Start a VM on Linux using Workstation 10.0 via ssh and vmrun

[JonWyatt]

I have Workstation 10 running on Kali Linux.

I have installed a Windows 7 VM and when I connect to the machine using ssh -X, start vmplayer it works fine.

If I connect via ssh and start using vmrun I get operation canceled.

" vmrun start /root/vmware/Windows\ 7/Windows\ 7.vmx nogui

Error: The operation was canceled"

I have tried this from a normal ssh connection and an X connection using both -X and -XY.

Any ideas? I've had a look around for a while and most people seem to be fixed by using the nogui option but it's not working in my case.

[wila]

Hello,

IIRC then for this to work you will have to at least set the DISPLAY environment variable, the problem is that I forgot the details,so not a lot of help for you I'm afraid.

--

Wil

[JonWyatt]

That's good, thanks but the fact that I can start an X session suggests this is already set. I've checked and it's set to 11 which I believe is right for X forwarding.

Plus I'm setting the nogui parameter

[WoodyZ · Accepted solution]

Try...

vmrun -T ws start /root/vmware/Windows\ 7/Windows\ 7.vmx nogui

Or -T player if using VMware Player instead of VMware Workstation.

[JonWyatt]

Awesome! I should have tried that. Silly me. player worked.

Last login: Wed Jan  1 21:25:41 2014 from 192.168.0.102

root@cruiser:~# vmrun -T ws start /root/vmware/Windows\ 7/Windows\ 7.vmx nogui

Error: The operation was canceled

root@cruiser:~# vmrun -T player start /root/vmware/Windows\ 7/Windows\ 7.vmx nog                                                                              ui

root@cruiser:~# ps aux

USER       PID %CPU %MEM    VSZ   RSS TTY      STAT START   TIME COMMAND

root         1  0.0  0.0  10648   548 ?        Ss    2013   0:06 init [2]

....

root     12750 92.1 30.8 1473332 1210356 ?     Ssl  08:33   0:09 /usr/lib/vmware/bin/vmware-vmx -s vmx.noUIBuildNumberCheck=TRUE -# product=1;name=VMware Work

root     12770  0.0  0.0  75188  2796 ?        S    08:33   0:00 /usr/lib/vmware/bin/thnuclnt -pdir /tmp/vmware-root/thnuclnt-12750 -fg

root     12787  0.0  0.0  77320  1924 ?        S    08:33   0:00 /usr/lib/vmware/bin/thnuclnt -pdir /tmp/vmware-root/thnuclnt-12750 -fg

root     12788  0.0  0.0  75188  1044 ?        S    08:33   0:00 /usr/lib/vmware/bin/thnuclnt -pdir /tmp/vmware-root/thnuclnt-12750 -fg

root     12789  0.0  0.0  75192  1120 ?        S    08:33   0:00 /usr/lib/vmware/bin/thnuclnt -pdir /tmp/vmware-root/thnuclnt-12750 -fg

root     12791  0.0  0.0  76020   868 ?        S    08:33   0:00 /usr/lib/vmware/bin/thnuclnt -pdir /tmp/vmware-root/thnuclnt-12750 -fg

root     12792  0.0  0.0  75192   860 ?        S    08:33   0:00 /usr/lib/vmware/bin/thnuclnt -pdir /tmp/vmware-root/thnuclnt-12750 -fg

root     12797  0.0  0.0  16768  1304 pts/0    R+   08:33   0:00 ps aux

root     16896  0.0  0.0  49848   680 ?        Ss    2013   0:00 /usr/sbin/sshd

I'm a bit remote to the server at the moment so can't do much to check but a quick port scan suggests that network discovery is open so it looks like Windows 7 has fired up. Thanks very much!

root@cruiser:~# nmap -vv 192.168.0.108

Starting Nmap 6.40 ( http://nmap.org ) at 2014-01-02 08:37 GMT

Initiating ARP Ping Scan at 08:37

Scanning 192.168.0.108 [1 port]

Completed ARP Ping Scan at 08:37, 0.01s elapsed (1 total hosts)

Initiating Parallel DNS resolution of 1 host. at 08:37

Completed Parallel DNS resolution of 1 host. at 08:37, 0.01s elapsed

Initiating SYN Stealth Scan at 08:37

Scanning 192.168.0.108 [1000 ports]

Discovered open port 5357/tcp on 192.168.0.108

Completed SYN Stealth Scan at 08:37, 18.05s elapsed (1000 total ports)

Nmap scan report for 192.168.0.108

Host is up (0.0025s latency).

Scanned at 2014-01-02 08:37:19 GMT for 18s

Not shown: 999 filtered ports

PORT     STATE SERVICE

5357/tcp open  wsdapi

MAC Address: 00:0C:29:13:26:B0 (VMware)