After you configure a virtual machine, you can boot it for the first time and install a guest operating system. Refer to "VMware Application Reference" to see a list of which operating systems can be installed as guest operating systems.

The installation of guest operating systems is intended to differ as little as possible from their installation on a physical machine. If there are any additional steps or differences, however, they are noted in this chapter.

If you should happen to power on without a bootable disk you will see the message "Operating System not found." You can just put in the disk and press Reset.

The following general steps are required to install each guest operating system. However, Step 2 will vary for each guest OS; at this step be sure that you refer to the appropriate section, in this chapter for your guest OS.

To install a guest operating system in a VM:

1. If necessary, launch VMware application.

If you took a break after configuring the VM and exited the VMware application, then launch VMware using the configuration file that you just defined. Enter:

vmware < configfile >

You should see a virtual machine with the name of the configuration file in its title bar. You have not yet pressed Power On.

Note that at this point the mouse cursor can move anywhere on the screen. However, if you should happen to click in the VM window, the cursor can move only within that window. Managing the cursor's movement is described in "Using the Mouse Cursor" . If necessary, refer to that section now to understand how to move the cursor between the virtual machine and the host operating system.

2. Check that the disk mode is persistent for the disk on which you are installing the guest operating system.

Each disk that you have created for a VM is associated with a disk mode (disk modes are described in "The Disk Modes" ). The disk drive on which you are installing the guest operating system should be a persistent mode disk (persistent is the default).

Although you can use undoable mode, you must make sure that you apply the changes, in this case the installation of the guest operating system, at the end of the VMware session. If you do not apply the changes, then you will need to re-do the installation of the guest OS.

If you want to use nonpersistent mode, you should first install the guest OS while the disk is in persistent mode. Then you can power off to end the VMware session and change the disk mode to nonpersistent.

3. Begin the installation of the guest operating system.

Instructions for this step diverge depending upon the actual guest OS. Please continue by turning to the appropriate section from the following list:

• "Windows NT"
• "Windows 98"
• "Windows 95"
• "DOS and Windows 3.11"
• "Red Hat Linux"
• "S.u.S.E. Linux"
• "Caldera OpenLinux 1.3"

You may also want to refer to the documentation for the guest operating system.

You can press Escape while a VM is booting to see a window in which you can set the BIOS boot order, and if desired, access other BIOS Setup screens. (This is the same as pressing F2 during boot.) For example, when you carry files for a VM from one machine to another, the boot order might differ on the two machines and you might want to adjust it.

Once you have moved the mouse cursor into the VM window and clicked within the window, you cannot move the mouse cursor outside the window. Refer to "Using the Mouse Cursor" for instructions on how to move the mouse cursor out of the VM window when you want to use the host operating system.

• Configure desired network drivers.

After the guest operating system is installed you may need install and configure any additional network drivers desired for the VM. (No additional setup is required if the VM uses no networking.)

For more information on network setup, refer to "About VMware Networking" .

• Install VMware tools.

If you are installing a Windows guest OS, refer to "Installing the VMware SVGA Driver and Toolbox" .

If you are installing a Linux guest OS, refer to "Installing the VMware SVGA X server and Toolbox (Linux)" .

• Install desired applications on the guest operating system.

When you have completed the installation of the guest operating system, you can install and run the applications of your choice on the guest OS. These tasks are beyond the scope of this manual, as the behavior of user applications running on a guest OS should be the same as when run conventionally.

The installation of Windows NT is essentially identical to a conventional installation.

To install Windows NT:

1. Launch VMware application with the configuration file for the Windows NT guest OS.
2. Insert the boot media of your choice.

You can boot off the Windows NT CD-ROM or use the setup diskettes.

3. Power on the VM.
4. Perform a typical Windows NT installation.

NT does the hard disk format and recommends that you do not partition the hard drive.

5. During installation, when prompted for a network adapter, click Search.

You should see "AMD PCNET Family Ethernet Adapter" in the list of adapters. If you do not, you should select it from the list. You need not change any of the default settings for the adapter.

6. Install the VMware application SVGA driver.

For improved performance or if you want to set your guest OS terminal display to anything other than 16 colors at 640 by 480, then you must download the VMware SVGA driver after you have installed Windows NT as the guest OS. See "Installing the VMware SVGA Driver and Toolbox" for instructions.

The installation of Windows 98 varies slightly from a conventional installation.

To install Windows 98:

1. Launch VMware application with the configuration file for the Windows 98 guest OS.
2. Insert the Windows 98 bootable media.

We refer to this media as a CD-ROM although you can use either the Windows 98 CD-ROM or disk. The VM should now boot from the CD-ROM.

3. Power on the VM.
4. Choose "Boot from CD-ROM." Then select the "Start Windows 98 Setup from CD-ROM" option.

The setup program runs FDISK and then reboots.

