[RESOLVED] Setting up a Virtual Machine

[Nightwalker83]

Hi,

I am trying to set up a virtual machine to act as a server on my pc. I have installed the VM software and can run it. However, the software isn't allowing me to install any virtual machines. The install option under "File" -> "New" has been greyed out.

I did a search on the internet for a solution and found a board discussion that was suggesting turning off the firewall. Well, I tried that but it didn't work.

Does anyone here have experience with this? I have set up a Virtual Machine before but it was about a year ago and I have forgotten what protection software, firewall, etc. My pc was running at the time.

What other software could be interfering wth the Virtual Machine?

Thanks,


Nightwalker

[Nightwalker83]

I have managed to install the VM Server Console, and get it working properly on my laptop (get the file -> new -> virtual machine) option to appear without being grayed out. However, I am still unable to get it working correctly on my pc. Does anyone know of free benchmarking software that will allow me to record the names of the programs install on my computer to a text file?

Edit:

I found a program to print the info to a text file:

Lavaly's Everest

[penagate]

What's "the VM software"? There are lots of virtualisation products.

"VM Server Console" sounds like you're referring to VMWare Server. Is this right?

And what host operating system are you using?

[Nightwalker83]

What's "the VM software"? There are lots of virtualisation products.

"VM Server Console" sounds like you're referring to VMWare Server. Is this right?

And what host operating system are you using?

Yes, I'm using VMWare Server. The Operating System in Windows XP Home (same as on my laptop). The strange thing is the VMWare Server runs correctly on my laptop which only has 512MB of RAM. However, it hardly has any programs about from office on it.

My PC with 2GB of RAM and a truck load of programs (see attachment).

I thought I could ran the benchmark software on my laptop then out put the same data then compare the two sections. I could then single out the common programs installed on both my laptop and pc and concentrate on the that are on my pc but not on my laptop.

I would then have to test the remaining programs one by one until I find the one causing the problem with the VMWare Server. That is unless you or someone else on the forums knows a better way to accomplish this?

[penagate]

Are you logged in to the VMWare server properly? As far as I know the 'New' command is only enabled when you have logged in.
Did you log in with credentials or locally? If the latter, are you logged in to Windows using the Administrator account?

I don't see anything that would conflict in your list of programs.

[Nightwalker83]

Are you logged in to the VMWare server properly? As far as I know the 'New' command is only enabled when you have logged in.
Did you log in with credentials or locally? If the latter, are you logged in to Windows using the Administrator account?

I don't see anything that would conflict in your list of programs.

Yes, I'm logged in correctly! I have uninstalled/re-installed the server several time using different serial numbers each time non-successful. I installed the software on my local machine.

[penagate]

I noticed that you have a firewall installed, but you tried turning it off. Did you turn both the Windows and the PC Tools firewalls off? Have you tried opening port 902?

[Lord Orwell]

i have no idea if it applies to vmware, but virtualpc requires a loopback adapter installed. Maybe vmware requires the same?

[Nightwalker83]

I noticed that you have a firewall installed, but you tried turning it off. Did you turn both the Windows and the PC Tools firewalls off? Have you tried opening port 902?

Yes, I have disabled Windows Firewall and also disabled PC firewall Tool but still to no avail. How would I open port 902?

Edit:

@ Lord Orwell

During the install of VMWare Server on my pc it notified me that I didn't have Microsoft IIS installed. However, I can't remember if I received the notification the last time I installed the software or not!

[Lord Orwell]

so install it. It's on the cd.

[Nightwalker83]

so install it. It's on the cd.

Yeah, I know! However, it said that I could still use the server without the IIS just that it wouldn't have all the features. The add new virtual machine is not one of those features since it is the option you have to ue to load everything.

[Lord Orwell]

tech support i have seen says that there are two different vmware services running in the background. Try adding both of them to the firewall exception lists. Some people have had to completely uninstall their firewall. Running two firewalls is a bad idea by the way. They can work badly together and make it impossible to open ports sometimes.

[penagate]

Yeah, there is an Authorization and a Registration service (or similar) which should both be running. And I second disabling one of the firewalls.

[Nightwalker83]

tech support i have seen says that there are two different vmware services running in the background. Try adding both of them to the firewall exception lists. Some people have had to completely uninstall their firewall. Running two firewalls is a bad idea by the way. They can work badly together and make it impossible to open ports sometimes.

Yeah, there is an Authorization and a Registration service (or similar) which should both be running. And I second disabling one of the firewalls.

I have just checked the block application list and put vmware.exe and vmware-authd.exe on full internet access.I also checked and I currently only have the PC Tools firewall active.

After checking all that I opened the server console and the add new machine menu is still disabled.

[Lord Orwell]

uninstall pc tools and try again. If that fixes it you at least know what the problem is. It may not be unblocking the services, just the .exe.

[Nightwalker83]

so install it. It's on the cd.

