vmware HOW-TO install on Puppy 2

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brad_chuck
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Joined: Tue 16 Aug 2005, 03:47
Location: Appalachian Mountains

vmware HOW-TO install on Puppy 2

#1 Post by brad_chuck »

This took me a while to figure out but it works....

1. Install the kernel source and devx_2.1X.sfs for your version. ( go to http://www.puppylinux.com for help on this )

2. create these dirs with ROX or whatever

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/etc/rc.d/rc0.d 
/etc/rc.d/rc1.d  
/etc/rc.d/rc2.d 
/etc/rc.d/rc3.d  
/etc/rc.d/rc4.d 
/etc/rc.d/rc5.d  
/etc/rc.d/rc6.d 
/etc/pam.d  

3. now download vmware server from here http://www.vmware.com/products/free_virtualization.html ( you need the Linux version )

4. unpack and run the install script in the main dir.

5. Put this somewhere in your startup for example in /root/.xinitrc

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vmware start
6. open an rxvt window and type

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vmware
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Eric
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun 03 Sep 2006, 00:42
Location: Dayton, OH

#2 Post by Eric »

I also had to add the file /etc/inetd.conf to make it happy.

xant
Posts: 34
Joined: Wed 21 Feb 2007, 21:36

Great

#3 Post by xant »

Completely useless info. Anyone who had a look on the topic can figure it out. At least you would provide proper links to download the kernel and the sfs if you tell it "howto"...

brad_chuck
Posts: 286
Joined: Tue 16 Aug 2005, 03:47
Location: Appalachian Mountains

#4 Post by brad_chuck »

It was aimed at advanced users.

There are many kernel sources and dev packages. One for each Puppy version.

they are at http://puppyos.net/test/

sorry you did not like my how-to.

2byte
Posts: 353
Joined: Mon 09 Oct 2006, 18:10

#5 Post by 2byte »

Thanks for the info Brad. I followed your instructions exactly and vms installed perfectly (it seems). Created a vm, installed win98 onto it, installed the tools etc. Closed win98 and vmware. Restarted vmware and everything still worked. However, after rebooting puppy 2.14 vmware errors with "cannot power virtual machine" or something similar when trying to power up the win98 machine. A complete uninstall and reinstall of the vmware server and win98 will repeat the same create-ok-reboot-error cycle. Three times in a row.

Would you be willing to compare notes about our setups and help me find out what the problem is?

Thanks

edit
Well I found out what the problem is. It seems that puppy restores the operating system files on startup even on a hard drive install. This erases the vmmon files that the config script compiled. The missing files in /sys/class/misc/vmmon can't just be copied back so the config script has to be run to recompile them. It seems like there would be an easier way to accomplish this.

Any ideas anyone?

Bruce B

#6 Post by Bruce B »

G2 has made various posts about how to make files 'undeleteable' - think that might work?

2byte
Posts: 353
Joined: Mon 09 Oct 2006, 18:10

#7 Post by 2byte »

G2 has made various posts about how to make files 'undeleteable' - think that might work?
I don't think so. The /sys folder is empty until puppy boots and loads the OS from vmlinuz (is this correct gurus?). Following the links that Brad gave I read that the kernel has to be recompiled to add drivers.

Being a stubborn cuss who does not want to go down that road I came up with a workaround that is satisfactory, for me anyway. After deciding what configuration to finally use I reinstalled everything and did one last configuration with with vmware-config.pl. I saved all of the results from the terminal then made a copy of vmware-config.pl. Then using the terminal results as a guide I modified the new config script to bypass the prompts, hard coding in the paths and other info the script gathers from the user. The final step was to call the new script from /etc/rc.d/rc.local. This compiles and installs a fresh set of drivers and support files for vmware every time puppy boots, without any interaction from me, and it only adds about 10 seconds to the boot time. This might sound like a lot of bother but i think it's worth it. Vmware out-performs qemu hands down IMO, and this method won't be affected when upgrading to a new puppy version unless the kernel version changes. Maybe not even then.

Thanks again to Brad for pointing the way. Now I can have puppy as my main OS and run my windows CAD and PLC development software at the same time on a different desktop.

:D

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lickthefrog2
Posts: 57
Joined: Wed 22 Nov 2006, 18:30

#8 Post by lickthefrog2 »

I'm definitely not an advanced user. But I got vmware going.

Thanks Brad!!!

But I'm still confused because I did it by first creating a virtual machine of my WindowsXP using VMware Converter.

Did I need to do that? I saved that virtual machine on an external drive.

Then in my Puppy VMware server, I browse and launch the external drive version of my WindowsXP.

Is there a way to directly access my internal WindowsXP hard drive? I'm confused.