5. During the reboot when the message "Press F2 to enter SETUP" displays, press the Escape key once.
6. From the Boot Menu, use the arrow keys to select "ATAPI CD-ROM Drive."

Select this even if you have a SCSI CD-ROM drive.

7. Again, choose "Boot from CD-ROM." Then select the "Start Windows 98 Setup from CD-ROM" option.
8. From here on, perform a typical Windows 98 installation.

The hardware setup program autodetects the "AMD PCNET Family Ethernet Adapter" network card; the default settings will work and should not be changed.

9. Install the VMware application SVGA driver.

For improved performance or if you want to set your guest OS terminal display to anything other than 16 colors at 640 by 480, then you must download the VMware SVGA driver after you have installed Windows 98 as the guest OS. See "Installing the VMware SVGA Driver and Toolbox" for instructions.

Note that the DefaultColorDepth must be the same in the host operating system as in the guest operating system in order to use the SVGA driver.

The installation of Windows 95 is varies slightly from a conventional installation.

Note

Some Microsoft Windows 95 OEM disks included with new computers are customized for those computers and include device drivers and other utilities specific to that hardware. Though you can install this Windows 95 OS on your actual computer you may not be able to install it in a VMware virtual machine. You may need to purchase a new copy of Windows to install in a VM.

Note

Some Windows 95 distributions include instructions that do not include the steps to FDISK and FORMAT a C: drive. You must FDISK and FORMAT the VMware virtual IDE hard disk drives before running Windows 95 setup.

The following instructions are for the simplest case of one virtual IDE hard disk drive and one virtual IDE CD-ROM drive. Note the following suggestions if you have configured your VM differently:

• If you configure more than one IDE hard drive for the virtual machine you may want to FDISK and FORMAT these drives before installing Windows 95.
• If you configure more than one virtual hard drive or one virtual CD-ROM, you may need to use different device letters from those in Step 8 below.

To install Windows 95:

1. Launch VMware application with the configuration file for the Windows 95 guest OS.
2. Insert the Window 95 CD-ROM Setup Boot Disk in floppy drive A: and insert the Windows 95 CD in the CD-ROM drive.
3. Power on the virtual machine.
4. After the VM boots you are presented with a choice of CD-ROM drivers. Select the first IDE driver option available.

Make this selection even if your computer has a SCSI CD-ROM drive.

5. Partition the virtual disk. In response to the A: drive prompt, enter the FDISK command,

A:\> FDISK

and answer the questions.

If you create a primary partition which is smaller than the size of the hard disk, then make sure the partition is marked Active.

6. Reboot Windows 95:

If the cursor is not already within the VMware window, click in the window and enter CTR-ALT-DEL. If prompted on reboot to select a CD-ROM driver, select the first IDE CD-ROM driver from the list.

7. Format the C: drive. Enter:

A:\> FORMAT C: /S

8. Start the Windows 95 installation. Enter:

A:\> D:\WIN95\SETUP

If you have multiple hard drives or CD-ROMs you may need to use a different drive (E:) in this prompt.

9. (Perform this step only if you installed an Ethernet Adapter when you configured the VM.) Add an Ethernet driver.

You must manually add the driver because Windows 95 does not detect it during the "Analyzing Computer" phase, even if you selected the Network Adapter detection option). To enable networking:

• Continue with the Windows 95 installation until you get to the screen titled "Windows 95 Setup Wizard/Setup Options." Change the default setting from "Typical" to "Custom." Click "Next" to continue.
• From the screen titled "Network Configuration" (which appears after the "Analyzing Computer" phase), click "Add," select the "Adapter" component, select "Advanced Micro Devices" from the manufacturer window and "AMD PCNET Family Ethernet Adapter (PCI&ISA)" from the network adapter window.
• If you need TCP/IP networking, add it from the "Network Configuration" screen (Windows 95 Setup does not enable TCP/IP by default).
10. Finish the Windows 95 installation.
11. Enable DMA transfers for better performance.

VMware's virtual disks support DMA transfers for better performance. You can enable this feature after installing Windows 95. To enable DMA transfers:

• Right-click on "My Computer."
• Select "Properties" from the System Properties dialog box.
• Click on the "Device Manager" tab.
• Double-click the "Disk drives" device category.
• Double-click the "GENERIC IDE DISK TYPE01" device.
• Click on the "Settings" tab.
• Enable the "DMA" check box.
12. Install the VMware application SVGA driver.

For improved performance, and if you want to set your terminal display to anything other than 16 colors at 640 by 480, then you must download the VMware SVGA driver. See "Installing the VMware SVGA Driver and Toolbox" for instructions.

The installation of Windows 3.11 and DOS 6.2 is essentially identical to a conventional installation.

To install Windows 3.11 or DOS 6.22:

1. Launch VMware application with the configuration file for Windows 3.11.
2. Insert the boot media.

You can install MS-DOS 6.22 using the MS-DOS 6.22 diskettes and WIN3.11 using the standard install diskettes.

