Technical Note

Installing and Configuring

Linux Guest Operating Systems
VMware Infrastructure 3

DatacenterstodayhaveamixofWindowsandLinuxworkloads.IDCestimatesin2008that68percentofall
physicalserversshippedareWindowsbased,comparedto23percentthatareLinuxbased.However,the
proliferationofLinuxenvironmentsissteadilyincreasing.From2006to2011,IDCforecaststhecompounded
annualgrowthrate(CAGR)ofphysicalserverunitsrunningLinuxat28.1percent,withWindowstrailingat
25.0percent.AsmoredatacentersarevirtualizedwithVMwareInfrastructure3,itmakessensethatthese
virtualizedenvironmentsarealsotrendingtowardsincreaseduseofLinux.TheCAGRofvirtualserverunits
runningLinuxisforecastedbyIDCat44.1percent,withWindowsbehindat39.0percent.Linuxoperating
systemsnowhostapplicationsfromdatabasestoWebserverstoapplicationservers,muchastheirWindows
counterpartsdo.Linuxguestoperatingsystemsarehere,andVMwareisdedicatedtosupportingthem.
Thistechnicalnotedescribesinstalling,configuring,updating,andadministeringLinuxguestoperating
systemsinvirtualmachinesrunningonVMwareInfrastructure3version3.5(specificallyVMware
VirtualCenter2.5Update2andVMwareESX3.5Update2).Inaddition,thisnoteincludesacollectionofuseful
tipsandtricksinfinetuningyourLinuxvirtualmachines,whichmayormaynotapplytoallyourLinuxusage
scenarios.AlthoughtherecommendationsinthispaperapplytomostLinuxdistributions,theyaretailored
specificallytoRedHatEnterpriseLinux5.IDCobservedin2007thatofallpaidLinuxsubscriptions,RedHat
EnterpriseLinuxcameinat62.1percentandNovellSUSELinuxEnterpriseServerplacedsecondat29percent.
LinuxadministratorscanusethispaperasasourceforguidelineswhenbuildingandmaintainingLinux
virtualmachinesintheirVMwareInfrastructureenvironments.SomeworkingknowledgeofVirtualCenter2.5
Update2,ESX3.5Update2,andLinuxoperatingsystemsisrequired.
Thistechnicalnotecoversthefollowingtopics:

LinuxSupportonVMwareESXonpage 2

InstallingLinuxinaVirtualMachineonpage 2

InstallingandUpgradingVMwareToolsonpage 4

CloningaLinuxGuestOperatingSystemonpage 9

VMwareUpdateManageronpage 11

LinuxTimeSynchronizationRecommendationsonpage 12

AdditionalNotesonpage 15

Resourcesonpage 19

AppendixA:LinuxVersionsSupportedonESXServeronpage 20

AppendixB:CommandLineOptionsforVMwareToolsUpgradesonpage 21

AppendixC:EnablingVMIinaLinuxKernelandinESX3.5onpage 22

Copyright 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.

Installing and Configuring Linux Guest Operating Systems

Linux Support on VMware ESX

VMwareESXsupportsthewidestrangeofLinuxguestoperatingsystemsofanyvirtualizationproduct.ESX
supportsRedHatEnterpriseLinux2.1,3,4,and5,SUSELinuxEnterpriseServer8,9,and10,andUbuntu
Linux7.04,8.04,and8.10.Inaddition,ESXsupportsalmostallupdatestothesereleasesaswellasspecialized
variantsofthem.SeeAppendixA:LinuxVersionsSupportedonESXServeronpage 20foralistingofLinux
versionssupportedatthetimethispaperwaswritten.Foracomplete,uptodatelistingofguestoperating
systemssupportedbyVMwareproducts,seetheGuestOperatingSystemInstallationGuide.Foralink,see
Resourcesonpage 19.ChoosingaLinuxdistributionfromthislistoffersperformancebenefitsover
nonsupportedLinuxdistributionsbecauseVMwareproductsoptimizehypervisorsettingsbasedonguest
operatingsystemtypes.

Installing Linux in a Virtual Machine

WhenyoucreatethevirtualmachineinwhichyouplantoinstallyourLinuxguestoperatingsystem,besure
thatitsdevicesaresetupasyouexpect.ThissectiondescribesthecreationofaLinuxvirtualmachinefrom
installablemedia.Onceyouhavecreatedavirtualmachine,youcancreatetemplatesandclonesfromthebase
virtualmachine.Thisenablesyoutoprovisionfuturevirtualmachinesquickly.SeeCloningaLinuxGuest
OperatingSystemonpage 9fordetails.ForgeneralinstallationguidelinesforallsupportedLinux
distributions,seetheGuestOperatingSystemInstallationGuide.Foralink,seeResourcesonpage 19.

Memory Recommendations
Besurethevirtualmachineisconfiguredwithatleast512MBofmemoryforRedHatEnterpriseLinux5or
with256MBofmemoryforRedHatEnterpriseLinux3orRedHatEnterpriseLinux4.Ifthememoryinthe
virtualmachineislowerthantherecommendedvalues,RedHatEnterpriseLinuxpresentsanerrormessage
asitloadscertainVMwaredrivers.

Network Adapter Recommendations

Besuretoselectthecorrectnetworkadapter.Formost32bitguestoperatingsystems,youcanselectFlexible
orEnhancedvmxnet.Formost64bitguestoperatingsystems,youcanselectE1000orEnhancedvmxnet.
Enhancedvmxnetisnotsupportedonevery32and64bitLinuxdistribution,butiftheoptionexists,we
recommendyouselectEnhancedvmxnetasyournetworkadapter.Seevmxnetonpage 8fordetails.

