Install VMWARE server on CentOS 5 or Red hat enterprise Linux 64 bit version

VMware virtualization software is an excllent choice for x86-compatible computers. They have both commercial and free version. I received few email regarding VMWARE on 64 bit Linux. Installing VMWARE server on CentOS 5 or Red hat enterprise Linux 64 bit version is a tricky business. In this small howto I will explain vmware installation on 64 bit Linux server without facing any dependencies problem.

Following instructions are tested on both RHEL 5 and CentOS 5 running 64 bit Intel / AMD hardware and software….

Lets check the kernel

$ uname -mrs

Output:

Linux 2.6.18-8.1.6.el5 x86_64

My RHEL 5 release (same kernel for CentOS):
$ cat /etc/redhat-release

Output:

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server release 5 (Tikanga)

Make sure you have following software installed:

* Full gcc compiler and development environment
* Kernel headers and devel packages for current kernel (i.e. kernel-headers and kernel-devel)

Step # 1: Download vmware server

You can download VMWARE server here. Use wget command to download:
$ wget http://download3…

Step # 2: Install vmware server

Once downloaded use RPM command to install vmware sever, enter:

# rpm -ivh VMware-server-1.0.3-44356.i386.rpm

Step # 2: Install vmware server

Once downloaded use RPM command to install vmware sever, enter:

# rpm -ivh VMware-server-1.0.3-44356.i386.rpm

Output:

Preparing… ########################################### [100%]
1:VMware-server ########################################### [100%]

Step # 3:Install required files / libraries

You need to install following development package / files on server:

1. libXtst-devel : X.Org X11 libXtst development package
2. libXrender-devel : X.Org X11 libXrender development package

Simply use yum command to install packages:

# yum install libXtst-devel libXrender-devel

Output:

Loading “rhnplugin” plugin
Loading “installonlyn” plugin
Setting up Install Process
Setting up

repositories
rhel-x86_64-server-vt-5 100% ========================= 1.2 kB 00:00
rhel-x86_64-server-5 100% ========================= 1.2 kB 00:00
Reading repository metadata in from local files
Parsing package install arguments
………..
….
…
Running Transaction
Installing: libXtst ######################### [1/8]
Installing: libXau-devel ######################### [2/8]
Installing: xorg-x11-proto-devel ######################### [3/8]
Installing: libX11-devel ######################### [4/8]
Installing: libXdmcp-devel ######################### [5/8]
Installing: libXtst-devel ######################### [6/8]
Installing: libXtst-devel ######################### [7/8]
Installing: mesa-libGL-devel ######################### [8/8]

Installed: libXtst-devel.x86_64 0:1.0.1-3.1 libXtst-devel.i386 0:1.0.1-3.1
Dependency Installed: libX11-devel.x86_64 0:1.0.3-8.0.1.el5 libXau-devel.x86_64 0:1.0.1-3.1 libXdmcp-devel.x86_64 0:1.0.1-2.1 libXtst.i386 0:1.0.1-3.1 mesa-libGL-devel.x86_64 0:6.5.1-7.2.el5 xorg-x11-proto-devel.x86_64 0:7.1-9.fc6

Complete!

Step # 4: Install xinetd

You need xinetd the extended Internet services daemon / service in order to use VMWARE console from remote computer. Use yum command to install xinetd:

# yum install xinetd

Step # 5: Configure VMWARE server

Use vmware-config.pl script to configure VMWARE networking and other aspects.

# vmware-config.pl

Output (make sure you setup VMWARE as per your requirments, following is just a sample output):

Making sure services for VMware Server are stopped.

Stopping VMware services:
Virtual machine monitor [ OK ]

You must read and accept the End User License Agreement to continue.
Press enter to display it.
……

How do I manage my VMWARE server remotely?

You can now connect from local computer using vmware-server-console program to:

* Configure VM Guest oses
* Configure VM hardware
* Install new VPS / VM guest oses such as FreeBSD, Windows or any other operating systems etc

$ vmware-server-console &

You need to enter host name ip:port, username and password to access vmware server.