Red Hat Linux 7.0

Support

This guest operating system is supported on the following VMware products:

• VMware Workstation 4.0, 4.0.1, 4.0.2, 4.0.5, 4.5, 4.5.1, 4.5.2, 5.0
• VMware ACE
• VMware GSX Server 3.0, 3.1, 3.2

  Note: If you are installing a guest operating system through VMware VirtualCenter, be sure it is supported under the VMware product - ESX Server or GSX Server - on which you are running the virtual machine.

General Installation Notes

Be sure to read General Guidelines for All VMware Products as well as this guide to installing your specific guest operating system.

The easiest method of installing Red Hat Linux 7.0 in a virtual machine is to use the standard Red Hat distribution CD. The notes below describe an installation using the standard distribution CD; however, installing Red Hat Linux 7.0 via the boot floppy/network method is supported as well. If your VMware product supports it, you may also install from a PXE server.

Before installing the operating system, be sure that you have already created and configured a new virtual machine.

Note: During the Red Hat Linux 7.0 text mode installation, a standard XFree86 version 4 server (without support for VMware SVGA or standard VGA) will be installed. Do not run that X server. Instead, to get an accelerated SVGA X server running inside the virtual machine, you should install the VMware Tools package immediately after installing Red Hat Linux 7.0.

Installation Steps

1. Insert the Red Hat Linux 7.0 CD in the CD-ROM drive.
2. Power on the virtual machine to start installing Red Hat Linux 7.0.

   We recommend you install the operating system with the text mode installer. At the Red Hat 7.0 CD boot prompt, you are offered the following choices:

   To install or upgrade a system ... in graphical mode ...
   To install or upgrade a system ... in text mode, type: text <ENTER>.
   To enable expert mode, ...
   Use the function keys listed below ...

   Choose the text mode installer by typing text followed by Enter.

3. Follow the installation steps as you would for a physical machine. Be sure to make the choices outlined in the following steps.
4. In Video Card Selection choose Generic VGA compatible, then click OK.
5. Near the end of the installation, after files have been copied, you reach the Monitor Setup screen. Choose Generic Standard VGA, 640x480 @ 60 Hz, then click OK.
6. At the Video Memory screen, choose 256Kb, then click OK.
7. At the Clockchip Configuration screen, choose No Clockchip Setting (recommended), which is the default, then click OK.
8. At the Probe for Clocks screen, click Skip.
9. At the Select Video Modes screen, don't choose anything. Just click OK.
10. At the Starting X screen, click Skip.

    Note: This is the most important step. Clicking OK runs the XFree86 version 4 server, which fails, and the installer aborts.

This completes basic installation of the Red Hat Linux 7.0 guest operating system.

VMware Tools

Be sure to install VMware Tools in your guest operating system. For details, see the manual for your VMware product or follow the appropriate link in the knowledge base article at www.vmware.com/support/kb/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=340.

Note: With a Red Hat Linux 7.0 guest, you should install VMware Tools from the Linux console. Do not start X until you have installed VMware Tools.

Enabling Sound After Installing Red Hat Linux 7.0

VMware GSX Server: The sound device is disabled by default and must be enabled with the virtual machine control panel (VM > Settings) after the operating system has been installed. To set up the virtual machine to play sound, see Configuring Sound in the GSX Server documentation.

Known Issues

Guest Screen Saver

On a Linux host with an XFree86 3.x X server, it is best not to run a screen saver in the guest operating system. Guest screen savers that demand a lot of processing power can cause the X server on the host to freeze.