VMware Communities
TokyoJerry
Contributor
Contributor
Jump to solution

No Support for Windows Home Server in Fusion?

I am trying to do a test install of Windows Home Server as a VM in Fusion. is there no plan for VMware to support this version of Microsoft's Windows operating system lineup? Is there an alternative OS which can be selected in support of WHS running as a VM? I notice that WHS has it's roots in Windows Server 2003 R2. Selecting Windows Server 2003 however, did not seem to work, unless I am doing something procedurally wrong. Also, there are so many flavors of Server 2003 as well. Thank you OS-X.

TokyoJerry

Jerry Suppan Tokyo, Japan a.k.a. TokyoJerry Skype: jsuppan
Reply
0 Kudos
1 Solution

Accepted Solutions
nathanp
VMware Employee
VMware Employee
Jump to solution

Result:

I am now able to conduct the Windows Home Server installation. BUT, one caveat, midstream into the installatio, I get the typical Windows installation 'blue screen' for Windows Server 2003 for Small Business Server Setup (originally selected Server 2003 standard), and I am being asked to insert the CD labelled: Windws Server 2003 for Small Business Server CD-ROM. Not having this product nor a CD-ROM, installation of VM for WHS can not continue, thus, VM fails.

Thus, the only recourse was to use Operating System: Others and Version: Others. Doing so, will finally allow an install, but then, the VMware tools can not be installed for operating system others.

TokyoJerry

What I recommend to do is try out etung's great little program VMX Extras and use it to open your vmx file (browse to the VM, and there should be the vmx file inside the package).

It should load all the configuration options for the VM.

Your will have a guestOS = "other"

You want to change other to "winnetstandard".

Then click the + and save the file.

Now when you start up the VM, Fusion will now think the VM is Windows Server 2003 Standard. And will let you install the right tools.

Hope that helps.

View solution in original post

Reply
0 Kudos
13 Replies
getwired
Enthusiast
Enthusiast
Jump to solution

Conceptually, WHS is indeed based upon Windows Server 2003 - actually SP2, not necessarily R2 (which shipped at the same time as Server SP1).

WHS has a very different end-user experience - and I don't know if Easy Install can handle it. What exactly did you experience when you tried to install? What OS did you select?

I would recommend selecting Server 2003, Standard Edition, and NOT using Easy Install - try that and let us know if it doesn't complete setup.

Reply
0 Kudos
TokyoJerry
Contributor
Contributor
Jump to solution

What exactly did you experience when you tried to install? What OS did you select?

I selected OS = Other, Version = Other

My experience was that I had to trial-and-error the process in order to finally get the WHS VM to install. I logically did try to use Windows 2003 Server (standard) in lieu of the lack of no selection available for WHS. I forgot the results I received but for some reason I could not do a successful setup. THus, I recoursed myself to try the others/others option for lack of a better choice. I think first it was not enough memory. Then, not the right type of hard disk

drive. If I recollect correctly I think I tried to force simulate both a SCSI drive and an IDE drive, but also to no avail. Then, not enough space allocated on the hard drive. Also, with

settings to 'Other' for OS and 'Other' for version, VMware Tools does

not install. I will try to simulate again using Server 2003 Standard as the selected OS and the basis for doing a WHS VM install. Then, I can give a report back with more accurate information as to my findings.

Jerry Suppan

Tokyo, Japan

a.k.a. TokyoJerry

Skype: jsuppan

Jerry Suppan Tokyo, Japan a.k.a. TokyoJerry Skype: jsuppan
Reply
0 Kudos
TokyoJerry
Contributor
Contributor
Jump to solution

Here are the results of my attempts to use Windows Server 2003 Standard for lack of a Windows Home Server selectable option as a VM:

Defaults (selecting Server 2003 Standard)

382MB RAM

SCSI @ 20GB

Error1:

Hard drive capable of hosting Windows Home Server was not found. Would you like to load additional storage drivers?

Action:

Not sure of where or what drivers this comment makes reference to, I shutdown the WHS VM, deleted the SCSI HDD and added IDE HDD, maintaining the default 20GB.

Error2:

The first hard disk drive is not suitable for installing WHS. Ups the ante to 65GB now required to do the installation and am told I need a SCSI, ATA or SATA disk controller. (reference attachment)

Action:

Deleted the IDE @ 20GB default. Added SCSI a second time (again) and increased size to 70GB.

