Contents

System Requirements

Server Requirements

Server Host Hardware

VMware GSX Server supports up to four-way multiprocessor servers. VMware recommends you run no more than four virtual machines concurrently per processor, though you may run a maximum of 24 virtual machines concurrently on a single host.

• Standard x86-based PC or server

• 400MHz or faster processor that supports the PentiumŪ instruction set

  Compatible processors include

  • Intel: Pentium II, Pentium III, Pentium 4, Pentium 4 Xeon
  • AMD: Athlon, Athlon XP

  Multiprocessor systems supported

Memory

You need enough memory to run the Windows or Linux host operating system plus memory required for each guest operating system and applications on the guest and host.

• Minimum: 256MB (512MB recommended)
• Maximum: 8GB for Linux hosts that support large memory or are PAE-enabled; 2GB for Linux hosts with kernels in the 2.2.x series

Display

• Greater than 256-color (8-bit) display adapter required

• Linux hosts must have a video adapter supported by the XFree86 server to run guest operating systems in full screen mode. If an X server is not installed, you must install one, such as XFree86. XFree86 version 3.3.4 or higher is recommended.

  SuSE 7.1, 7.2 and 7.3 Hosts Only: You should configure the display settings for the X server on your host to 16-bit color depth to avoid problems with the local and remote consoles having incorrect window dimensions.

Disk Space

• 20MB free disk space required for server, VMware Management Interface, VmPerl API and VmCOM API installation
• 10MB free disk space required for VMware Remote Console installation
• At least 1GB free disk space recommended for each guest operating system and the application software used with it; using a default setup, the actual disk space needs are approximately the same as those for installing and running the guest operating system and applications on a physical computer
• IDE or SCSI hard drives, CD-ROM and DVD-ROM drives supported
• Guest operating systems can boot from raw disk partitions or virtual disk files

Local Area Networking

• Any Ethernet controller supported by the host operating system
• Non-Ethernet networks supported using built-in network address translation (NAT) or using host-only networking plus routing software on the host operating system
• Static IP address for your host machine (recommended)

Software - Linux Host Operating System

Supported distributions and kernels are listed below. VMware GSX Server may not run on systems that do not meet these requirements.

Note: As newer Linux kernels and distributions are released, VMware modifies and tests its products for stability and reliability on those host platforms. We make every effort to add support for new kernels and distributions in a timely manner, but until a kernel or distribution is added to the list below, its use with our product is not supported. Look for newer prebuilt modules in the Download area of our Web site.

• Mandrake Linux 8.2 -- stock 2.4.18-6mdk
• Mandrake Linux 8.1 -- stock 2.4.8-26mdk, upgrade 2.4.8-34mdk
• Mandrake Linux 8.0 -- stock 2.4.3-20mdk
• Red Hat Linux 7.3 -- stock 2.4.18-3
• Red Hat Linux 7.2 -- stock 2.4.7-10, upgrade 2.4.9-7, upgrade 2.4.9-13, upgrade 2.4.9-21, upgrade 2.4.9-31
• Red Hat Linux 7.1 -- stock 2.4.2-2, upgrade 2.4.3-12
• Red Hat Linux 7.0 -- stock 2.2.16-22, upgrade 2.2.17-14
• Red Hat Linux 6.2 -- Dell-specific 2.2.14-6.1.1, upgrade 2.2.15-2.5.0, Dell specific 2.2.14-6.1.1 (Red Hat Linux 6.2 does not support Pentium 4 CPUs)
  Caution: VMware does not support running VMware GSX Server on the stock 2.2.14-5.0 kernel.
• Red Hat Linux 6.1 -- stock 2.2.11-3, upgrade 2.2.12-20
• Red Hat Linux 6.0 -- stock 2.2.5-15, upgrade 2.2.5-22
• SuSE Linux 8.0 -- stock 2.4.18
• SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 7 -- stock 2.4.7
• SuSE Linux 7.3 -- stock 2.4.10
• SuSE Linux 7.2 -- stock 2.4.4
• SuSE Linux 7.1 -- stock 2.2.18, stock 2.4.0
• SuSE Linux 7.0 -- stock 2.2.16
• SuSE Linux 6.4 -- stock 2.2.14
• SuSE Linux 6.3 -- stock 2.2.13
• SuSE Linux 6.2 -- stock 2.2.10
• SuSE Linux 6.1 -- stock 2.2.5
• Turbolinux 7.0 -- stock 2.4.5-3
• Turbolinux 6.0 -- stock 2.2.13-12

VMware GSX Server may run on other Linux distributions; attempting to do so is recommended for expert Linux users only.

