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VMware Workstation 4

This document covers the installation and configuration of VMware Workstation 4. If you are looking for more information on VMware, then a good place to start is the VMware website.
This page documents the installation of VMware Workstation on Core Linux, using the CD distributed in the VMware Workstation box set. If you purchase this software, be sure to purchase a box set designed for a Linux host, as although the CD contains both Windows and Linux versions of the software, the bundled license key will only work on one platform.
Alternatively, VMware Workstation can be downloaded from the VMware website. (See the later for a link to the correct page.) Download from the site requires you to register your details. If you want to do anything more than install this software, you will need to apply for a 30-day demonstration key.
If you spot any major errors on this page, please contact me using the link above.

It is assumed that this installation takes place on a computer on which Core Linux has been successfully installed.
In addition to the packages bundled with Core Linux, the PCI Utilities must have been installed. You can read the installation guide for this software here. Also, a working XFree86 environment must also be present. You can read my guide on installing XFree86 on Core Linux here.

As mentioned, this guide uses the CD version of VMware from the box set. However, the installation routine should apply to the demonstration version of VMware available from their website. You will need to give your personal details to get a demonstration key.

Ensure that module support is compiled into your kernel and that parallel port support is compiled as a module. If this is not the case for your kernel, you will need to recompile it with these conditions. See the main Core Linux installation guide for details of how to do this. If you do compile a new kernel, be sure to run lilo and reboot using your new kernel.
Create the directories rc0.d to rc6.d under the /etc/rc.d directory.
Ensure that the PCI Utilities are installed.

Place the CD-R in the CD-ROM drive. Mount the CD-ROM drive under /mnt/cdrom.
Change to the Linux directory on the CD-R.
Copy the VMware-workstation-4.0.0-4460.tar.gz file to the directory /tmp.
Change to the /tmp directory and extract the binaries from the .tar.gz file.

Start XFree86 using the command startx.
Open a terminal window, such as xterm.
At the terminal prompt, enter:
vmware
VMware Workstation should start. Once you are satified that VMware runs OK, exit the program. You may stop XFree86 or continue to work in your terminal window under X.

Delete the /etc/rc.d/rc?.d directories where ? is an integer between 0 and 6.
Move the /etc/rc.d/vmware script to the directory /etc/vmware.

VMware requires the kernel modules created during the installation script to be loaded prior to running the program. You can do this by adding the vmware script in the /etc/vwmare directory to the end of you rc.mu script. This will load the modules on system start, and so they will ready whenever you run VMware. Alternatively, you could create a wrapper script for VMware that would load and unload the modules on demand.
If you have created a wrapper script called vmware-wrap as suggested, remember to start VMware by invoking this script. If you set up your window manager menu to include VMware, set it up to start the script, not vmware directly.

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