Red Hat 8.0 with VMware 3.2

[Skyzyx]

I'm installing Red Hat Linux 8.0 inside a virtual machine with VMware 3.2. Could anyone tell me how to start the GUI, since VMware's emulated video card isn't supported without VMware Tools, and I can't seem to figure out how to install them.

This is my first experience with Linux, although I'm a Mac, Windows, and BeOS user. I'd appreciate any help.

[chrismiceli]

from what i understand vmware emulates windows, and other os's, if you want to emulate windows, use wine for linux, great app.
http://www.winehq.com

[brothercake]

VMWare can install and run any x86 based OS, so any unix build (linux, bsd etc.) is fine.

But as you've discovered - you can't run X inside a virtual machine until you've installed VMWare tools, which is basically drivers and accelerator software.

I can give you the full run down on how to do it, but not just at the minute. I have to go out, so I'll post again in about an hour.

[brothercake]

That was quick - I thought I'd have to walk 2 miles to a 24-hour garage to get some milk, but I asked the lady in the kebab shop round the corner and she gave me a cup full :)

But I digress ... here's what you need to do:

1 - install the OS; use the default selection for video card and X settings and *do not* test-run the X configuration.

2 - boot up the OS - it will probably try to start X and then fail, returning you to console mode. This confused me at first; just ignore it - nothing bad has happened.

3 - login as root

4 - in the VMware toolbar, select "Settings > VMWare tools install"

5 - this is where it gets slightly tricky ... you have to mount the ISO image to /mnt and then copy its contents to /tmp. Like this:

mount -t iso9660 /dev/cdrom /mnt
cp /mnt/vmware-linux-tools.tar.gz /tmp
umount /dev/cdrom

6 - untar the package and run the installer script

cd /tmp
tar zxf vmware-linux-tools.tar.gz
cd vmware-linux-tools
./install.pl

7 - logout, and then log back in as a normal user (never do anything as root unless you have to). You should now find that X starts up okay and loads the window manager (Gnome by default - much more stable than KDE IMHO)



All of this is actually covered in the VMWare tools manual - the section called "Installing VMware Tools" and then the subsection "VMware Tools for Linux Guests". In fact I pasted the console code straight from it. But I can confirm it works - I've done this exact procedure for a RedHat 8 virtual machine in VMWare.

[Skyzyx]

Wonderful! Thanks!