of your efforts in creating your Beginners Guide and for your quick response. It all has really helped me ALOT! Thanks - rschramm

RE: A Beginner's Guide to VMware Fusion

etung — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 17:23:10 GMT

virtual machine = virtual appliance correct?

Not quite. A virtual appliance is a kind of virtual machine, but not all virtual machines are virtual appliances. You can make your own virtual machine based off your favorite install CD. Virtual appliances are basically specialized virtual machines (perhaps they're set up as a proxy or firewall or filter or just a plain install or...) which are available for others to use. Hence the term "appliance" - it's already set up for you to use (like a toaster), you don't have to do any assembly.

And they arent distributed by VMWare but off of various 3d party web sites and I need to install bittorrent

It depends on the virtual appliance; some you can get from VMware, some are off various third-party sites, some are torrents.

or for some (like Fedora) I need to have something called VMPlayer?

Player is another VMware product that can run virtual machines. I'd expect Fusion to run just about anything Player can.

I was able to get ubutu but just a hint to other beginners out there, my new Macbook PRO it placed it on my desktop, not in /Users/yourusername/Documents/Virtual Machines

When you download files, the typical default location is the desktop (this varies by browser). When you create a new virtual machine using Fusion, the default is /Users/yourusername/Documents/Virtual Machines/

RE: A Beginner's Guide to VMware Fusion

dave gerecke — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 02:16:00 GMT

I am a very new user and I just want to add a windows os to my machine for some small applications (downloading and opening palm files).
Which application/vm do I need?
dave

RE: A Beginner's Guide to VMware Fusion

cj0 — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 10:20:10 GMT

Re: ...at Boot Time Fast User Switching

When you would like to do this on remote machine, managed with Apple Remote Desktop (ARD), then you might nog want to use fast user switching. Several users reported not being able to control the machine with ARD after a fast user switch occurs (VMware fusion doesn't even need to be running).

Source: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1003987&tstart=0

RE: A Beginner's Guide to VMware Fusion

Mudborne — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 15:24:32 GMT

Why is it that my virtual machine keeps locking out other users? I have the VM and all related files -- except the application itself -- in the users/shared folder and I set all permissions (manually) to read/write for all users. After one user uses the account then the rest of the users are locked out. In finder, I can see that the newest files do not have the same permissions. I am shutting down the Windows XP VM via windows and VMWare. Am I going to have to manually open all newly created files for multiple users to use this (VMWare 1.1). Documentation has not helped so far. Same thing happened after I created a "snapshot." I reverted and unlocked the new files for all users. What am I missing. The share files was created and checked under VMWare initially.

RE: A Beginner's Guide to VMware Fusion

mango's — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 19:43:23 GMT

I am trying to starting vm in one click. I use boot camp partition (formatted NTFS) as vm. Is there any way to start vm in one click? Thank you in advance.

RE: A Beginner's Guide to VMware Fusion

bill_shankley — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 18:07:28 GMT

Dear etung - I've read your very nice beginner's guide on sharing the VM with other users and I'm wondering whether your solution is specific to Tiger. I'm running a mac mini with 1Gb ram, Leopard 10.5.2, the latest version of Fusion and have installed XP-Pro. I installed fusion as root and cannot get past the error message 'unable to connect to peer process' when using it from a standard username despite following your instructions - I've even re-installed fusion but to no avail. It seems to function fine when I run it as root. Any suggestions gratefully received.
cheers

RE: A Beginner's Guide to VMware Fusion

ivanlee — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 16:30:25 GMT

Hi etung! Is it possible to create a VM that will run the Mac OSX 10.4 tiger as the OS? I have a MacPro 8core with OSX Leopard installed and Fusion 1.1.1. My goal is to be able to load and run under Mac OSX tiger, the program Adobe Indesign CS2 which ONLY runs on Tiger and below. I have searched the knowledge base and can not find any help how to documents. Can you give me some pointers or tell me the links to search for?
Thanks...

RE: A Beginner's Guide to VMware Fusion

etung — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 21:25:30 GMT

Please note that only questions specifically related to this document should be posted here. Other questions should be made on the discussion page.

bill_shankley: Don't run Fusion as root.

ivanlee: OS X has some nonstandard quirks that cause a stock install to not run in any current VMware product.

RE: A Beginner's Guide to VMware Fusion

ivanlee — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 21:38:56 GMT

Thanks for the reply. Sorry for posting this in the wrong forum. As a brand NEW user I found your article very informative. Thanks again.

RE: A Beginner's Guide to VMware Fusion

beargold23 — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 17:07:13 GMT

Okay I just purchased a mac, and want to move everything from my PC to my mac. Ive downloaded the converter, but cant get it 2 work right. Do I need one of those Ghost software's on my PC first? If not what am i doing wrong. Also Ive lost my XP CD that came with my computer, what should i do because i know i will need it for Fusion?

RE: A Beginner's Guide to VMware Fusion

Wonuser — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 18:50:35 GMT

HOW DO I ACCESS USER HOST FILES? Regarding "Sharing Virtual Machines Between Users" It worked but I need info on how to access the user host files from within the virtual machine. From the administrator user I can access the host files but I can't figure out how to do it from within the virtual machine on a non admin user log on.