SCSI Adapter Recommendations

Whencreatingthevirtualmachine,besuretoselecttheLSILogicSCSIadapter.RedHatEnterpriseLinux5
doesnotincludeadriverfortheBusLogicSCSIadapter.ManyLinuxguestoperatingsystemsencounter
problemsinavirtualmachineconfiguredtousetheBusLogicvirtualSCSIadapter.Inmostcases,VMware
recommendsthatyouusetheLSILogicvirtualSCSIadapterwithallRedHatguestoperatingsystems.
However,ESXServer2.5.2,2.5.3,2.5.4,and2.5.5supportonlytheBusLogicSCSIadapter.VMwareprovidesa
separateBusLogicdriverforRedHatEnterpriseLinux4Upgrades1,2,3,4,and5.Forinstructionson
downloadingandinstallingadriverfortheBusLogicadapter,seeArchivesforVMwareESXServer2.x.Fora
link,seeResourcesonpage 19.
YoucaninstallRedHatEnterpriseLinux5inavirtualmachineusingthestandardRedHatdistributionCD,
viathebootfloppy/networkmethod,orfromaPXEserver.IfyouplantouseaPXEservertoinstalltheguest
operatingsystemoveranetworkconnection,youdonotneedtheoperatingsysteminstallationmedia.When
youpoweronthevirtualmachine,thevirtualmachinedetectsthePXEserver.Formoredetailsoninstallation
throughPXE,seetheVMwareknowledgebasearticleUsingPXE(PrebootExecutionEnvironment)toInstall
GuestOperatingSystemsoveraNetwork.Foralink,seeResourcesonpage 19.

Copyright 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.

Installing and Configuring Linux Guest Operating Systems

RatherthaninstallingfromaphysicalCDROM,youcancreateanISOimagefilefromtheinstallation
CDROM.UsinganISOimagefileinthiswaycanbeparticularlyconvenientifyouneedtoinstallthesame
operatingsysteminmultiplevirtualmachines.YoucanstoretheISOfileonthehostmachineoronanetwork
driveaccessiblefromthehostmachine.ThenintheVIClient:
1

RightclickthevirtualmachineinwhichyouwanttoinstallthenewguestoperatingsystemandclickEdit
Settings.

SelectCD/DVDDrive1undertheHardwaretab,selectConnectatpoweron,andbrowsetotheISOfile
underDatastoreISOfile.

PoweronyourvirtualmachinebyclickingthePowerOnbutton.

FollowtheinstructionsinInstallationStepsonpage 3.

ChangebacktotheirnormalsettingsforCD/DVDDrive1ifyoudonotwanttheISOfiletoremain
connectedduringsubsequentreboots.

Installation Steps
1

Followtheinstallationstepsasyouwouldforaphysicalmachine.Besuretomakethechoicesoutlinedin
thefollowingsteps.

AllowautomaticpartitioningofthedisktooccurintheAutomaticPartitioningscreenorpartitionthe
virtualdiskmanuallyifyoudonotwanttousetheRedHatdefaults.Youmightseeawarningthatbegins
Thepartitiontableondevice<devicename>wasunreadable.Tocreatenewpartitionsitmustbe
initialized,causingthelossofALLDATAonthedrive.Thisdoesnotmeanthatanythingiswrongwith
theharddriveonyourphysicalcomputer.Itsimplymeansthatthevirtualharddriveinyourvirtual
machineneedstobepartitionedandformatted.

ClickYestopartitionandformatthevirtualharddrive.

DonotselecttheVirtualizationsoftwareoptionduringtheinstallation.UnchecktheVirtualizationbox.
Ifyouselectthisoption,RedHatEnterpriseLinux5orFedoraCore7installstheXenhypervisoranda
XenLinuxkernel.Youmightexperienceanumberofperformanceandfunctionalityissues.Formore
information,seetheVMwareknowledgebasearticleRHEL5andFC7GuestsInstalledwithRedHat
VirtualizationAffectsPerformanceofVirtualMachine.Foralink,seeResourcesonpage 19.

Choosing a Kernel
SomeolderLinuxdistributionssuchasRedHatEnterpriseLinux3andRedHatAdvancedServer2.1install
kernelsoptimizedforAMDprocessorswhenoneisdetectedatinstalltime.Ifavirtualmachinewithsuchan
AMDLinuxkerneliseverrunonanIntelbasedhost,itcanencounterproblems,asdescribedintheVMware
knowledgebasearticleLinuxGuestMovedtoaSystemwithDifferentProcessorTypePanicsDuringBoot.
Foralink,seeResourcesonpage 19.KernelsthatareoptimizedforIntelprocessorsarealsocompatiblewith
AMDprocessorsanddonothavethisissue,however,itisbettertomatchthekerneltothehardwareplatform.
Currentlyfor64bitprocessors,LinuxvendorshaveasinglekernelforAMDandIntelplatforms,sothisisnot
anissuefor64bitguestoperatingsystems.
ItisalsoimportanttoselectaLinuxkernelthatisappropriateforyourneeds.Linuxdistributionstypically
offerachoiceofprecompiledkernelsoptimizedforvarioussystemmemoryandSMPconfigurations.Asa
roughruleofthumb,kernelsoptimizedforthefollowingsystemsarelistedinorderofperformance:

Uniprocessor(UP).

Symmetricmultiprocessor(SMP).

Symmetricmultiprocessorwithphysicaladdressextensions(SMPPAE).

Symmetricmultiprocessorwithphysicaladdressextensionsandseparationofkernelanduserspace
entirelysothateachcanmakefulluseofthe4GBvirtualaddressspaceon32bitsystems(SMPPAE,
4G/4Gsplit).TheseSMPPAE,4G/4GsplitkernelsarenotsupportedbyVMwareproducts.

Copyright 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.

Installing and Configuring Linux Guest Operating Systems

OnIntelplatforms,64bitguestscanberunonlywithhardwareassist(IntelVT).OnAMDplatforms64bit
guestscanberuneitherwithhardwareassist(AMDV)orusingbinarytranslation.AVTvirtualmachine
monitorincurslessoverheadonthenewerIntelCore2processorsthanontheolderPentium4processors.If
youhaveachoicebetweena32bitor64bitguest,selectthe32bitguestonolderIntelplatforms(Pentium4).
A64bitguestisabetterchoicefornewerIntelplatformsandforguestoperatingsystemsthataccessalarge
amountofmemory(morethan4GB),because64bitkernelscanaddresstheentirememoryspacewithout
complexmemorymanagementoverhead.Also,theVTmonitorfor64bitguestsworksfasteronnewerIntel
processorsthantheolderPentium4processors.
ThetablesbelowhighlightthemainRedHatEnterpriseLinux.kernelpackagesandwhattheycontain.Seethe
respectiveURLlinksforfulldetailsonallavailablekernelpackagesforeachversionofRedHatEnterprise
Linux.
Table 1. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.2 Kernel RPM Descriptions
Information link

https://www.redhat.com/docs/enUS/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/5.2/html/Deployment_Guide/s1
kernelpackages.html

