Choice of Linux Host OS

[mjs1138]

Hi. I want to setup a machine(s) that will be used to run WinXP in a VM using VMWorkstation. I want to use Linux as the host since I don't want to pay for two MS licenses. I have intermediate familiarity with Unix OSs.

I want to know, is there a consensus on a preferred / popular version of Linux for running VM-Workstation? Primary desires are simplicity and transparency of the Linux host OS.

Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks --- Mike

[Rayj00]

I had previously used FC5 as a host. The installation of FC5 was not

straightforward, nor an easy task for me. Once installed, the installation

of VMware was also a headache. It may have been me, but that's what

happened.

Then a coworker turned me on to Ubuntu. I am using Ubuntu 6.10 on a Dell Inspiron Duo. The installation of the host was a snap. Installing

VMware 5.5.3 was also a snap. I am using Windows XP as the guest OS.

So far, I only have problems with using a USB memory stick on the the

guest. I got around this by simply sharing the device between host and

guest.

[KevinG]

Hi Mike,

I recommend that you choose one of the supported Linux host OS's listed in the VMware Workstation documentation under "Introduction and System Requirements" if you are new to Linux.

http://www.vmware.com/support/ws55/doc/index.html

[saxa]

Go get CentOS 4.4. It's built from the RedHat packages.

Steps to install.

\- Install CentOS with components you would like to have.

\- Update your host by running "yum update" as a root in a terminal. Reboot.

\- In a terminal try to experience, which kernel you are running, by executing "uname -r".

\- Get kernel source by executing "yum install kernel-devel*" if you are using the "normal" kernel, or "yum install kernel-smp-devel" if you are using the SMP one.

\- Get gcc: "yum install gcc"

\- reboot.

\- Install VMware product using the tar.gz package.

\- Have fun.

Regards

Alex

[jockthompson]

Greetings.

I use Slackware and have no issues with it at all in Slackware 10 or 11. All though VMware was not made to install in the BSD init directory structure just the Sys V. This is very easy to take care of with this site http://www.cs.ucr.edu/~jbyrne/vmware.htm. It works flawlessly.

[louyo]

>is there a consensus on a preferred / popular version of Linux for running VM-Workstation?

As long as there is more than one, I doubt there will ever be a consensus on preferred distros...

As Kevin said, best bet is to stick with a supported distro. I use both SUSE 10.0 and 10.1 without any problems.

Ubuntu seems to be the darling of the 'nix fans and will be official in 6.0 (I think). I keep going back to SUSE 10.0 because it has been rock solid and I am not much of a fiddler.

Lou