vmware-server and kernel 2.6.26

0000000000000 · Apprentice Joined: 21 Mar 2008 Posts: 163

hah, no i never saw the attachment, sorry ;p

so that's the version that runs with the 1.0.0.20 modules?

If so, that's exactly what i was looking for

thanks

steveb · Advocate Joined: 18 Sep 2002 Posts: 4564

ali3nx · Posted: Thu Sep 25, 2008 3:25 am Post subject:

any ETA for ~arch vmware server 2.0.x ebuilds in the main tree? I tested RC2 on one of my amd64 gentoo builds and it installed flawlessly from the vendor supplied tarball and the kernel modules compiled without error against 2.6.26-r1 gentoo sources. Just thought i would ask as now that it appears as if vmware server 2.0 is now RTM it's quite unlikely vmware is interested in supporting version 1.x

steveb · Advocate Joined: 18 Sep 2002 Posts: 4564

hunky · l33t Joined: 19 Nov 2003 Posts: 910 Location: Alaska

Thanks to Steveb I was able to get my old vmware-server installation upgraded to the new 2.0.* version. It is quite different and I'll have to work with it some more to see if I end up liking it - but no real reason I shouldn't at this point.

I do have a problem - I cannot upgrade vmware tools. If I start the guest and then click on "upgrade vmware tools" in the status pane, I get the error popup:

steveb · Advocate Joined: 18 Sep 2002 Posts: 4564

Hallo Jim. Have you tried to convert the VM to a new hardware version? I mean in VMware Server. There you can upgrade the hardware to a never version. If you do that, then you should be able to install the newest VMware tools without any issue. Could you try that?

// Steve

hunky · l33t Joined: 19 Nov 2003 Posts: 910 Location: Alaska

Thanks Steveb,

I'm not finding out how to do it.
The help file says this:

steveb · Advocate Joined: 18 Sep 2002 Posts: 4564

If your virtual hardware is already in a up to date level, then nothing will show up in VMware server to allow you to upgrade the hardware. Is the version of the virtual hardware already on version 7 in your case?

One other way to upgrade the hardware is to use the VIX API. I sent you an ebuild for it. Just install it and then run:

hunky · l33t Joined: 19 Nov 2003 Posts: 910 Location: Alaska

OK, that makes sense since the hardware version is reported as version 7. So there doesn't appear to be a reason to run the VIX API or are you suggesting doing that regardless?

Otherwise the vmware-tools solution would lie elsewhere?

Really appreciate your help on this and I hope it will help someone else in the future by posting this here.

cheers, jim

steveb · Advocate Joined: 18 Sep 2002 Posts: 4564

hunky · l33t Joined: 19 Nov 2003 Posts: 910 Location: Alaska

thanks!

I've installed vmware-vix but haven't tried it yet.

I uninstalled vmware-tools via Add-Remove programs in the guest winxp but get the same error message and can't re-install tools, despite rebooting guest and trying powering down vm and rebooting guest.

here's the vmx:

steveb · Advocate Joined: 18 Sep 2002 Posts: 4564

Jim. This configuration looks strange to me. There is stuff inside the configuration which I have never seen on VMware Server. For example the VMotion stuff. I know what it is but I am not aware of VMotion being available on the free VMware Server. And then the RAW disk for the boot drive. Is that right, that you have a RAW disk for your WinXPHome VM? Is that image you use there created initially on VMware Server or have you migrated that image from another VMware product?

// Steve

hunky · l33t Joined: 19 Nov 2003 Posts: 910 Location: Alaska

Steve,

No - it has only been vmware-server. I had the system set up originally, maybe 3 years ago or so, as a dual boot computer using two hard drives. When I first set up vmware-server I was able to use the already installed win2000 as the virtual guest by somehow pointing it at that installation. Then something changed, I don't remember what, and it quit working. So I eventually bought winXP and tried it again and almost had success but couldn't surpass the windows authentication problems between booting into windows and/or then running the windows guest as a vm. So I gave it up and just installed winxp into a vm on my linux hard drive.

I don't remember anything about VMotion and I agree this file doesn't look like what I was used to seeing when I had to edit it for the above case (earlier version of vmx config). In this case I think I just went through the basic how-to when installing vmware-server and guest winxp and did nothing unusual that I'm aware of. Here's what's in that directory where the vmx resides:

hunky · l33t Joined: 19 Nov 2003 Posts: 910 Location: Alaska

For giggles I tried to run the command line installtools with vmrun and I get this error message in the server task window:

steveb · Advocate Joined: 18 Sep 2002 Posts: 4564

hunky · l33t Joined: 19 Nov 2003 Posts: 910 Location: Alaska

Well, I chown'ed and chmod'ed as you said and was still able to fire up the guest winxp. Still get the same error on trying to install tools.
Sure appreciate that you are helping here. thanks again! /jd

[edit] when I installed this version I noticed in the notes at the end of emerge that the vmware sys-admin is set as "vmware". I'm not totally sure what that means and have been firing up the vm by logging in as my user jim. That all works but not sure if there is a more super user for the vm.

steveb · Advocate Joined: 18 Sep 2002 Posts: 4564

Try to login with the root account. Does that work?