I will say that it is very cool to boot the entire XP system inside of Puppy, but I can't actually complete the booting because it sees this virtual version of my WindowsXP as a new installation requiring a new activation code. I have searched the VMware forums and found some advice about this because I don't want to reregister or mess with my real activation. I've read that even on the same machine, Microsoft sees virtuals as separate requiring separate licenses. :evil:

- lickthefrog2

Komodo
Posts: 20
Joined: Fri 30 Mar 2007, 13:03

#9 Post by Komodo »

I would like to use vmware with puppy too. It's nice that a few people have managed to get it running in puppy so will somebody post a complete how to in detail from start to finish?

Please?

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lickthefrog2
Posts: 57
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#10 Post by lickthefrog2 »

Komodo,

I really just followed brad_chuck's instructions, so they might lack detail, but they are correct as is.

although i didn't do #5 (brad_chuck, does that matter?)

what you might consider doing is backing up, then just going for it.

keep track and when you post in this forum, describe what is going wrong and where.

also, make sure you post what version of puppy you're using because it makes helping you diagnose errors much easier. [i'm puppy 2.12 (Muppy007)]

the advanced part that brad_chuck mentioned probably has to do with this:

per the above:
There are many kernel sources and dev packages. One for each Puppy version.

they are at http://puppyos.net/test/

Komodo
Posts: 20
Joined: Fri 30 Mar 2007, 13:03

#11 Post by Komodo »

Sorry about the tone of my first post. I was a little bent out of shape by this so let me try again. I am using a 2.14 hard drive install and am having the same problem that 2byte had above. His/her solution is beyond my abilities as I do not know perl. I have the dev package and can install vmware. It just quits working after a reboot or restart. As 2byte said, there are several files that vmware installs in /sys and these vanish on a reboot/restart.

The kernel sources at http://puppyos.net/test/ stop at v2.12. I have never had to compile my own kernel and am not sure I would even want to attempt it. Is the 2.12 kernel the same as the 2.14 kernel? What would it take to include the vmware files in a new kernel?? Would it have to be recompiled if the vmware configuration was changed? Honestly, having to recompile the kernel to keep a software installation strikes me as absurd. And this is assuming that recompiling the kernel will take care of the problem in the first place. Nobody has actually said it will.

So you see there are a lot of questions that a step by step how-to would answer. This is the 'HOWTO ( Solutions )' board after all, not the 'I did it so figure it out for yourself' board. :)

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lickthefrog2
Posts: 57
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#12 Post by lickthefrog2 »

So you see there are a lot of questions that a step by step how-to would answer. This is the 'HOWTO ( Solutions )' board after all, not the 'I did it so figure it out for yourself' board.
Of course you can ask, but no one is paid (to my knowledge) to root out the particularities of your system. Support generally comes from people with similar implementations.

In that regard, I can't help you with most of your questions. You could probably try 2.12 and see if you can get it going. I know nothing about compiling or what's at stake in future implementations; I just follow other people's scripts...

Maybe you'll become the VMWare expert that helps the rest of us figure it out. :)

Komodo
Posts: 20
Joined: Fri 30 Mar 2007, 13:03

#13 Post by Komodo »

Success!

I'm not an expert but this is how I installed VMware Server in Puppy2.14. It follows the instructions given by brad_chuck and Eric with a couple of small but important differences.

My system:
Running 2.14 from live CD.
pup_save file located on a 14GB ext2 hard drive partition.
Devx-214.sfs installed.
Lan network with a network printer on an old win98SE box.

After installing the devx_2.14.sfs, look in your files for /lib/modules/2.6.18.1/build/include
If you have this directory you do not need to download the kernel source for Puppy.

You do not need to recompile the kernel!
You do not have to have samba installed to use vmware's networking.

Download the vmware server package.
http://www.vmware.com/download/server/

Get a few free serial numbers. You need them to create virtual machines.
http://register.vmware.com/content/registration.html

Download and read the documentation.
http://www.vmware.com/pdf/server_vm_manual.pdf
http://www.vmware.com/pdf/GuestOS_guide.pdf

INSTALLATION

Create these directories:
/etc/rc.d/rc0.d
/etc/rc.d/rc1.d
/etc/rc.d/rc2.d
/etc/rc.d/rc3.d
/etc/rc.d/rc4.d
/etc/rc.d/rc5.d
/etc/rc.d/rc6.d
/etc/pam.d
/etc/inetd.conf

Unpack vmware server to the main directory. This should give you /vmware-server-distrib.
Open a terminal in this directory and type ./vmware-install.pl
Follow the prompts, the defaults worked for me. You may want to specify a different default directory for the virtual machines, they are gigabytes in size. I specified a directory on my 14GB ext2 HD partition. If you are on a network, accept the network prompts. I use Bridged networking and it works great in my situation.

Note: Save the terminal output from the installation and configuration. In case you have problems you can refer to it later to see exactly how you configured vmware.

This is important. Do not add 'vmware start' to /root/.xinitrc. After you have installed and configured vmware, open up /etc/rc.d/rc.local and add this line:
/etc/rc.d/vmware start

Create a file named runvmware.sh or something, and add these lines to it:
#!/bin/sh
vmware &
Make it executable and drag it to your desktop.

