Installing the GSX Server Software on a Linux Host

The steps below describe an installation on a Red Hat Linux host from a CD-ROM. If you downloaded the software, the steps are the same except that you start from the directory where you saved the downloaded installer file, not from the CD. If you are using a different Linux distribution, some of the commands may be different.

You cannot have both VMware GSX Server and VMware Workstation on the same host machine. If you plan to install GSX Server on a host machine that already contains Workstation, the Workstation application is automatically upgraded to GSX Server.

Before you install the GSX Server software, ensure your Linux distribution is for a server, not a workstation. If you are running a workstation distribution, you need to install the inetd process in order to connect to the VMware Virtual Machine Console and VMware Management Interface. If you need to, review the Host System Requirements.

Upgrade Note: If you are upgrading from an earlier version of GSX Server to a later one, the choices you made during the earlier installation become the defaults for the new installation. As a result, you may see options that are different from those described below. For more information, see Upgrading VMware GSX Server.

1. Log on to your Linux host with the user name you plan to use when running VMware GSX Server.

2. In a terminal window, become root so you can perform the initial installation.
su -

3. Mount the CD-ROM drive and change to the Linux directory on the CD.
mount /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom cd /mnt/cdrom/Linux

Use the RPM installer: Run RPM specifying the installation file.
rpm -Uhv VMware-gsx-<xxxx>.i386.rpm(VMware-gsx-<xxxx>.i386.rpm is the installation file on the CD; where <xxxx> is a series of numbers representing version and build numbers.)

Note: If you are upgrading from VMware GSX Server 2, you must take a special step before you install the RPM package. You need to remove the prebuilt modules RPM package included in the version 2 release. To remove the modules, type the following at a command prompt:
rpm -e VMwareGSXKernelModules

a. Copy the tar archive to a directory on your hard drive — for example, to /tmp.
cp VMware-gsx-<xxxx>.tar.gz /tmp(where <xxxx> is a series of numbers representing the version and build numbers)

f. Accept the default directories for the binary files, daemon files, library files, manual files, documentation files, init directories and init scripts.

Note: If you are installing GSX Server on a Mandrake Linux host, the configuration program asks for the location of lspci. When that prompt appears, enter the following path:
/usr/bin/lspcidrake

Note: If you use the RPM installer, you need to run this program separately from the command line. If you install from the tar archive, the installer offers to launch the configuration program for you. Answer Yes when you see the prompt.

Use this program to reconfigure GSX Server whenever you upgrade your kernel. It is not necessary to reinstall GSX Server after you upgrade your kernel.

You can also use vmware-config.pl to reconfigure the networking options for VMware GSX Server — for example, to add or remove host-only networks.

6. Press Enter to read the end user license agreement (EULA). You may page through it by pressing the space bar. If the Do you accept prompt doesn't appear, press Q to get to the next prompt.

If you want to use any type of networking with virtual machines, answer Yes to this prompt: Do you want networking for your virtual machines?

Bridged networking is always enabled if you enable networking. For more information about bridged networking, see Bridged Networking.

To enable NAT, answer Yes to the following prompts:
Do you want to be able to use NAT networking in your virtual machines? Do you want this script to probe for an unused private subnet?

This allows you to connect your virtual machines to an external network when you have only one IP network address on the physical network, and that address is used by the host computer. For more information, see Network Address Translation (NAT).

To enable host-only networking, answer Yes to the following prompts:
Do you want to be able to use host-only networking in your virtual machines? Do you want this script to probe for an unused private subnet?

Host-only networking allows for networking between the virtual machine and the host operating system. For more information, see Host-Only Networking.

8. Specify the port the VMware Virtual Machine Console uses when connecting to the GSX Server host remotely. Port 902 is the default port. If your site uses this port for another application — for example, ideafarm-chat uses this port — then specify a different port for the console to use here. To change the port later, see Changing the Port Number for VMware Virtual Machine Console Connections.

9. If you are upgrading from an earlier version of GSX Server, the following prompt appears: Do you want the installer to set up permissions for your registered virtual machines? This will be done by setting new permissions on all files found in /etc/vmware/vm-list.

Type y. The following permissions are set for all registered virtual machines:

Read, write and execute — for the user who created the virtual machine (the owner)

10. Specify the directory where you want to store your virtual machine files. By default, this directory is /var/lib/vmware/Virtual Machines. Make sure this location is on a large enough file system to contain the files, as the virtual disk files for each virtual machine are usually are gigabytes in size.

11. Enter your GSX Server serial number exactly as it appears (with hyphens) in the email message you received from VMware or from the reseller from whom you purchased GSX Server. When you enter the serial number, it is saved in your license file.

12. The configuration program displays a message saying the configuration completed successfully. If it does not display this message, run the configuration program again.