// Steve

hunky · l33t Joined: 19 Nov 2003 Posts: 910 Location: Alaska

I can log in as root (had to add root to the vmware group) but it doesn't seem to make any difference on the problem of not being able to install vmware-tools. Dang.

thanks again - JD

steveb · Advocate Joined: 18 Sep 2002 Posts: 4564

Can you post your VMware Server configuration files?

// Steve

hunky · l33t Joined: 19 Nov 2003 Posts: 910 Location: Alaska

not sure what all files these would be or where. Here's the /etc/vmware/config file:

hunky · l33t Joined: 19 Nov 2003 Posts: 910 Location: Alaska

oh hey,

I just tried to install a new virtual machine to try and compare config files with the old one I want working - and when it came time to pick the guest operating system in the add virtual machine dialog - there was no WinXPhome to choose. Only winxpPro and other flavors. Maybe this is why I cannot install vmware-tools? Maybe that is why I get that "unsupported operating system" error?

I hope that, if this is the case, that someone would know a workaround. I could try installing my WinXPhome as WinXP-Pro but I'm not sure of the ramifications of that.

Otherwise, am I going to have to abandoned my existing vm and go with something like virtual-box - or downgrade back to the portage vmware-server-1.0*?

thanks, Jim

[edit] for a test I installed my copy of winxphome in a new virtual machine but called it winxppro in the dropdown of os choices. So far it seems fine and I was able to install vmware-tools into it. So I edited the old vm's .vmx config file by changing the guestoperating system to winxppro instead of winxphome. If I power it on, I can hit "vmware-tools install" in the status window and not immediately get the "unsupported guest operating system" error. But what it says is that the vm has to be running - so make it run. When I click in the console window to fire it up though, I get the os window but an error pops up saying "Unable to connect to the MKS: Connection terminated by server".

I suppose I didn't expect it to be that easy but seems like I'm on the right track. If anyone knows how to get past that error - what other file may need editing - if possible, I would love to know. Otherwise I have to reinstall all the crap into the new one and probably also fight with the danged activation of that windows install. Last time I had the onerous task of calling tech support at microsoft and would like to avoid.

cheers, Jim [/edit]

hunky · l33t Joined: 19 Nov 2003 Posts: 910 Location: Alaska

Well, I found someone with a similar problem to the MKS error by googling and so did a chmod 754 on the vmx file and could then get it to start without the MKS error. I suppose that isn't secure but I'm behind a firewall and whatnot. I edited the vmx file to change the guestOs line from winxphome to winxppro and then when I had the vm running I was able to install the vmware-tools the normal way.

Now I don't know why but can't install USB devices. The audio is connected, but my wacom tablet say"error connecting remote USB device: etc.." Same with the printer, the key mass storage, the WD MyBook drive, and a few other things.It sees them, just won't connect. If I fire up the vmware-tools program and am on the Devices tab, it just shows IDE and NIC. If I click on the little systray icon for safely removing hardware, it shows a list of hardware devices including a Intel PCI to USB Univ. Host Controller, a VMware Accelerated AMD PCNet Adapter (though this is intel based), a Creative AudioPCI, and Standard Enhanced PCI to USB controller.

So maybe that is another thread because I have finally installed vmware tools - hopefully mouse/video stuff has improved but problems as stated above remain.

Cheers, Jim

hunky · l33t Joined: 19 Nov 2003 Posts: 910 Location: Alaska

A warning on vmware-vix:
https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-710184.html

I suffered all manner of heartburn by having various packages break because for some reason these packages were picking up the older version of libxml2 installed by vmware-vix instead of the later libxml2 installed in the proper library directory. Glad I finally figure it out - wasted a bunch of time on it.

Could be that it was a problem specific to my system but if anyone else runs into that problem, just un-emerge vmware-vix and you should be good.

cheers, Jim

hunky · l33t Joined: 19 Nov 2003 Posts: 910 Location: Alaska

quick question:

whenever I run revdep-rebuild, it wants to re-emerge vmware-server because of

Luc484 · Veteran Joined: 26 Mar 2005 Posts: 1035 Location: Italy

This is happening to me too. Any idea on how to fix this?