Installing VMWare Server

Running a virtualization program typically takes about 6 to 8GB of space so after cleaning up my laptop, I had about 21GB left and decided it was time to install VMWare Server on it.

Expected duration = approximately 10 minutes

I clicked on the execution file and several clicks later, a warning was given that Microsoft Internet Information Server, a program required by the VMWare Management Interface, is not properly installed on my laptop. Since I do not have XP Pro installed (which gives you the option to install Microsoft IIS), I selected the option of installing without the Management Interface functionality. I also found an excerpt from here regarding these two programs:

The VMware Management Interface is hosted in Microsoft’s Internet Information Server (IIS). In order to maintain security and still be able to use the management interface, normal IIS security best practices should be followed. VMware recommends you:

  • Ensure the host operating system is always kept up to date with security patches.
  • Consider using IP address restrictions to limit who can access the management interface.
  • Do not host other Web sites on the GSX Server host machine.
  • Remove all Web, FTP and SMTP services listed in the IIS Manager, with the exception of the VMware Management Interface Web site.
  • Consider following Microsoft’s published IIS security baseline checklist, located at www.microsoft.com/technet/security/chklist/iis5cl.asp.

Creating a New Virtual Machine on Local Host

Expected Duration = approximately 5-10 minutes 

  1. After installation, I clicked on the VMWare Server icon on my desktop and initiated the next step - Creating a new virtual machine on the local host; my laptop.
  2. I selected Linux as the Guest operating system and then Ubuntu from the list of drop-down options.
  3. Selected ‘Use Network Address Translation (NAT)’ which simply means "
  4. Selected the 6GB (typically 6 to 8GB) as my allocated disk space because I do not plan on running space-intensive programs or storing large files of music/videos.
  5. Machine proceeds to create disk space

 

 

Voila!