Other Linux host operating system requirements:

• Linux kernel 2.2.14-5.0 is not supported
• Standard Linux server installation with glibc version 2 or higher and libXpm.so
• inetd process configured and active for remote console and VMware Management Interface connections
• Version 2.1.36 of the SCSI Generic (sg.o) driver required to use generic SCSI devices in virtual machines
• Perl 5.005x or higher required to use VmPerl API
• X server required to run the remote console on the server.

VmPerl and VmCOM Scripting APIs

Perl is now installed with VMware GSX Server and the VMware Management Interface. The VmCOM API works on Windows .NET Server, Windows XP, Windows 2000 and Windows NT hosts only. For more information, visit the VMware Web site at www.vmware.com/support/developer/.

Remote Workstation Requirements

The remote workstation is a Windows NT 4.0 (Workstation or Server), Windows 2000 (Professional, Server, Advanced Server), Windows XP, Windows .NET Server or Linux system from which you launch a remote console to remotely manage a single virtual machine on the VMware GSX Server host. You access the VMware Management Interface to manage multiple virtual machines on the host using a Web browser.

Hardware Requirements

• Standard x86-based computer
• 266MHz or faster processor
• 64MB RAM minimum
• 20MB (Windows hosts), 10MB (Linux hosts) free disk space required for installation of the remote console

Software - Windows Remote Workstation

• Windows .NET Web Server beta 3, Windows .NET Standard Server beta 3 and Windows .NET Enterprise Server beta 3
• Windows XP Professional and Windows XP Home Edition
• Windows 2000 Professional, Server and Advanced Server, including Service Pack 1 and Service Pack 2
• Windows NT 4.0 Workstation and Server, Service Pack 6a
• The VMware Management Interface requires one of these browsers:
  • Internet Explorer 5.x or 6.0
  • Netscape Navigator 4.x or 6.x
  • Mozilla 1.x

  Note: As newer browser versions are released, VMware tests the management interface for stability and reliability with these versions. We make every effort to add support for new browser versions in a timely manner, but until a browser is added to the above list, its use with our product is not supported.

Software - Linux Remote Workstation

Compatible with standard Linux distributions with glibc version 2 or higher and one of the following:

• For single-processor systems: kernel 2.0.32 or higher in the 2.0.x series, or kernel in the 2.2.x series or 2.4.x series (up to and including kernel 2.4.18).

• For SMP systems: kernel in the 2.2.x series or 2.4.x series

  Note: Linux kernel 2.2.14-5.0 is not supported for single- or multi-processors systems. See the troubleshooting page on the VMware Web site for more details.

• The VMware Management Interface requires Netscape Navigator 4.x, 6.x or later or Mozilla 1.x.

Supported Guest Operating Systems

The operating systems listed here have been tested in VMware GSX Server virtual machines and are officially supported.

Other operating systems designed for Intel-based PCs may work, as well.

Microsoft Windows

• Windows .NET Standard Server beta 3 (experimental)
• Windows .NET Enterprise Server beta 3 (experimental)
• Windows .NET Web Server beta 3 (experimental)
• Windows XP Home Edition
• Windows XP Professional
• Windows 2000 Professional Service Pack 2
• Windows 2000 Server Service Pack 2
• Windows 2000 Advanced Server Service Pack 2
• Windows NT (version 4.0 with Service Pack 3, 4, 5 and 6a for both Workstation and Server)
• Windows Me
• Windows 98 and Windows 98 SE
• Windows 95
• Windows for Workgroups
• Windows 3.1

MS-DOS (MS-DOS version 6 is supported.)

Linux. The following types of Linux operating systems are supported:

• Mandrake Linux 8.0, 8.1 and 8.2
• Red Hat Linux 6.2, 7.0, 7.1 and 7.2
• SuSE Linux 6.x, 7.0, 7.1, 7.2, 7.3 and SLES 7
• TurboLinux 6.0 and 7.0

FreeBSD. The following versions of FreeBSD are supported:

• FreeBSD 3.x, 4.0, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4 and 4.5

For the most current list of supported and unsupported operating systems, see http://www.vmware.com/support/gsx2/doc/intro_sysreqs_gsx.html.

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