UPDATE: This tutorial has been updated for VMware Server 1.0.6. See the updated instructions here, at How To Install VMware Server 1.0.6 on Ubuntu 8.04.
Now that most of the modern world has upgraded to Ubuntu 8.04 I’ve begun to see comments regarding VMware Server no longer working. You may have used my previous article, Installing VMware Server on Ubuntu 7.10, which has worked great. Now that 8.04 “Hardy” is installed things have become a bit more complicated unfortunately.
The problem is that VMware has not updated their latest versions to make use of the latest kernel, GCC or gnome libraries. So, we’ve got two options.
- Wait for a new VMware release and hope they patch everything.
- Follow the rest of this tutorial and get your hands dirty on the terminal. We can make it work, but we have to hammer it into submission.
So, I’ll assume because you’re still reading that you’ve opted for the hammer into submission option. Let’s get started.
Downloading the Requirements
The first step, of course, is to download VMware Server 1.0.5. You’ll have to agree to the EULA (actually twice. Once before download and once during installation. Remember, VMware is free-as-in-beer but not free-as-in-speech.)
The second step is to install some development tools that we’ll need to get things running. Use the following command or click the package names to install the requirements:
sudo aptitude install build-essential linux-kernel-devel linux-headers-generic xinetd
The third step is to download one more tool to help in the manual build process for VMware Server 1.0.5. What we need is a script which will help in the custom config hosted at Google Code. Download the vmware-any-any-update-116.tgz.
You will also need to generate a serial number to run VMware Server. 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.
OK, at this point we should have all of the requirements, now we can get to work…
Installation and Configuration
Let’s unpack the VMware archive that we downloaded and run the VMware installer. NOTE: After some basic configuration it will ask you to run vmware-config.pl. DO NOT RUN vmware-config.pl, WE ARE NOT READY YET.
tar xf VMware-server-1.0.5
cd vmware-server-distrib
sudo ./vmware-install.pl
When it asks you to run vmware-config.pl you want to answer “no” and this is where the vmware-any-any-116.tgz patch comes in.
cd ..
tar xf vmware-any-any-update-116.tgz
cd vmware-any-any-update116
sudo ./runme.pl
After this runs it will ask you again if you want to run vmware-config.pl. At this point select “yes”.
The Last Step
If you attempt to run vmware at this point you might notice that it spits out some nasty errors and complains at you. There is one more thing we need to setup. (Hey, VMware, if you’re reading this will you please incorporate these fixes into your official download already!)
Basically VMware is missing and complaining about some cairo libraries and gcc. So, the simple fix for this is to point to them by using a symbolic link:
sudo ln -sf /usr/lib/gcc/i486-linux-gnu/4.2.3/libgcc_s.so /usr/lib/vmware/lib/libgcc_s.so.1/libgcc_s.so.1
sudo ln -sf /usr/lib/libpng12.so.0 /usr/lib/vmware/lib/libpng12.so.0/libpng12.so.0
At this point you should be able to launch vmware and enjoy some virtualization goodness. Please stay tuned for virtualization updates regarding virtualbox and the new KVM!
sources: I want to throw a big thanks to my buddy Igor for helping figure out these tweaks. Check out his blog, with these and other instructions, here.
UPDATE: based on some of the comments below I’ve added the “-f” to the symbolik link options.
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Copy from http://ubuntu-tutorials.com/2008/05/03/install-vmware-server-105-on-ubuntu-804-hardy/
