How To Install VMWare Server on Ubuntu 7.04

UPDATE: This post has been updated for VMware Server 1.0.5 on Ubuntu 8.04. If you are running Ubuntu 8.04 you’ll need to see those steps.

I’ve been playing more with virtualization recently and thought I would outline the steps I took to install VMWare Server on Ubuntu 7.04. I will also have steps for installation on Ubuntu 7.10, but it requires a bit more tweaking so that’ll have to wait.

Installing VMWare Server

Installing VMWare Server on Ubuntu 7.04 is made very simple by the Canonical commercial repository. It’s as simple as an ‘aptitude install’, following just a few steps. Here is what we need to do:

Register for a VMWare Server use-code. VMWare Server is freeware but it requires registration at vmware.com to generate a license code for use. Visit this link to register and generate the number of codes you might want. Remember to print the codes or write them down because in my experience they are not emailed to you.

Include the repository

Add the following line to your /etc/apt/sources.list or via System > Admin > Software Sources menu.

deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu feisty-commercial main

You’ll need to update aptitude to the change using:

sudo aptitude update

Installation

You can now install vmware-server by installing the packages:

sudo aptitude install vmware-server vmware-server-kernel-modules-$(uname -r)

Virtualize

You should now have VMWare Server installed in your Applications menu, or you can launch it via the ‘vmware’ command. Enjoy.

10 thoughts on “How To Install VMWare Server on Ubuntu 7.04”

kirrus 2007/09/12

Currently, VMWare server installed this way will not let you log in remotly. See:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/app-install-data-commercial/+bug/115295
&
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/VMware/Server
for more information.

kalahari875 2007/09/12

The Canonical package also has a fixed dependency on inetd, thus precluding xinetd (and therefore remote Xvnc login). I just got finished removing the Canonical package and installing the VMware .tgz package.

Rob j. Caskey 2007/09/12

last I checked you need to have universe and multiverse enabled as well, has this changed?

Anthony 2007/09/12

I recently setup VMWare Server (again) on Ubuntu. I was then reminded as to why I started running OpenSuSE as the VMWare Server ‘host’ and making all the virtual machines run Ubuntu.

When you install VMWare Server on Ubuntu, there’s a problem with the web interface (vmware-mui). Now there is a patch that you can run online to fix the problem with the web interface not starting; however, the link that you find all over the web for this patch is no longer valid. The developer of the patch changed the URL (sneaky guy *grin*).

I’m a Ubuntu fan/user but sometimes, I have to give in to other distros. 🙁

There’s a pretty good tutorial for installing VMWare server http://www.howtoforge.com/ubuntu_vmware_server

Personally, I still prefer running it on 6.06 although I do run it on 7.04.