RE: A Beginner's Guide to VMware Fusion

pedoddsrick — Tue, 06 May 2008 17:24:53 GMT

I'm a newby to VMWare Fusion. I currently use Parallels and have been happy with it. How can I go about testing VMWare Fusion without deleting my version of Parallels? Do I need to install a completely new version of Windows XP and therefore double the size of storage on my computer? Is there a document that would direct me on how to do this? I am currently using a 17" MacBook Pro, running 10.5.2 with 4 GB of Ram. Any help would be most appreciated.
Thanks.

RE: A Beginner's Guide to VMware Fusion

etung — Thu, 08 May 2008 01:55:12 GMT

Hi pedoddsrick,

Welcome to VMware Fusion! Please note that only questions specifically related to this document should be posted here. Other questions should be made on the discussion page - this will ensure that many more people see your question.

The short answer is that Importer can convert a Parallels virtual machine to one that Fusion can recognize; the just-released beta of Fusion 2.0 can do this directly. It will require more space. If you have further questions (such as how to use these tools), please start a discussion.

RE: A Beginner's Guide to VMware Fusion

tjc294 — Wed, 21 May 2008 13:28:32 GMT

I believe I stumbled across a minor bug in the GUI tool that automates the expansion (Part 1) of the virtual machine. It is one of two possibilities (or maybe both). First of all, I needed to use a program called diskTool. Second ... I stupidly named my Virtual Machine as "Engineering Tools (XP-Pro)" and neither program liked the spaces or the parenthesis. I ended up having to change directories to the location of the vmdk file, then rename the file abc, then expand it using using a command line of "/applications/vmware\ fusion.app/contents/macos/diskTool -X 80GB abc.vmdk" and then change the name back again. Once I brushed off my 20 year old UNIX command line skills (8 hours later) the rest of the guide was spon-on target.

RE: A Beginner's Guide to VMware Fusion

downline — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 05:43:01 GMT

I purchased Fusion because an Apple sales person said it was better that Boot Camp for working Windows applications. I am thrown now trying to get Windows application where I need them to operate them with Fusion. I think some of my problem is Fusion is using new terms for something that I have used in the past and it is not computing. Are my virtual machines the applications like Quick Books Pro and Microsoft Streets and trips? I allocated 20 gig for Windows XP Professional when I loaded it, but does that cover the other applications? Keep in mind I would not have bought anything Window oriented if Mac had something comporable, and I bought the Mac Book Pro to start over and rid myself of issues associated with Windows. So I will not use it unless forced because nothing exists for Mac. My next step is downloading those Windows applications allowing me to use the Mac rather than the Dell and I am stuck as to the next step.
1. Are the applications including my Windows operating system each individual virtual machines?
2. I intended to 20 gig allocated for Windows operating system when it was loaded to cover everything wondows oriented. Is that correct, or do I allocate more with new apps? I don't want to rob Mac to pay a part time Windows.
Downline

RE: A Beginner's Guide to VMware Fusion

gilbert.palau — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 13:35:06 GMT

I have a question.

Currently I have a MacPro with 16Gb of Ram. I already have a VM installed of Windows and it works just fine.

The MacPro as many of you know, has 2 ethernet ports. The institution I work for has the mac's in a separate network from the Active Directory Network. My mac connects on the "Mac Network" but I would like my Windows VM to connect to the Active Directory, using the Other Ethernet port on the Mac Pro.

Is this possible? If it is, can someone explain in detail how to do it?

Its important for me to know, because I am writing a report to use VMFusion across the Mac users so that they have 1 computer instead of 2 (they have a mac for work, and use outlook on a PC for email), since I think its retarded to have 2 computers when they could use one.

Thanks!

RE: A Beginner's Guide to VMware Fusion

etung — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 15:46:36 GMT

I allocated 20 gig for Windows XP Professional when I loaded it, but does that cover the other applications?

Allocating 20 GB for the virtual machine is like installing a 20 GB in a new computer - you get 20 GB of space for the operating system and whatever else you want to install.

Are the applications including my Windows operating system each individual virtual machines?

No, they should be installed in your XP virtual machine. Think of a virtual machine as a software computer - you can't run QuickBooks Pro without an operating system.

I intended to 20 gig allocated for Windows operating system when it was loaded to cover everything wondows oriented. Is that correct, or do I allocate more with new apps?

That's correct. While it's possible to expand a virtual disk if you run out of space, I don't think it's what you're asking.

RE: A Beginner's Guide to VMware Fusion

etung — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 15:54:38 GMT

The institution I work for has the mac's in a separate network from the Active Directory Network. My mac connects on the "Mac Network" but I would like my Windows VM to connect to the Active Directory, using the Other Ethernet port on the Mac Pro.

This is possible, but there's currently no UI to control this. See KB 1001875 Note that after editing this file, you'll have to restart the network daemon with

sudo "/Library/Application Support/VMware Fusion/boot.sh" --restart