3. Power on the VM.
4. Install the OS normally.

VMware supports networking from WIN3.11 (or Windows for Workgroups). The ethernet driver should be Advanced Micro Devices PCNET Family (NDIS2/NDIS3).

The following notes apply to Red Hat 5.0, 5.1 and 5.2 except when specifically noted.

To install Red Hat Linux:

1. Launch VMware application with the configuration file for the Linux guest OS.
2. Insert the Red Hat boot CD-ROM.
3. Power on the VM.
4. VMware currently does not support SCSI devices in the VM (SCSI drives are seen as IDE drives). Answer NO when prompted if you have any SCSI adapters:

Do you have any SCSI adapters? select "No"

5. To partition the disk, it is preferable to use Disk Druid rather than fdisk:

select "Disk Druid"

select "initialize"

select "add" (to start partitioning)

6. For the main partition:
• use root "/" as mount point
• leave size as default ("1")
• select growable
• use type "linux native"
7. For the Swap partition, leave the default ("not growable").

A suggestion is to make the swap equal to the RAM of the VM.

8. If you are installing Redhat on a new VM there is no need to check for bad blocks.
• In the menu <Activate Swap Space> do not check for bad blocks during format.
• Format both partitions.
9. Choose PS/2 mouse for your mouse configuration.
10. To set up your monitor:

<Choose a Card>select "Generic VGA Compatible"

<Monitor Setup>select "Generic Monitor"

<Screen Configuration>select "Probe"

11. (If you have installed an Ethernet Adapter in the VM) Set up the Network card configured with lance:

Select Networkcard "lance"

Select "Specify options"

Module settings "io=0x300"

12. Install the bootloader in the Master Boot Record in the VM.
13. You will have a VGA X server.
14. If you wish to use the VMware SVGA X server, see "Installing the VMware SVGA X server and Toolbox (Linux)" for instructions. Also see "Using the VMware Toolbox" for information about features of the Toolbox.
15. If you do not wish to install the SVGA X server and want to run the RedHat X server with a generic VGA card, enter

startx

Refer to the S.u.S.E 6.0 manual during the install. Remember that you will only be able to run the Standard VGA16 Xserver without the support of VMware's X server.

To install S.u.S.E. Linux:

1. Launch VMware application with the configuration file for the S.u.S.E. Linux guest OS.
2. Insert the S.u.S.E. boot CD-ROM.
3. Power on the VM.
4. Perform a normal S.u.S.E. installation.

By default S.u.S.E 6.0 does not install the DHCP client. If you installed an Ethernet Adapter during configuration of your VM and you want to use DHCP, you should select this package. Otherwise you will have to allocate a static IP address for the VM.

When prompted to select the network card, select the AMD LANCE and PCnet (AT1500/NE2100). Make sure you set the following parameter correctly: io=0x300.

5. Install VMware Tools.

See "Installing the VMware SVGA X server and Toolbox (Linux)" .

To install Caldera OpenLinux:

1. Launch VMware application with the configuration file for the Linux guest OS.
2. Insert the boot media.
3. Power on the VM.

In the beginning, Caldera appears to detect no devices (no CD-ROMs, hard drives, or network cards). This is expected.

The VM may complain about 'Illegal Opcodes'. This is also expected and should not prevent a successful installation. The VM automatically attempts to boot from the hard disk before the CD-ROM. Because of this, after Caldera reboots the VM after partitioning and formatting the hard drive, the VM will appear to do nothing after the bios splash screen. That is, the screen will be blank.

To fix this:

• Go into the bios during boot (press F2).
• Go to the "boot menu" and use '+' to move the CD-ROM (or your bootable media) option above the Hard Drive option.
• Save the bios options and reboot.

The install should now continue normally.

4. To enable networking during the installation you must do the following:
• Select [Yes] for the "Automatic Network Configuration" option in the LISA setup screen.
• Answer "no" when you are asked if all hardware was recognized.
• In the "Kernel Module Manager" screen, load kernel modules item 3.
• Select "Load driver for network card."
• Choose the "AMD LANCE and PCnet (AT1500 and NE2100)."
• In response to the request for "Driver Module Parameters" enter io=0x300.
• Select "Finish kernel module management."
5. Continue with the installation as normal.

When installing LILO, be sure to install LILO onto "the first hard drive" and not onto the primary partition. Installing onto the primary partition causes LILO to fail to come up during boot time and results in a black, blank screen after the bios splash.

You can now set up networking as usual per the Caldera instructions.

6. Before you install VMware tools you should install glibc library.

The glibc runtime library (glibc-2.06-1.i386.rpm) is located in the col/contrib/RPMS directory on the installation CD-ROM for Caldera 1.3.

7. Install VMware Tools.

See "Installing the VMware SVGA X server and Toolbox (Linux)" .