Install VMWare Fusion on OSX Server?

[kainewynd2]

Hello there. I am currently attempting to test out a Cent OS 4 Zimbra server in a VM Fusion image (small-ish company). It works as expected on my MacBook, but what I really want to do is install it on an Intel XServe where we can back it up, etc. This way we can dedicate a NIC to it, etc.

The problem is, I haven't seen that ANYONE has done this. I do not imagine that it would cause any major issues as we are not pushing the server and Fusion Beta 3 seems to be quite stable, but I am a little hesitant to just go installing it.

Can anyone offer insight? Happy tales of virtualization? Horror stories?

Thanks.

[trodemaster · Accepted solution]

I have been running fusion betas on OS X server running on a mac pro. No problems so far as the server OS is very similar to Client OS X. That said I don't think anybody has done extensive uptime testing with fusion. I would be hesitant to deploy production services like mail/calendaring until you know for sure it will run months on end without crashing.

Blake-

[DannyD]

Fusion should run the same on any Intel hardware including Xserves.

[kainewynd2]

I guess and additional question is: has anyone been testing a mail server or anything else mission critical in Fusion for an extended period of time?

[bluehr]

I've played around with running Ubuntu Server 7.04 inside of VMWare Fusion BETA 3 in OSX Server.. and I'm finding that about once a day the whole host machine resets itself -- this is running on an Intel XServe. It's causing me a lot of grief, seeing as you can't easily install Linux natively on the machine for the lack of Legacy emulation in the xserve's EFI firmware.

I'll be trying BETA 4 shortly.

-Brent

[admin]

You can boot Linux natively from EFI using elilo. The only drawback is video doesn't work without some trickery since the VGA BIOS hasn't been initialized (normally done by the legacy system BIOS). For an Xserve, which has no video by default anyway, this should be a non-issue. But, do you really want to give up OS X on that box, and if you just wanted Linux why not use some cheaper and more flexible hardware than what Apple peddles (their weak spot)?

[bluehr]

Oh don't get me wrong, OSX Server is wonderful.. but at the moment it's easier to set up shared hosting w/control panels and such so I can make some income with the server if I installed Linux. BETA 4 seems to be working extremely well now anyways. I did try the elilo method.. was able to have Ubuntu 7.04 boot flawlessly with it on my Mac Pro.. but whenever I attempted the identical install on the XServe.. it would just freeze up and give me nothing, I tried redirecting output to serial and everything.. after wasting a day or two trying things I just gave up out of frustration.

-Brent