Kernel RPMs

kernel=UP,SMP,nonPAE(4G)

kernelPAE=SMP,PAE(upto64G)

Table 2. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 Kernel RPM Descriptions

Information link

https://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/enterprise/RHEL4Manual/enUS/System_Administration
_Guide_/Manually_Upgrading_the_KernelOverview_of_Kernel_Packages.html

Kernel RPMs

kernel=UP,SMP,nonPAE(4G)

kernelhugemem(notsupported)=SMP,PAE(upto64G),4G/4Gsplit

kernelsmp=SMP,PAE(upto16G)

Table 3. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 Kernel RPM Descriptions

Information link

https://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/enterprise/RHEL3Manual/sysadminguide/chkernel.htm
l#S1KERNELPACKAGES

Kernel RPMs

kernel=UP,SMP,nonPAE(4G)

kernelhugemem(notsupported)=SMP,PAE(upto64G),4G/4G

kernelsmp=SMP,PAE(upto16G)

The64bitkernelscanaddresstheentirememoryspaceinthevirtualmachinedirectlyanddonotneeda
specialmemorymanagementkernel.

Installing and Upgrading VMware Tools

VMwareToolsisasuiteofutilitiesthatenhancestheperformanceofavirtualmachinesguestoperating
systemandimprovesmanagementofthevirtualmachine.InstallingVMwareToolsintheguestoperating
systemisvital.AlthoughtheguestoperatingsystemcanrunwithoutVMwareTools,youloseimportant
functionalityandconvenience.SeeOpenVirtualMachineToolsonpage 19forinformationonanopen
sourceprojectthatallowstheuse,modification,andredistributionofmostofthecomponentsofVMware
Tools.
ThefollowingareinstalledwithVMwareTools:

TheVMwareToolsservice(vmware-guestdonLinuxguests).Thisservicesynchronizesthetimeinthe
guestoperatingsystemwiththetimeinESX.

AsetofVMwaredevicedrivers,includinganSVGAdisplaydriver,thevmxnetacceleratednetworking
driver(asdescribedinMajorComponentsInstalledbyVMwareToolsonpage 8),theBusLogicSCSI
driver(asdescribedinInstallingLinuxinaVirtualMachineonpage 2),thememorycontroldriverfor
efficientmemoryallocationbetweenvirtualmachines,thesyncdrivertoquiesceI/OforVMware
ConsolidatedBackup,andtheVMwaremousedriver.

Copyright 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.

Installing and Configuring Linux Guest Operating Systems

TheVMwareToolscontrolpanel,whichletsyoumodifysettings,shrinkvirtualdisks,andconnectand
disconnectvirtualdevices.

Asetofscriptsthathelpsyouautomateguestoperatingsystemoperations.Thescriptsrunwhenthe
virtualmachinespowerstatechangesifyouconfigurethemtodoso.

TheVMwareuserprocess(vmware-useronLinuxguests),whichenablesyoutocopyandpastetext
betweentheguestandmanagedhostoperatingsystems.InLinuxguests,thisprocesscontrolsgrabbing
andreleasingthemousecursorwhentheSVGAdriverisnotinstalled.

Makesureyouconfiguretheguestoperatingsystemtoincludethedevelopmentpackagesbeforeinstallingor
reinstallingVMwareTools.ThisenablesVMwareToolstodeterminethecorrectmouseconfigurationand
moduleconfiguration.Animproperlyconfiguredguestoperatingsystemcancauseproblems,includingguest
operatingsystemcrashes,whenyouinstallVMwareTools.
VMwareToolshasthefollowinglimitationsinLinuxvirtualmachines:

Shrinkdiskisnotsupported.

ThemousedriverinstallationfailsinXWindowSystemversionsearlierthan4.2.0.

NOTEIfyoudonothaveVMwareToolsinstalledinyourvirtualmachine,youcannotusetheshutdownor
restartoptionsinVirtualCenter.Youcanuseonlythepoweroptions.Ifyouwanttoshutdowntheguest
operatingsystem,shutitdownfromwithinthevirtualmachineconsolebeforeyoupoweroffthevirtual
machine.
TheinstallersforVMwareToolsarebuiltintoESXasISOimagefiles.AnISOimagefilelookslikeaCDROM
toyourguestoperatingsystem.YoudonotuseanactualCDROMdisctoinstallVMwareTools,nordoyou
needtodownloadtheCDROMimageorburnaphysicalCDROMofthisimagefile.
WhenyouselecttoinstallVMwareTools,VirtualCentertemporarilyconnectsthevirtualmachinesfirstvirtual
CDROMdiskdrivetotheISOimagefilethatcontainstheVMwareToolsinstallerforyourguestoperating
system.Youarereadytobegintheinstallationprocess.
To install or upgrade VMware Tools on a Linux guest from X with the RPM installer
YoucanperformRPMinstallationsonlyincertainLinuxdistributionssuchasRedHatandSUSELinux
EnterpriseServer,amongothers.ForotherLinuxdistributions,followtheRMPinstallationguidelines
providedwiththedistributionorseethenextsection.
1

Openaconsoletothevirtualmachine.

Poweronthevirtualmachine.

Aftertheguestoperatingsystemstarts,rightclickthevirtualmachineandselectInstall/Upgrade
VMwareTools.Theremainingstepstakeplaceinsidethevirtualmachine.

Dooneofthefollowing:

IfyouseeaVMwareToolsCDicononthedesktop,doubleclickit,andafteritopens,doubleclick
theRPMinstallerintherootoftheCDROM.

Ifyouseeafilemanagerwindow,doubleclicktheRPMinstallerfile.

