Installing VMware Workstation 4 on a Linux Host

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Getting started with VMware Workstation is simple. The key steps are

Install the VMware Workstation software as described in this section.
Start VMware Workstation and enter your serial number. You need to do this only once — the first time you start VMware Workstation after you install it.
Create a virtual machine using the New Virtual Machine Wizard. See Creating a New Virtual Machine.
Install a guest operating system in the new virtual machine. You need the installation media (CD-ROM or floppy disks) for your guest operating system. See Installing a Guest Operating System and VMware Tools.
Install the VMware Tools package in your virtual machine for enhanced performance. See Installing VMware Tools.
Start using your virtual machine.
Before you begin, be sure you have

A computer and host operating system that meet the system requirements for running VMware Workstation. See Host System Requirements.
The VMware Workstation installation software. If you bought the packaged distribution of VMware Workstation, the installation software is on the CD in your package. If you bought the electronic distribution, the installation software is in the file you downloaded.
Your VMware Workstation serial number. The serial number is included in the VMware Workstation package or in the email message confirming your electronic distribution order.
The installation CD or disks for your guest operating system.

Before Installing on a Linux Host

Before you install and run VMware Workstation, check the following notes and make any necessary adjustments to the configuration of your host operating system.

The real-time clock function must be compiled into your Linux kernel.
VMware Workstation for Linux requires that the parallel port PC-style hardware option (CONFIG_PARPORT_PC) be built and loaded as a kernel module (that is, it must be set to m when the kernel is compiled).

Installing the VMware Workstation Software

Note: The steps below describe an installation from a CD-ROM disc. If you downloaded the software, the steps are the same except that you start from the directory where you saved the installer file you downloaded, not from the Linux directory on the CD.

Log on to your Linux host with the user name you plan to use when running VMware Workstation.
In a terminal window, become root so you can perform the initial installation steps.
su -
Mount the VMware Workstation CD-ROM.
Change to the Linux directory on the CD.
Do one of the following:
Use the RPM installer: Run RPM specifying the installation file.
rpm -Uhv VMware-<xxx>;.rpm
(VMware-<xxx>;.rpm is the installation file on the CD; in place of <xxx>; the filename contains numbers that correspond to the version and build.)
Note: If you are upgrading from VMware Workstation 3.0, you must take a special step before you install the RPM package. You need to remove the prebuilt modules RPM package included in the 3.0 release. To remove the modules, type the following at a command prompt:
rpm -e VMwareWorkstationKernelModules

Use the tar installer: You may copy a tar archive to your hard disk and install following the directions below. Or you may skip the steps for copying and unpacking the archive and install directly from the vmware-distrib directory on the CD.
Copy the tar archive to a directory on your hard drive — for example, to/tmp.
cp VMware-<xxx>;.tar.gz /tmp
Change to the directory to which you copied the file.
cd /tmp
Unpack the archive.
tar zxf VMware-<xxxx>;.tar.gz
Change to the installation directory.
cd vmware-distrib
Run the installation program.
./vmware-install.pl
Accept the default directories for the binary files, library files, manual files, documentation files and init script.
Run the configuration program.
vmware-config.pl
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 VMware Workstation whenever you upgrade your kernel. It is not necessary to reinstall VMware Workstation after you upgrade your kernel.

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

The installer places vmware-config.pl in /usr/bin. If /usr/bin is not in your default path, run the program with the following command:
/usr/bin/vmware-config.pl

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.
The remaining prompts are worded in such a way that, in most cases, the default response is appropriate. Some exceptions are noted here:
The configuration program prompts you
Do you want this script to automatically configure your system to allow your virtual machines to access the host's file system?
If you already have Samba running on your host computer, answer No.
If Samba is not already running on your host computer and you want to add it, answer Yes to this question; the VMware Workstation installer configures it for you. When prompted for a user name and password to use with the Samba configuration, enter the user name you used in step 1 above.
To enable host-only networking, respond Yes to the following prompts if they appear:
Do you want your virtual machines to be able to use the host's network resources?
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?
This allows for the sharing of files between the virtual machine and the host operating system. For more information, see Host-Only Networking.

Note: If you do not enable host-only networking now, you cannot allow a virtual machine to use both bridged and host-only networking.

The configuration program displays a message saying the configuration completed successfully. If it does not display this message, run the configuration program again.
When done, exit from the root account.
exit

Configuring Your Web Browser

To use the VMware Workstation Help system, you must have a Web browser installed on your host computer. VMware Workstation expects to find the Netscape browser in /usr/bin/netscape. If this matches the configuration of your host computer, you do not need to take any special steps. If you are using a different browser or if your Netscape browser is in a different location, add a symbolic link to it from /usr/bin.

ln -s <path to browser>; /usr/bin/netscape


Uninstalling VMware Workstation 4 on a Linux Host

If you used the RPM installer to install VMware Workstation, remove the software from your system by running

rpm -e VMwareWorkstation

If you used the tar installer to install VMware Workstation, remove the software from your system by running

vmware-uninstall.pl