Where abouts on the cd is it located?

uninstall pc tools and try again. If that fixes it you at least know what the problem is. It may not be unblocking the services, just the .exe.

Yes, it was the firewall blocking the "local host/remote server" pop-up box from appearing. I need to access that before the add new machine option is accessible. Now to try and figure out how to enable access through the firewall.

Edit:

I had to uninstall both the firewall and VMware Server Console then re-install VMware Server Console then the firewall in that order.

[Lord Orwell]

it's an optional windows install component. HOWEVER it is only in the professional version. If you have home edition you don't have it.

[Nightwalker83]

it's an optional windows install component. HOWEVER it is only in the professional version. If you have home edition you don't have it.

So I have to install the XP Professional to install IIS? I have access to an XP Profession cd (my dad uses xp pro) but at the moment I use XP Home. Or could I install IIS from the XP Pro cd on to the XP Home Operating System?

Edit:

I have Window XP Home on my laptop but didn't receive the message about installing IIS when I installed the VMWare server.

[Lord Orwell]

http://www.iisanswers.com/IISFAQ.htm

you didn't get the iis message because iis is not available on home edition AT ALL. You will need to upgrade to professional edition.

[Nightwalker83]

http://www.iisanswers.com/IISFAQ.htm

you didn't get the iis message because iis is not available on home edition AT ALL. You will need to upgrade to professional edition.

Ah ok, thanks. I might be upgrading to XP Pro at the end of the year anyway.

[Lord Orwell]

Ah ok, thanks. I might be upgrading to XP Pro at the end of the year anyway.

go with server 2008 then. It's got a newer version of iis.

[Nightwalker83]

I am going to try setting the machine up on my laptop because my pc keeps screwing its network connection. While I can get the internet on my pc I can't access our network.

One thing I have noticed on my laptop when running the Virtual Machine is "Numlock" remains engaged. This means whenever I try to type using the number along the top of the keyboard or u (4), i (5) o (6), p (-), j (1), k (2), l (3), ; (+) or m (0) the symbol in the brackets responds instead. How can I disable "Numlock" while in the virtual machine? I have already tried pressing the "Numlock" button but it didn't solve the problem.

[Nightwalker83]

This solves the problem:

Source: http://techrepublic.com.com/5208-111...sageID=2429595

you hit Fn plus that key and those letters go num

[Nightwalker83]

Well, I have been looking into what is better:

1. Configuring a Virtual Web Sever to host the site.

or

2. Running Lamp on a Virtual Machine instead.

I must say that the Lamp option seems easier as I know nothing about the inner workings of Linux.

I read an article in Linux Magazine (June 2008, Issue 91) about configuring a virtual web server and thought it was interesting.

If anyone is interested I will try and scan the article and upload it here!

[Lord Orwell]

if it's a copyrighted article, you can't do that.

[Nightwalker83]

if it's a copyrighted article, you can't do that.

Ah well, it looks like my scanner is broken anyway. However, if you're interested the article is on page 66 of the above mentioned magazine.

[penagate]

Well, I have been looking into what is better:

1. Configuring a Virtual Web Sever to host the site.

or

2. Running Lamp on a Virtual Machine instead.

I must say that the Lamp option seems easier as I know nothing about the inner workings of Linux.

Neither of these options quite make sense to me:

(1) As far as I am aware there is no technology for virtualising a web server; a virtual machine which is a dedicated web server still requires an operating system (say... Linux).

(2) The acronym 'LAMP' stands for 'Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP', which together form a commonly-used suite of web technologies. Since Linux forms the operating system component, you still require Linux knowledge to operate a 'LAMP' server.

[Nightwalker83]

Neither of these options quite make sense to me:

(1) As far as I am aware there is no technology for virtualising a web server; a virtual machine which is a dedicated web server still requires an operating system (say... Linux).

(2) The acronym 'LAMP' stands for 'Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP', which together form a commonly-used suite of web technologies. Since Linux forms the operating system component, you still require Linux knowledge to operate a 'LAMP' server.

Yes, I realize that! I should have said so in my previous post sorry! Although, I reckon running Windows with WAMP on the Virtual Machine would be a better option since I don't understand the ins and outs of Linux.

[penagate]

I'd steer clear of packages like WAMP because they tend to introduce their own set of configuration peculiarities. Apache, MySQL, and PHP are not hard to install and the ability to configure them to work together is knowledge which will be very valuable when you need to upgrade one or more of them or substitute an alternative (such as lighttpd for Apache or Postgres for MySQL).

[Nightwalker83]

I'd steer clear of packages like WAMP because they tend to introduce their own set of configuration peculiarities. Apache, MySQL, and PHP are not hard to install and the ability to configure them to work together is knowledge which will be very valuable when you need to upgrade one or more of them or substitute an alternative (such as lighttpd for Apache or Postgres for MySQL).

Ah ok! I think I have Apache, MySQL, and PHP installed as part of the phpdev setup.