InsomeLinuxdistributions,theVMwareToolsCDiconmightfailtoappearonthedesktop.Inthiscase,
doubleclickComputeranddoubleclicktheCDROMdriveandyoushouldseea
VMwareTools-3.5.0-<xxxxx>.i386.rpmfileaswellasaVMwareTools-3.5.0-<xxxxx>.tar.gzfile
(where<xxxxx>isthebuildnumberoftheESXreleaseforexample,buildnumber82663forESX3.5
Update1).OryoumayinstallVMwareToolsfromthecommandline,asdescribedinthenextsection.
5

Ifprompted,entertherootpasswordandclickOK.Theinstallerpreparesthepackages.

ClickContinuewhentheinstallerpresentsadialogboxthatshowsCompletedSystemPreparation.A
dialogboxappearswithaprogressbar.Whentheinstallerisdone,VMwareToolsisinstalled.Thereisno
confirmationorfinishbutton,howeveryoucanverifyinstallationinVIClientintheSummarytabofthe
Linuxvirtualmachine.Youcandeletethevmware-tools-distribfolder.

Copyright 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.

Installing and Configuring Linux Guest Operating Systems

InanXterminal,asroot(su -),runthefollowingfiletoconfigureVMwareTools:
vmware-config-tools.pl

Whendone,exitfromtherootaccount:
exit

InanXterminal,opentheVMwareToolsPropertiesdialogbox:
vmware-toolbox &

To install or upgrade VMware Tools on a Linux guest with the tar installer or RPM installer
Forenhancedperformance,youshouldinstallVMwareToolsevenifyouarenotrunningtheXWindow
System.
1

Openaconsoletothevirtualmachine.

Poweronthevirtualmachine.

Aftertheguestoperatingsystemstarts,rightclickthevirtualmachineandselectInstall/Upgrade
VMwareTools.Theremainingstepstakeplaceinsidethevirtualmachine.

Asroot(su -),mounttheVMwareToolsvirtualCDROMimageandchangetoaworkingdirectory(for
example,/tmp),asfollows.
NOTESomeLinuxdistributionsautomaticallymountCDROMs.Ifyourdistributionuses
automounting,donotusethemountandumountcommandsdescribedinthisprocedure.Forexample,
yourCDROMmayalreadybemountedto/mnt/cdromor/media.However,youstillmustuntarthe
VMwareToolsinstallerto/tmp.
SomeLinuxdistributionsusedifferentdevicenamesororganizethe/devdirectorydifferently.Modify
thefollowingcommandstoreflecttheconventionsusedbyyourdistribution:
mount /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom
cd /tmp

NOTEIfyouhaveapreviousinstallation,deletethepreviousvmware-tools-distribdirectorybefore
installing.Thedefaultlocationofthisdirectoryis:
/tmp/vmware-tools-distrib
5

UncompresstheinstallerandunmounttheCDROMimage.
DependingonwhetheryouareusingthetarinstallerortheRPMinstaller,dooneofthefollowing:

Forthetarinstaller,atthecommandprompt,enter:

tar zxpf /mnt/cdrom/VMwareTools-3.5.0-<xxxxx>.tar.gz

umount /dev/cdrom

Where<xxxxx>isthebuildnumberoftheESXrelease.Forexample,buildnumber82663forESX3.5
Update1.

FortheRPMinstaller,atthecommandprompt,enter:

rpm -Uhv /mnt/cdrom/VMwareTools-3.5.0-<xxxxx>.i386.rpm

umount /dev/cdrom

Where<xxxxx>isthebuildnumberoftheESXrelease.Forexample,buildnumber82663forESX3.5
Update1.
NOTEIfyouattempttoinstallanRPMinstallationoveratarinstallationorthereversetheinstaller
detectsthepreviousinstallationandmustconverttheinstallerdatabaseformatbeforecontinuing.
6

DependingonwhetheryouareusingthetarinstallerortheRPMinstaller,dooneofthefollowing:

Forthetarinstaller,runtheVMwareToolstarinstaller:

cd vmware-tools-distrib
Copyright 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.

Installing and Configuring Linux Guest Operating Systems

./vmware-install.pl

Respondtotheconfigurationquestionsonthescreen.PressEntertoacceptthedefaultvalue.
Thevmware-config-tools.plscriptshouldrunautomaticallyattheendofthisinstallation.

FortheRPMinstaller,youneedtoconfigureVMwareToolsbyrunningvmware-config-tools.pl
manually:

vmware-config-tools.pl

VMwareToolsisnowinstalledandcanbeverifiedinVIClientintheSummarytaboftheLinuxvirtual
machine.Youcandeletethevmware-tools-distribfolder.
7

Logofftherootaccount.
exit

Startyourgraphicalenvironment.

InanXterminal,opentheVMwareToolsPropertiesdialogbox:
vmware-toolbox &

Configuring VMware Tools with vmware-config-tools.pl

TheVMwareToolsinstallationisincompleteuntilyourunvmware-config-tools.pl,asdescribedinthe
installationproceduresabove.Thevmware-config-tools.plscriptconfiguresVMwareToolsbeforethe
packagerunsforthefirsttime.Inaddition,youmustrunthisconfigurationscriptagainifyouupgradeor
modifytheLinuxkernelofthisvirtualmachine.Runningvmware-config-tools.plalsogivesyouthe
opportunitytosetthedisplayresolutionoftheXWindowSystem.Typicallytheresolutionsrangefrom640
480to23641773withthedefaultselectionas1024768.

Verifying VMware Tools Setup

ToverifythatthecomponentsofVMwareToolsareinstalled,checkwhetherthespecificmodulesyouwantto
confirmareinstalled.Forexample,listingthemodulestocheckforvmxnetisthebestwaytoverifythatthe
vmxnetmoduleisavailableinmemory.Usethefollowinglsmodcommand,whichlistsinformationaboutall
loadedmodules:
lsmod | grep vmxnet

Thisshouldreturnalineshowingstatisticsonthevmxnetdriver.
Alsocheck/etc/modprobe.confandmakesurethatthepcnet32orvmxnetdriverisnamednexttothe
appropriatenetworkdevices.Ifvlanceisincludedinoneoftheselines,thevmxnetdriverisnotusedevenif
ithasbeenloadedintomemory.Themodprobe.conffilespecifieswhichoptionsaretobeusedwithwhich
moduleswhenthereareconflictingmodulesloaded.Fordescriptionsofvmxnetandvlance,seevmxnet
onpage 8.

