Think Simplicity

VMWare Virtual Server allows the server to run multiple instances of different operating systems that are considered to be totally separate from each other.  Even though the instances are separated they will all share the hardware resources from the physical server.

So why use virtualization? 

When a business or individual uses virtualization many resources are saved:

• Square footage in the server room
• Power consumption
• Cooling
• Environmental resources saved when separate physical hardware is not required

The additional features you gain when virtualization:

• Servers that are virtualized can be moved to any other equipment that is running the same virtualization software. 
• No need to worry about different hardware specifications
• Create snap shots (instant copy) of the running server, so if you install software or do an upgrade that damages the system, you can revert back to before the snapshot.
• Backups can be created of the whole virtual server file and run on another piece of equipment.

Greater utilization of physical hardware resources instead of sitting idle.  For example a server running a single operating system performing a single function typically will only use 20% CPU if that.  When multiple operating systems you can increase and leverage the resources amongst many application servers.

With VMWare virtualization software you can have Microsoft operating systems and Linux operating systems running on the same server.

In the following instructions we will show you how to install VMWare Virtual Server on a CentOS operating system with base install.

Log onto the linux server and switch to root if you already are not.

Run the following command:
yum install -y kernel-devel kernel-headers wget gcc gcc-c++ glibc xinetd  glib make libX11-devel libXtst glibc libxt libXrender libX11-devel libXtst

If you are running a PAE kernel run the following command:
yum install kernel-PAEyum install kernel-PAE-devel

Reboot your server with the following command:
Shutdown –r now

Login to your server and switch to root if you are not.

Go to the following folder:
cd /usr/src/

Download the latest version of VMWare Server using the following command:
wget http://download3.vmware.com/software/vmserver/VMware-server-<xxxx>.i386.rpm
(<xxxx> is a series of numbers representing version and build numbers.)

Use the RPM installer by running the following command:
rpm -Uhv VMware-server-<xxxx>.i386.rpm

You will now need to run the configuration command:
vmware-config.pl

Use this program to reconfigure VMware Server whenever you upgrade your kernel. It is not necessary to reinstall VMware Server after you upgrade your kernel.  You can also use vmware-config.pl to reconfigure the networking options for VMware Server—for example, to add or remove host-only networks.            

Press Enter to read the end user license agreement (EULA). If the Do you accept prompt doesn’t appear, press Q to get to the next prompt.     

Configure networking for your virtual machines.            
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.     

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.       

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. 

Specify the port the VMware Server Console uses when connecting to the VMware 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 VMware Server Console to use here.

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 gigabytes in size.

Enter your VMware 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 VMware Server.

When you enter the serial number, it is saved in your license file.

The configuration program displays a message saying the configuration completed successfully.

If it does not display this message, run the configuration program again.

Done.

You many need to change the firewall settings on your server to allow communication to the VMWare port 902.