HOWTO Access a VMWare console from Mac OS X or Linux

Problem

There are no VMWare Server clients for Linux and Mac OS X. VMWare provides a Web UI for its server, but it requires a plug-in that doesn't work* on non-Windows platforms.

Solution

1. SSH into the VMWare Server.
2. Navigate to the VM folder, and edit the *.vmx file.
3. Enable VNC by appending the following settings:
   remotedisplay.vnc.enabled = "TRUE"
   remotedisplay.vnc.port = "5900"
   remotedisplay.vnc.password = "foobar"
4. Start/restart your VM.
5. Connect to your VM using a VNC client. I'm currently using Chicken of the VNC. You might want to google for a client that suits you.

If you need to connect to multiple VMs, simply use a different port (5900 for display :0, 5901 for diplay :1, etc).

I haven't tried this with VMWare ESX Server. I'll try this in the office tomorrow.

* It somewhat works in Linux.

HOWTO Import VMWare Fusion disk images to VirtualBox

Here are the steps on importing VMWare Fusion disk images to VirtualBox.

First, create a hard link from your VMWare package.

simoncpu@soulfury:~/Documents/Virtual Machines$ ln -h "Debian Linux.vmwarevm/Debian Linux.vmdk"

You can move or copy it anywhere you want. What's important is that it's accessible outside the original directory because Mac OS X doesn't treat the package as a navigable directory.

Next, create a new VirtualBox VM. In the "Create New Virtual Machine" wizard, select "Use existing hard disk" and open the Virtual Media Manager. Click "Add", and navigate to the hard link that you've created earlier.

Click "Finish" to create your VM. In theory (i.e., I haven't tested this) the OS will now boot at this point as long as you've used an IDE controller from VMWare. If not, then proceed as follows:

Change your VM's settings and go to the Storage tab. Next, check the "Enable Additional Controller" checkbox and select any SCSI controller from the drop down box. In the Attachments section, change your hard disk's slot from IDE Primary Master to SCSI Port 0.

Click OK, and start your VM.

HOWTO Turn off DHCP Servers in VMware Linux

To turn off VMware's DHCP server in host-only network, simply find the appropriate DHCP process, and kill it:

root@soulfury:~# ps auxww | grep dhcp
root 5060 0.0 0.0 1892 252 ? Ss Nov10 0:00 /usr/bin/vmnet-dhcpd -cf /etc/vmware/vmnet8/dhcpd/dhcpd.conf -lf /etc/vmware/vmnet8/dhcpd/dhcpd.leases -pf /var/run/vmnet-dhcpd-vmnet8.pid vmnet8
root 5061 0.0 0.0 1888 520 ? Ss Nov10 0:00 /usr/bin/vmnet-dhcpd -cf /etc/vmware/vmnet1/dhcpd/dhcpd.conf -lf /etc/vmware/vmnet1/dhcpd/dhcpd.leases -pf /var/run/vmnet-dhcpd-vmnet1.pid vmnet1
root 21281 0.0 0.0 2796 748 pts/0 R+ 15:31 0:00 grep dhcp
root@soulfury:~# kill 5061

Virtualization Killer App

Citrix is acquiring XenSource (http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2171251,00.asp). Very cool.

As grid computing becomes reality and as processing power, memory, and bandwidth become utilities just like water and electricity, I see that the future lies in virtualization technologies + remote X sessions and/or VNC.

I see that the future in creating an online and pervasive workspace lies on running multiple operating systems and offering it as a service. Each user can have his own virtual machine, and each user can pay the provider based on his memory and processing requirements for each session.

This will be the killer app once the infrastructure is in place.