Displaying the VMware Tools Properties Dialog Box

UsetheVMwareToolsPropertiesdialogboxtoconfigureVMwareToolsinsideyourvirtualmachine.Usethis
dialogboxtoconfiguresuchthingsastimesynchronizationbetweenhostandguest,notificationsofVMware
Toolsupdates,andspecifyingwhichscriptstorunwhenthevirtualmachinespowerstatechanges.For
instructionsonusingtheVMwareToolsPropertiesdialogbox,clicktheHelpbuttoninsidethedialogbox.
TodisplaytheVMwareToolsPropertiesdialogbox,openaconsoletothevirtualmachineandthenopena
terminalwindowandenterthecommand:
/usr/bin/vmware-toolbox &

Copyright 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.

Installing and Configuring Linux Guest Operating Systems

Major Components Installed by VMware Tools

ThemajorcomponentsofVMwareToolswheninstalledincludevmblock,vmdesched(tobedeprecatedin
upcomingreleasesofVMwareTools),vmhgfs,vmmemctl,vmsync,andvmxnet.Thissectiontakesacloserlook
atvmxnet,thecomponentofmostinteresttoLinuxadministrators.

vmxnet
vmxnetisaLinuxkerneldevicedriverfortheVMwarehighspeedvirtualnetworkingdevice.Thenetwork
devicesinavirtualmachinearebasedonrealhardware.Forexample,vlanceisavirtualdevicethatprovides
strictemulationoftheAMDLancePCNet32Ethernetadapterfor32bitguests,ande1000isavirtualdevice
thatprovidesstrictemulationoftheIntelE1000Ethernetadapterfor32bitand64bitguests.Whencreatinga
32bitvirtualmachine,ifyouselectFlexibleasthenetworkadapter,thevirtualmachinedefaultstovlance
beforeVMwareToolsisinstalledbutswitchestovmxnetafterVMwareToolsisinstalled.Whencreatinga
64bitvirtualmachine,ifyouselectE1000asthenetworkadapter,thevirtualmachineusese1000asthe
networkadapterregardlessofwhetherVMwareToolsisinstalled.
Alternatively,forsome32and64bitguests,youcanselectEnhancedvmxnetasthenetworkadapter.vmxnet
isspecificallydesignedforvirtualmachinestoimproveperformance.EnhancedVMXNET,introducedinESX
3.5,providesanewversionofthevmxnetvirtualdevice(theVMwareparavirtualizedvirtualnetworking
deviceforguestoperatingsystems).EnhancedVMXNETincludesseveralnewnetworkingI/Operformance
improvements,suchassupportforTCP/IPsegmentationoffload(TSO)andjumboframes.Allother
networkingfeatures,suchasteamingandVLANs,arefullysupported.ToenableTSOandjumboframes,see
theESXServer3ConfigurationGuide.Foralink,seeResourcesonpage 19.Youcanalsousethecommand
lineinterfacetoconfigureMTU(maximumpacketsize)andtoenableordisableTSO.EnhancedVMXNETis
notsupportedonevery32and64bitLinuxdistribution,butiftheoptionexists,werecommendyouselect
EnhancedVMXNETasyournetworkadapterforbetterperformance.ThisisespeciallytrueonIntelVTx
systemswhereVMEXITcostsarehigh.vmxnethasalowerrateofVMEXITscomparedwithe1000.
EnhancedVMXNETissupportedforonlythefollowingLinuxguestoperatingsystems:

RedHatEnterpriseLinux5(32and64bit)

RedHatEnterpriseLinux4(64bit,nojumboframesupport)

SUSELinuxEnterpriseServer10(32and64bit)

Experimentalsupportisprovidedfor:

RedHatEnterpriseLinux3(64bit,noTSO,nojumboframesupport)

SUSELinuxEnterpriseServer9(64bit,nojumboframesupport)

Ubuntu7.04(64bit,nojumboframesupport)

Becauseitisbackedbyactualvirtualhardware,EnhancedVMXNETshouldbeloadedautomaticallyby
hotplugorudevasneeded.Forbestperformance,werecommendthatyouenableTSOonallinterfacesdriven
byvmxnetusingethtool.
ToenableTSO,useshellcodesimilartothefollowing:
if which ethtool >/dev/null 2>&1; then
for ethif in `ifconfig -a | grep ^eth
| cut -d' ' -f1`; do
ethtool -K $ethif tso on >/dev/null 2>&1
done
fi

VMware Tools Upgrades

YoucanupgradeVMwareToolsmanually,oryoucanconfigurevirtualmachinestocheckforandinstall
newerversionsofVMwareToolsautomatically.Thefollowingarerequiredforautomaticupgrades:

VirtualmachinesmusthaveaversionofVMwareToolsshippedwithESXServer3.0.1orgreaterinstalled.

Copyright 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.

Installing and Configuring Linux Guest Operating Systems

VirtualmachinesmustbehostedonESXServer3.0.1orgreater,andtheVirtualCenterservermustbe
version2.0.1orgreater.

VirtualmachinesmustberunningaguestoperatingsystemthatissupportedbyESXServer3.0.1or
greaterandVirtualCenter2.0.1orgreater.

Virtualmachinesmustbepoweredon.

TomanuallyupgradeVMwareTools:
1

LaunchtheVIClientandlogintotheVirtualCenterserver.

SelecttheInventory>HostsandClustersview.

Selectthehostorclusterthatcontainsthevirtualmachinesyouwanttoupgrade.

SelecttheVirtualMachinestab.

Selectthevirtualmachinesyouwanttoupgradeandpowerthemon.

RightclickyourselectionsandselectInstall/UpgradeVMwareTools.

(Optional)EntercommandlineoptionsintheAdvancedfield(seeAppendixB:CommandLineOptions
forVMwareToolsUpgradesonpage 21).

ClickOK.

ToconfigurevirtualmachinestoupgradeVMwareToolsautomatically:
1

MakesureyourvirtualmachineispoweredoffandopentheVirtualMachinePropertiesdialogboxfor
thevirtualmachineyouwanttoupgrade.

SelectOptionstab>VMwareTools.

SelectCheckandupgradeToolsbeforeeachpoweronunderAdvanced.

ClickOK.

