Hi,
Configured VMWare Player 3.0.0 on a Slackware 12.2 Linux host, with guest Slackware 13.0 + KDE.
But there are a few little wrinkles to iron out to install the VMWare Tools on the guest.
Once Tools are installed they usually run OK: mouse + copy and paste text, window resize.
A few times the mouse judders at the edge of the guest window, copy and paste text failed,
and the mouse on the host failed to select properly. Had to revert to a text window (CTRL+ALT+F6) to reboot the host.
Network (bridged) and sound also OK, but these don't need the Tools.
Didn't test: any USB peripherals, Unity Mode, Shared Folders.
There may be other ways to configure all this, but this recipe works for me.
Maybe interesting for other Slackware users out there...
1/ Installed VMWare Player 3.0.0 on host.
During installation it downloaded all the VMWare Tools .iso images into /usr/lib/vmware/isoimages/
No problems.
2/ Installed Slackware 13.0 from .iso image as "Other Linux 2.6.x kernel" using the
default 2.6.29.6-smp huge kernel and the Slackware default LILO boot loader.
3/ Start the Slackware guest and login as root.
4/ At this point there isn't an /etc/X11/xorg.conf.
Maybe it isn't necessary, but vmware-install.pl will probably complain about lack of xorg.conf.
Used this xorg.conf was copied from xubuntu:
5/ Create this directory:
In the past vmware-install.pl complained if it did not exist. So I always create it.
6/ vmware-install.pl will complain that it can't restart hal daemon. It's looking for /etc/rc.d/init.d/haldaemon
To fix this:
rc.hald and haldaemon must be executable.
7/ startx to start KDE.
8/ Mount the VMWare tools /usr/lib/vmware/isoimages/linux.iso
Expand the tools archive file: VMwareTools-8.1.3-203739.tar.gz.
I expanded from /root so the installer is /root/vmware-tools-distrib/vmware-install.pl
9/ Start two konsole windows.
From the first konsole execute the installer vmware-install.pl
I used the defaults for ALL the answers.
It should compile lots of kernel modules and then the screen will flash and X windows should restart.
The konsole should then be displaying:
But the install script has not finished; there is no command prompt. Read on...
10/ From the second console window type
You should see that the command mkinitrd is taking lots of cpu but seems to be achieving nothing.
Note the PID of mkinitrd.
stop the mkinitrd process:
The first console window should now display the following messages.
Note that HGFS failed, I assume because I had previously disabled Shared Folders.
(I use NFS to handle guest/host shared folders. In the past I found HGFS more trouble than it is worth).
I did not change anything in /boot.
12/ So that the Tools daemons are started automatically I added 3 lines to /etc/rc.d/rc.local:
13/ To start the Tools when a user logs in, create a file vmware-user.desktop
Every user needs a copy of vmware-user.desktop in their ~/.kde/Autostart/ directory
This causes /usr/bin/vmware-user to be executed automatically when the user logs in.
14/ If you are having problems selecting between the CD and Hard Disk for booting,
you can slow down the guest startup and change BIOS boot parameters. F2 for BIOS setup.
Edit the .vmx file manually, and add this line:
This will give you 10 seconds to select the BIOS or allow normally booting.
Or use another value if you prefer.
(I added it after memsize = ).
Cheers,
Peter
Configured VMWare Player 3.0.0 on a Slackware 12.2 Linux host, with guest Slackware 13.0 + KDE.
But there are a few little wrinkles to iron out to install the VMWare Tools on the guest.
Once Tools are installed they usually run OK: mouse + copy and paste text, window resize.
A few times the mouse judders at the edge of the guest window, copy and paste text failed,
and the mouse on the host failed to select properly. Had to revert to a text window (CTRL+ALT+F6) to reboot the host.
Network (bridged) and sound also OK, but these don't need the Tools.
Didn't test: any USB peripherals, Unity Mode, Shared Folders.
There may be other ways to configure all this, but this recipe works for me.
Maybe interesting for other Slackware users out there...
1/ Installed VMWare Player 3.0.0 on host.
During installation it downloaded all the VMWare Tools .iso images into /usr/lib/vmware/isoimages/
No problems.
2/ Installed Slackware 13.0 from .iso image as "Other Linux 2.6.x kernel" using the
default 2.6.29.6-smp huge kernel and the Slackware default LILO boot loader.
Virtual Machine Settings: Hardware: Selected Network Adaptor > Bridged.
Virtual Machine Settings: Options: Shared Folders Disabled
No problems.Virtual Machine Settings: Options: Shared Folders Disabled
3/ Start the Slackware guest and login as root.
4/ At this point there isn't an /etc/X11/xorg.conf.