Reboot Puppy and you should be able to use vmware server. If you specified a virtual machine directory on a different partition, don't forget to mount it before creating or using any virtual machines!

:D

brady747
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon 11 Jun 2007, 14:21

#14 Post by brady747 »

Any chance on a walk thru on how to install the kernel source for 2.14? I have tried searching for about 2 days. Part of the problem is the the Chinese Great Firewall seems to block about 90% of Puppy resources (thankfully not this forum) for whatever reason. As Im in Beijing, that puts a damper on my research capabilities (although I proxy as much as I can). Im trying to install VMware server on puppy live cd 2.14 but I don't have the include folder mentioned in the post directly above so i gather I need to do what the first post says and 'install the kernel source'. Unfortunately Im clueless on this although I can handle the rest I believe (install script, mkdir, installing pup-dev package, etc)

THANKS!!!

Stuck in Beijing, happily for the most part.

Brady

theinfamousj
Posts: 88
Joined: Sun 03 Sep 2006, 12:54

#15 Post by theinfamousj »

I got the following error message when I tried to install:

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Installing the content of the package.

In which directory do you want to install the binary files? 
[/usr/bin] 

What is the directory that contains the init directories (rc0.d/ to rc6.d/)? 
[/etc] 

What is the directory that contains the init scripts? [/etc] 

The file /etc/vmware that this program was about to install already exists. 
Overwrite? [yes] 

Unable to copy the source file ./installer/services.sh to the destination file 
/etc/vmware.

Execution aborted.
I left the log up to that point in to show everything that was done. I am using Puppy 2.14. I also tried deleting that folder (/etc/vmware) but it comes back with the same error message. I've tried to google it, but it appears that there are very few english speaking people who have had my error, and what few there were have been using Ubuntu. Anyone have any ideas? I've CHMODed my heart out and still it won't copy to the destination file.

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Gekko
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Location: Sydney, New South Wales

#16 Post by Gekko »

brady747 wrote:Any chance on a walk thru on how to install the kernel source for 2.14? I have tried searching for about 2 days. Part of the problem is the the Chinese Great Firewall seems to block about 90% of Puppy resources (thankfully not this forum) for whatever reason. As Im in Beijing, that puts a damper on my research capabilities (although I proxy as much as I can). Im trying to install VMware server on puppy live cd 2.14 but I don't have the include folder mentioned in the post directly above so i gather I need to do what the first post says and 'install the kernel source'. Unfortunately Im clueless on this although I can handle the rest I believe (install script, mkdir, installing pup-dev package, etc)

THANKS!!!

Stuck in Beijing, happily for the most part.

Brady
Download qemu instead, much easier to install and configure. http://bbqsrc.org/?q=node/20
And can you use TOR to get around the proxy in China?

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jcoder24
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Location: Barbados

#17 Post by jcoder24 »

Gekko wrote: Download qemu instead, much easier to install and configure. http://bbqsrc.org/?q=node/20
Maybe it's just my old AMD 650MHz w/ 384M RAM but I find qemu (even with the accelerator) to be very slow and resource intensive. A WinXP SP2 install in qemu took two hours before reaching 50% before I killed it. It may also be me with this experience so if anyone knows of a way to improve my it, I'm all ears.

Because of those issues I've alway resorted to VMware. I usually install vmplayer since workstation and server take up way too much space. Typically a vmplayer installation is under 50MB, the installation alone for the server and workstation are usu over 100MB. However, there are two issues with the player (and possibly workstation and server)

1) Creating a virtual machine is a manual process but this they are tools and hacks (tutorials) on how to get it done.

2) VMplayer v2 installs in fine in newer versions of puppy but blue screens booting windows os -this maybe a problem with my pc. Vmplayer v1 works fine but only on puppy2 version 2.11 and below (i belive this to be a gtk problem so far)

brady747
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon 11 Jun 2007, 14:21

#18 Post by brady747 »

Thanks for Qemu trip. Ill try that eventually but Im actually asking about Vmware. Sorry for delay, I was in Shanghai without internet for a week. I can tor around firewall, but its often to slow here. Today China is no longer blocking this forum (it comes and goes, who knows?)...so Ill probably try to read more but the puppy-linux main site is still slow or blocked. Anyone else have tips on how to get past the need for the source listed on the first page of this topic? Maybe I need to post a new topic but it was relevant to the processes listed above so I thought someone could help here.

Thanks!!!!!!
Brady
Back in Beijing

Komodo
Posts: 20
Joined: Fri 30 Mar 2007, 13:03

#19 Post by Komodo »

Brady,
The kernel source needed by vmware server is included in the Devx-214.sfs. Once that is installed the vmware install script should find the kernel source in /lib/modules/2.6.18.1/build/include

Komodo

brady747
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon 11 Jun 2007, 14:21

#20 Post by brady747 »

Thanks a lot Komodo. Ill give that a shot then in the next few days.

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