Thenexttimethevirtualmachineispoweredon,itcheckstheESXhostforanewerversionofVMwareTools.
Ifoneisavailable,itisinstalledand,ifrequired,theguestoperatingsystemisrestarted.

Cloning a Linux Guest Operating System

AfteryouhavecreatedandconfiguredaLinuxvirtualmachine,youhavetheoptionofconvertingitintoa
template.YoucanthenusetoolsinVirtualCentertocloneadditionalvirtualmachinesfromthistemplate.
Duringthecloningprocessatechniquecalledcustomizationallowsyoutocustomizetheidentityandnetwork
settingsofyourvirtualmachinesguestoperatingsystemsoitisreadytobeginworkimmediatelyinyour
targetenvironment.Cloningandcustomizationallowyoutoprovisionnewvirtualmachinesmuchmore
quicklythanyoucanbybuildingthemmanually.Youcansaveyourvirtualmachinesettingsinaspecification
thatyoucanrecalllaterandreuse.YoudothisusingtheGuestCustomizationwizard.Thereareseveralways
toaccessthecustomizationwizard,asdescribedbelow.

Linux Requirements for Guest Customization

GuestcustomizationofaLinuxguestoperatingsystemcanoccurif:

ThecloneortemplatehasoneofthefollowingLinuxversionsinstalled:

RedHatEnterpriseLinuxASversions2through5(including64bitversions)

RedHatApplicationServerversions2through5(including64bitversions)

SUSELINUXEnterpriseServer8,9,or10

NOTECustomizationforRedHatLinux4andgreaterandSUSELinuxEnterpriseServer9andgreater
issupportedonlyonhostsrunningESX3.5andgreaterorESXi3.5andgreater.

ThemostrecentversionofVMwareToolsisinstalledintheguestoperatingsystem.

Copyright 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.

Installing and Configuring Linux Guest Operating Systems

Thecloneortemplatehasarootvolumeformattedwithanext2,ext3,orReiserFSfilesystem.

NOTESUSELinuxEnterpriseServerdistributionsregistertheEthernetMACaddressinformationintheguest
operatingsystemsconfigurationfiles.ThiscausestheprocessofobtainingIPaddressesaftercloningtofail.
Toavoidthisissueeditthe/etc/sysconifg/network/configfile,addingthefollowing:
FORCE_PERSISTENT_NAMES=no
MANDATORY_DEVICES=no

Customizing a Linux Guest Operating System

YoucanstarttheGuestCustomizationwizardindirectlyfrom:

TheDeployTemplatewizard

TheCloneVirtualMachinewizard

TheCustomizationSpecificationManager

byselectingavirtualmachine,thenselectingEdit>CustomizationSpecifications,andthenclickingNew.
1

StarttheGuestCustomizationwizardusingamethoddescribedabove.

IfyouopenedtheGuestCustomizationWizardfromtheCustomizationSpecificationManager,select
LinuxastheTargetVirtualMachineOSandgiveitaNameand(optional)Description.ClickNext.

OntheComputerNamepage,specifytheComputerNameandtheDomainNameforthevirtual
machine.ClickNext.
Thecomputernameisthenamegiventotheparticularinstanceofaguestoperatingsystem.The
operatingsystemusesthisnametoidentifyitselfonthenetwork.OnLinuxsystems,itiscalledthehost
name.ThisisnotthesameastheVMwareInfrastructure3virtualmachinenamethatwasdeclaredearlier
intheDeployTemplatewizardorCloneVirtualMachinewizard.Youcansetthecomputernameusing
thefollowingoptions:

Useaspecificname:Thenamecancontainalphanumericcharactersandtheunderscore(_)and
hyphen(-)characters.Itcannotcontainperiods(.)orblankspacesandcannotbemadeupofdigits
only.Ifyouwanttoensurethatthenameisuniquesothatyoudonotincurconflicts,selectAppend
anumericvaluetoensureuniqueness.Namesarecaseinsensitive:thenamemy_vmisidenticalto
My_Vm.

Usethevirtualmachinename:ThecomputernamethatVirtualCentercreatesisidenticaltothe
nameofthevirtualmachineonwhichtheguestoperatingsystemisrunning.

PrompttheuserforanameintheDeployWizard:VIClientpopulatestheDeployVirtualMachine
wizardwithapromptforthecomputernameafteryoucompleteallthestepsinthewizard.

UseacustomapplicationconfiguredwiththeVirtualCenterServertogenerateaname:Entera
parameterthatcanbepassedtothecustomapplication.

IfyouwantVirtualCentertoconfigureallnetworkinterfacesautomaticallyfromaDHCPserver,select
TypicalsettingsontheNetworkpage.ClickNext.
IfusingaDHCPserverisnotappropriateforyourenvironment,selectCustomsettings,andclickNext.

Selectthenetworkinterfacecard(NIC)tocustomizeandclickCustomizetomakeadditional
specifications.
UsetheNetworkPropertiesdialogboxtoperformthesesteps:
a

OntheGeneraltab,selectwhetheryouwanttouseDHCPtoobtainanIPaddressautomaticallyor
entertheIPaddressesmanually.AlsoselectwhetheryouwanttouseDHCPtoobtainaDNSserver
addressautomaticallyorentertheDNSserveraddressesmanually.

ClickOKtoreturntothepreviousdialogbox.ClickNextontheNetworkGuestCustomizations
page.

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Installing and Configuring Linux Guest Operating Systems

OntheDNSandDomainsettingspage,entertheIPaddressesfortheDNSservers.SpecifytheDNS
connectionsbyenteringDNSsuffixes.ForeachDNSsuffixyouenter,clickAdd.Ifyouareadding
multipleDNSconnections,useMoveUpandMoveDowntospecifytheorderinwhichavirtualmachine
istousetheconnections.

IfyouopenedtheGuestCustomizationWizardfromtheDeployTemplatewizardortheCloneVirtual
Machinewizard,youseeaSaveSpecificationpagewhereyoucanoptionallysavethecustomizedoptions
asan.xmlfilebycompletingthesesteps:
a

SelectSavethiscustomizationspecificationforlateruse.

Specifythefilenameforthespecification,andclickNext.