Error3:

One again I am being presented with:

Hard drive capable of hosting Windows Home Server was not found. Would you like to load additional storage drivers?

Action:

Deleted SCSI HDD and added IDE once but this time assigning 70GB.

Result:

I am now able to conduct the Windows Home Server installation. BUT, one caveat, midstream into the installatio, I get the typical Windows installation 'blue screen' for Windows Server 2003 for Small Business Server Setup (originally selected Server 2003 standard), and I am being asked to insert the CD labelled: Windws Server 2003 for Small Business Server CD-ROM. Not having this product nor a CD-ROM, installation of VM for WHS can not continue, thus, VM fails.

Thus, the only recourse was to use Operating System: Others and Version: Others. Doing so, will finally allow an install, but then, the VMware tools can not be installed for operating system others.

TokyoJerry

Jerry Suppan Tokyo, Japan a.k.a. TokyoJerry Skype: jsuppan
Reply
0 Kudos
nathanp
VMware Employee
VMware Employee
Jump to solution

Result:

I am now able to conduct the Windows Home Server installation. BUT, one caveat, midstream into the installatio, I get the typical Windows installation 'blue screen' for Windows Server 2003 for Small Business Server Setup (originally selected Server 2003 standard), and I am being asked to insert the CD labelled: Windws Server 2003 for Small Business Server CD-ROM. Not having this product nor a CD-ROM, installation of VM for WHS can not continue, thus, VM fails.

Thus, the only recourse was to use Operating System: Others and Version: Others. Doing so, will finally allow an install, but then, the VMware tools can not be installed for operating system others.

TokyoJerry

What I recommend to do is try out etung's great little program VMX Extras and use it to open your vmx file (browse to the VM, and there should be the vmx file inside the package).

It should load all the configuration options for the VM.

Your will have a guestOS = "other"

You want to change other to "winnetstandard".

Then click the + and save the file.

Now when you start up the VM, Fusion will now think the VM is Windows Server 2003 Standard. And will let you install the right tools.

Hope that helps.

Reply
0 Kudos
TokyoJerry
Contributor
Contributor
Jump to solution

Hi Nathan!

Thank you very much for your reply and tip! That did the trick exactly. I was not even aware of the tool VMX extras, but it surely did the job. I was able to install VMware Tools, enabled shares, USB, etc. Every thing works like a charm. Perhaps it would be a good idea to add WHS to the list of available versions of Microsoft Windows?

Jerry Suppan

Tokyo, Japan

a.k.a. TokyoJerry

Skype: jsuppan

Jerry Suppan Tokyo, Japan a.k.a. TokyoJerry Skype: jsuppan
Reply
0 Kudos
admin
Immortal
Immortal
Jump to solution

I see you've gotten yourself set up, cool! If you have some spare time, two questions that pop to mind are: What happens if you use the SCSI drivers at error 3, and what is the exact BSOD in the result when you changed over to 70 GB IDE?

Reply
0 Kudos
TokyoJerry
Contributor
Contributor
Jump to solution

Hi Eric:

Thanks for your help. Regarding BSOD, I don't get any BSOD at least in the traditional sense of Windows bellying up. During the install process... the initialization, I am simply not allowed to continue. I am told I don't have the right type of hard disk and if I would like to install a different driver. Up til now, not having one, I simply had to say no. The installation then finishes and quits on me.

As for the SCSI driver from vmware, I downloaded it per your suggestion. However, it also does not help as when I reach the same point in the install process of WHS, it seems to be looking for an INF file. Since the SCSI driver downloaded from VMware is *.FLP, it does not recognize, nor even show up at all when I try to point to it's location. I modified an ISO file (WHS installer) to copy the driver over. I also copied it to an SD Memory card and tried to see the driver that way too (SD to USB converter Memory stick type of device). I can not see the driver via that way as well. So, I am unable to use the SCSI driver with the FLP extension as provided by vmware. Hope that helps. I have attached a screen capture of the final comments in the logfile within WHS when attempting to assign the SCSI driver at the point I run into trouble.

Jerry

Tokyo, Japan

a.k.a. TokyoJerry

Jerry Suppan Tokyo, Japan a.k.a. TokyoJerry Skype: jsuppan
Reply
0 Kudos
admin
Immortal
Immortal
Jump to solution

A .flp is a floppy image, easy to forget since Macs haven't had them for quite a while Smiley Happy To use the driver image, you need to add a virtual floppy drive and connect it.