Maybe it isn't necessary, but vmware-install.pl will probably complain about lack of xorg.conf.
Used this xorg.conf was copied from xubuntu:
Section "Device"
Identifier "Configured Video Device"
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Configured Monitor"
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Monitor "Configured Monitor"
Device "Configured Video Device"
EndSection
5/ Create this directory:
mkdir /etc/pam.d
In the past vmware-install.pl complained if it did not exist. So I always create it.
6/ vmware-install.pl will complain that it can't restart hal daemon. It's looking for /etc/rc.d/init.d/haldaemon
To fix this:
cp -a /etc/rc.d/rc.hald /etc/rc.d/init.d/haldaemon
rc.hald and haldaemon must be executable.
7/ startx to start KDE.
8/ Mount the VMWare tools /usr/lib/vmware/isoimages/linux.iso
Expand the tools archive file: VMwareTools-8.1.3-203739.tar.gz.
I expanded from /root so the installer is /root/vmware-tools-distrib/vmware-install.pl
9/ Start two konsole windows.
From the first konsole execute the installer vmware-install.pl
I used the defaults for ALL the answers.
It should compile lots of kernel modules and then the screen will flash and X windows should restart.
The konsole should then be displaying:
(++) Using config file: "/etc/X11/xorg.conf"
X is running fine with the new config file.
But the install script has not finished; there is no command prompt. Read on...
10/ From the second console window type
top
You should see that the command mkinitrd is taking lots of cpu but seems to be achieving nothing.
Note the PID of mkinitrd.
stop the mkinitrd process:
kill -9 PID
The first console window should now display the following messages.
Note that HGFS failed, I assume because I had previously disabled Shared Folders.
(I use NFS to handle guest/host shared folders. In the past I found HGFS more trouble than it is worth).
I did not change anything in /boot.
Creating a new initrd boot image for the kernel.
Nothing found at location /boot/initrd-tree, so we will create an
initrd directory structure there... done.
Now cd to /boot/initrd-tree and install some modules in your
module directory (lib/modules/2.6.29.6-smp). Then see init
for more information (there are a few other files to edit).
Finally, run mkinitrd again once the initrd-tree is ready,
and /boot/initrd.gz will be created from it.
Checking acpi hot plug [OK]
Starting VMware Tools services in the virtual machine:
Switching to guest configuration: [OK]
Paravirtual SCSI module: [OK]
Guest filesystem driver: [OK]
Mounting HGFS shares: [FAILED]
Guest memory manager: [OK]
Guest vmxnet fast network device: [OK]
VM communication interface: [OK]
VM communication interface socket family: [OK]
Blocking file system: [OK]
File system sync driver: [OK]
Guest operating system daemon: [OK]
Virtual Printing daemon: [OK]
The configuration of VMware Tools 8.1.3 build-203739 for Linux for this running
kernel completed successfully.
You must restart your X session before any mouse or graphics changes take
effect.
You can now run VMware Tools by invoking the following command:
"/usr/bin/vmware-toolbox" during an X server session.
To enable advanced X features (e.g., guest resolution fit, drag and drop, and
file and text copy/paste), you will need to do one (or more) of the following:
1. Manually start /usr/bin/vmware-user
2. Log out and log back into your desktop session; and,
3. Restart your X session.
Use of uninitialized value $network_path in concatenation (.) or string at /usr/bin/vmware-config-tools.pl line 11806.
To use the vmxnet driver, restart networking using the following commands:
stop
rmmod pcnet32
Use of uninitialized value $network_path in concatenation (.) or string at /usr/bin/vmware-config-tools.pl line 11812.
rmmod vmxnet
modprobe vmxnet
start
Enjoy,
--the VMware team
12/ So that the Tools daemons are started automatically I added 3 lines to /etc/rc.d/rc.local:
echo "Starting vmware tools"
/etc/rc.d/init.d/vmware-tools start
/etc/rc.d/init.d/vmware-tools status
13/ To start the Tools when a user logs in, create a file vmware-user.desktop
[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Encoding=UTF-8
Exec=vmware-user
Name=VMware User Agent
X-KDE-autostart-phase=1
NoDisplay=true
Every user needs a copy of vmware-user.desktop in their ~/.kde/Autostart/ directory
This causes /usr/bin/vmware-user to be executed automatically when the user logs in.
14/ If you are having problems selecting between the CD and Hard Disk for booting,
you can slow down the guest startup and change BIOS boot parameters. F2 for BIOS setup.
Edit the .vmx file manually, and add this line:
bios.bootDelay = "10000"
This will give you 10 seconds to select the BIOS or allow normally booting.
Or use another value if you prefer.
(I added it after memsize = ).
Cheers,
Peter