VirtualCentersavesthecustomizedconfigurationparametersintheVirtualCenterdatabase.Ifthe
customizationsettingsaresaved,theadministratoranddomainadministratorpasswordsarestoredin
encryptedformatinthedatabase.Becausethecertificateusedtoencryptthepasswordsisuniquetoeach
VirtualCenterServer,reinstallingtheVirtualCenterServer,orattachinganewinstanceoftheservertothe
database,invalidatestheencryptedpasswords.Thepasswordsmustbereenteredbeforetheycanbe
used.
8

ClickFinish.
VirtualCenterclosestheGuestCustomizationwizardandreturnsyoutotheDeployTemplatewizard,
CloneVirtualMachinewizard,orCustomizationSpecificationManager.

Completing Linux Guest Operating System Customization

Thecustomizationprocessisnotcompleteuntiltheguestoperatingsystemboots,runsthefinalizationscripts,
andreachestheloginpage.AcustomizedLinuxvirtualmachinedoesnotneedanyadditionalrebootingand
isoperationalassoonastheloginpageappearsafterthefirstboot.Ifconfigurationerrorsoccur,theyare
displayedinthevirtualmachinesconsolewindowwhiletheguestoperatingsystemisbooting.Theseerrors
arealsologgedto/var/log/vmware/customization.log.

VMware Update Manager

VMwareUpdateManagerenablesadministratorstoapplyupdatesandpatchesacrossESXhostsandall
managedvirtualmachines.UpdateManagerprovidestheabilitytocreateuserdefinedsecuritybaselines
whichrepresentasetofsecuritystandards.Securityadministratorscancomparehostsandvirtualmachines
againstthesebaselinestoidentifysystemsthatarenotincompliance.SeetheVMwareUpdateManager
ReleaseNotesforthelatestlistofsupportedguestoperatingsystems.Foralink,seeResourcesonpage 19.
Currently,VMwareUpdateManager1.0Update2supportsscanningofthefollowingpoweredoffand
poweredonLinuxguestoperatingsystems:

RedHatEnterpriseLinuxAS3.0(Update5orlater)

RedHatEnterpriseLinuxES3.0(Update5orlater)

RedHatEnterpriseLinuxAS4.0(Update2orlater)

RedHatEnterpriseLinuxES4.0(Update2orlater)

Installing the Update Manager Guest Agent

VMwareUpdateManagerGuestAgentfacilitatesUpdateManagerprocesses.TheGuestAgentisinstalledat
differenttimesdependingontheoperatingsystemthevirtualmachineisrunning.ForLinuxguestoperating
systems,usingVirtualCenter2.5Update2,theGuestAgentisinstalledwhenascanoperationisperformed
byVMwareUpdateManagerforthefirsttime.
Forbestresults,ensurethatthelatestversionoftheGuestAgentisinstalled.If,forsomereason,GuestAgent
installationdoesnotcompletesuccessfully,scanningoperationswillfail.Insuchacase,manuallyinstallthe
GuestAgent.TheGuestAgentinstallationpackagesforLinuxguestsareintheWindowslocationyou
specifiedwheninstallingUpdateManagerserver.Inthatdirectory,GuestAgentinstallationpackagesareat

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Installing and Configuring Linux Guest Operating Systems

\docroot\vci\guestAgent\.Forexample,ifUpdateManagerwasinstalledinC:\Program
Files\VMware\Infrastructure\Update Manager,theGuestAgentinstallersareatC:\Program
Files\VMware\Infrastructure\Update Manager\docroot\vci\guestAgent\.TheGuestAgent
requiresnouserinputsothattheinstallationcompletessilently.
InLinux,installtheVMware-VCIGuestAgent-Linux.rpmfilebyissuingthefollowingcommand:
rpm -ivh VMware-VCIGuestAgent-Linux.rpm

TheGuestAgentmonitorschangestotheguestoperatingsystemsRPMpackagedatabase.Wheneverthat
databaseischanged,theGuestAgentreportstheRPMpackagedatabasecontentstoUpdateManagerserver.
Ifthevirtualmachineisonlineatthetimeofthescan,theGuestAgentreportsthecurrentpackageinformation
duringthescan.

Scanning a Linux guest operating system

Duringascanningoperation,UpdateManagercomparesaguestoperatingsystemspackagedatabase
contentsagainstapredefinedbaselineofpatches.Specifically,theUpdateManagerGuestAgentmonitors
changestotheguestoperatingsystemsRPMpackagedatabase.Wheneverthatdatabaseischanged,theGuest
AgentreportstheRPMpackagedatabasecontentstotheUpdateManagerserver.Ifthevirtualmachineis
poweredonatthetimeofthescan,theGuestAgentimmediatelyreportsthecurrentpackageinformation
duringthescan.ThescanresultindicateswhethertheLinuxguestoperatingsystemiscompliantor
noncomplianttothebaseline.Fornoncompliantoperatingsystems,thescanindicatesthespecificpatchesthat
aremissing.YoucanremediatethesemissingpatchesintheLinuxguestoperatingsystembyinvokingeither
thesoftwareupdaterutilityortheup2dateutilityfoundinmostLinuxdistributions.Theseutilitiesenableyou
todownloadandinstallspecificpatchpackages.

Linux Time Synchronization Recommendations

Therecommendationsbelowincludebestpracticesontheparticularkernelcommandlineoptionstousefor
specificLinuxoperatingsystems.Thissectionalsoprovidesadescriptionoftherecommendedsettingsand
usageforNTPtimesynchronization,configurationofVMwareToolstimesynchronization,andvirtual
hardwareclockconfigurationtoachievebesttimekeepingresults.Formoredetails,seeVMwareknowledge
basearticle1006427TimekeepingbestpracticesforLinuxandthepaperTimekeepinginVMwareVirtual
Machines.Forlinks,seeResourcesonpage 19.
Tables4and5showalistingofcommonLinuxguestoperatingsystemsandgiveskernelparametersrequired
forbettertimekeeping.TheNotescolumnindicateswhetherthatguestoperatingsystemisrecommendedor
ifyoushouldavoidusingitfortimesensitivevirtualmachines.Inallothercases,theguestoperatingsystem
hasacceptabletimekeepingperformance.
WhenbothSMPandUPkernelsareavailable,theymustbeusedinvirtualmachinesconfiguredwiththe
correspondingvirtualhardwaremultipleprocessorsforanSMPkernelorasingleprocessorforaUP
kernelotherwisethemismatchmaycausetimetodrift.