Edit: I see from your screenshot you already have a virtual floppy drive

The download page for the SCSI drivers notes that Windows Server 2003 is missing these drivers. This would be why, out of the box, IDE works but SCSI doesn't.

Reply
0 Kudos
TokyoJerry
Contributor
Contributor
Jump to solution

Hi Eric:

Greetings. Sorry it took while to reply. I retried a new installation per your specified steps...

QUOTE

A .flp is a floppy image, easy to forget since Macs haven't had them for quite a while Smiley Happy To use the driver image, you need to add a virtual floppy drive and connect it.

  1. While the virtual machine is shut down (suspended doesn't count, before you begin the install is best), go to Settings and click the plus button.

  2. Select Add Floppy...

  3. Point it at the SCSI driver image

END QUOTE

The result is (image attached "NTLDR is missing" The installation goes absolutely nowhere. This screen right after clicking the big playback button and starting the install. Settings I set up basically:

Accelerate 3D Graphics (checked)

Memory = 1024 MB

Processors = 1

CD/DVD = Points to an ISO image of WHS

Floppy = connected and points to vmscsi-1.2.0.4.flp

Hard Disk = WHS_scsi.vmdk Max. Size 70GB

Network = Connected (NAT)

Sound = connected

Shared Folders (have set up a couple shared folders in advance)

So, that is the state-of-affairs. Hope that helps your research.

I am thinking that if VMware has no plans to support Windows Home Server, I will either need to use Server 2008, which might be overkill for a VM, I don't know, Or, recourse back to XP. It's sort of like going backwards in the interest of progressing forward. <g> I really prefer NOT using Vista if I don't have to. WHS, having it's roots in Server2003 at least has server-level robustness, brought into the home and polishing and rebuffing Server2003 technology and bringing to 2008 level technology (I guess). Does that make sense? (@J@).

Cheers,

Jerry Suppan

Tokyo, Japan

a.k.a. TokyoJerry

Skype: jsuppan

Jerry Suppan Tokyo, Japan a.k.a. TokyoJerry Skype: jsuppan
Reply
0 Kudos
admin
Immortal
Immortal
Jump to solution

It sounds like the virtual machine is attempting to boot off the floppy, which of course won't work. The simple solution is to power off the guest, disconnect the floppy image, run the guest (so it boots off the CD), connect the floppy image, and point Windows at the floppy when it asks for drivers.

Reply
0 Kudos
TokyoJerry
Contributor
Contributor
Jump to solution

" The simple solution is to power off the guest, disconnect the floppy image, run the guest (so it boots off the CD), connect the floppy image, and point Windows at the floppy when it asks for drivers."

I have tried this disconnect and reconnect of the floppy image, but to no avail. After applying the SCSI driver, I am repeatedly presented with a dialogue box about, would I like to install additional drivers. (attachment vm1). If it helps at all, I've attached screen shots of the resulting logs. (attachments vm2, vm3).

Jerry Suppan

Tokyo, Japan

a.k.a. TokyoJerry

Jerry Suppan Tokyo, Japan a.k.a. TokyoJerry Skype: jsuppan
Reply
0 Kudos
SirExilon
Contributor
Contributor
Jump to solution

Hi, I got it to Run as IDE. I had that same problem also.

Now that I got the First part and Copy the files, when the VM boot up to continue is asking me for Windows Small business Server 2003 CD 2 ?????????????

Any Ideas? Why is asking me for it?

Has anybody installed WHS in a regular PC before?

Reply
0 Kudos
owl79
Contributor
Contributor
Jump to solution

(Wow, there's very little information about Windows Home Server installed in VMWare Fusion on the web, whether Google or these forums)

I just tried installing Windows Home Server (WHS) since last night and ran in to the same problems mentioned here.

I can happily say that I've successfully installed WHS without any additional tweaks. Here is my configuration:

- 1GB ram/1 processor

- 70GB HDD/IDE

- OS Version: Windows

- Option: "Windows Server 2003 Web Edition"

-


At first I tried Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2003 Standard, the latter asking for a Windows Server 2003 Small Business CD. I was happy to experiement and find out that using "Web Version" did not require the Small Business CD.

Cheers

Reply
0 Kudos