Editing Kernel Configuration

Kernelcommandlineparametersarespecifiedinthe/etc/lilo.confor/boot/grub/grub.conffile,
dependingonyourchoiceofbootloader.
ForLILO,putthekernelcommandlineparametersattheendoftheappendline.Forexample,iftheappend
linelookslike:
append="resume=/dev/hda6 splash=silent"

andyouwanttoaddclock=pmtmr divider=10,theupdatedtextis:
append="resume=/dev/hda6 splash=silent clock=pmtmr divider=10"

Remembertorun/sbin/liloaftereditinglilo.conf,sothatyoureditstakeeffect.

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Installing and Configuring Linux Guest Operating Systems

ForGRUB,putthekernelcommandlineparametersattheendofthekernelline.Forexampleifthekernel
linelookslike:
kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.18 ro root=/dev/hda2

andyouwanttoaddclock=pmtmr divider=10,theupdatedtextis:
kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.18 ro root=/dev/hda2 clock=pmtmr divider=10

Foradditionalinformationaboutworkingwithbootloaders,seeyourLinuxdistributionsdocumentation.
Table 4. Settings for 32-bit Kernels
Linux Version

Kernel Parameters

Notes

RedHatEnterpriseLinux5.2

divider=10 clocksource=acpi_pm

RedHatEnterpriseLinux5.1

divider=10 clocksource=acpi_pm

RedHatEnterpriseLinux5.0

clocksource=acpi_pm

RedHatEnterpriseLinux4.7

clock=pmtmr divider=10

RedHatEnterpriseLinux4.0,4.1,4.2,4.3,
4.4,4.5,4.6

clock=pmtmr

RedHatEnterpriseLinux3(allupdates)

Noadditionalkernel
parametersrequired.

SUSELinuxEnterpriseServer10SP2on
ESX3.5andlater

Recommended.Usea
VMIenabledkernel.

SUSELinuxEnterpriseServer10SP2on
ESXServer3.0.xandearlier

clock=pmtmr

SUSELinuxEnterpriseServer10SP1

clock=pmtmr

SUSELinuxEnterpriseServer10

clock=pmtmr

SUSELinuxEnterpriseServer9(all
updates)

clock=pmtmr

Ubuntu8.04onESX3.5andlater

Recommended.Usea
VMIenabledkernel.

Ubuntu8.04onESXServer3.0.xand
earlier

clocksource=acpi_pm

Ubuntu7.04,7.10

clocksource=acpi_pm

Ubuntu5.04,5.10,6.06,6.10

clock=pmtmr

AmongRedHatEnterpriseLinux4versions,RedHatEnterpriseLinux4.7hasthebesttimekeeping
performancebecauseoftheavailabilityofthedivider=10option.
AmongRedHatEnterpriseLinux5version,RedHatEnterpriseLinux5.1and5.2havethebesttimekeeping
performancebecauseoftheavailabilityofthedivider=10option.
Table 5. Settings for 64-bit Kernels
Linux Version

Kernel Parameters

RedHatEnterpriseLinux5.2

notsc divider=10

RedHatEnterpriseLinux5.1with
RHSA2007:099313

notsc divider=10

RedHatEnterpriseLinux5.1without
RHSA2007:099313

notsc

RedHatEnterpriseLinux5.0

Noadditionalkernelparametersrequired.

RedHatEnterpriseLinux4.7

notsc divider=10

RedHatEnterpriseLinux4.2,4.3,4.4,4.5,4.6

notsc

RedHatEnterpriseLinux4.0,4.1

Copyright 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.

Notes

Doesnotsupportnotsc.Avoidusingif
possible.

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Installing and Configuring Linux Guest Operating Systems

Table 5. Settings for 64-bit Kernels

Linux Version

Kernel Parameters

Notes

RedHatEnterpriseLinux3(allupdates)

Hasnoworkaroundforlosttick
overcompensation.Avoidusingifpossible.

SUSELinuxEnterpriseServer10SP2onESX
3.5andlater

Recommended.

SUSELinuxEnterpriseServer10SP2onESX
Server3.0.xandearlier

notsc

SUSELinuxEnterpriseServer10SP1

notsc

SUSELinuxEnterpriseServer10

notsc

SUSELinuxEnterpriseServer9withkernel
version2.6.57.312orlater

ignore_lost_ticks

SUSELinuxEnterpriseServer9withkernel
version2.6.57.311orearlier

Hasnoworkaroundforlosttick
overcompensation.Avoidusingifpossible.

Ubuntu7.10,8.04

clocksource=acpi_pm

Ubuntu5.10,6.06,6.10,7.04

notsc

Ubuntu5.04

Doesnotsupportnotsc.Avoidusingif
possible.

Recommended Configurations
BasedonvendorsupportintheirLinuxkernels,weexpectthefollowingconfigurationstohavethebest
timekeepingbehaviorinaLinuxvirtualmachine:

SUSELinuxEnterpriseServer10SP232bitor64bitrunningonESX3.5Update2orlater

Ubuntu8.0432bitrunningonESX3.5Update2orlater

AmongRedHatEnterpriseLinux4and5,versionswiththedivider=10optionhavebettertimekeeping
behaviorthanthosewithout.
FormoreinformationonVMIenabledkernels,seethefollowingVMwareknowledgebasearticles:

HowtoenableavirtualmachineinterfaceinaLinuxkernelandinESXServer3.5

EnablingVMIwithSLES10SP232bitvirtualmachinesonESX

Forlinks,seeResourcesonpage 19.

NTP Recommendations
Wheneverpossible,useNTPinsteadofVMwareToolsperiodictimesynchronization.Also,youmayneedto
openthefirewall(UPD123)toallowNTPtraffic.
ToenableNTP,youmustmodify/etc/ntp.conf.Thefollowingisasample/etc/ntp.conf:
tinker panic 0
restrict 127.0.0.1
restrict default kod nomodify notrap
server 0.vmware.pool.ntp.org
server 1.vmware.pool.ntp.org
server 2.vmware.pool.ntp.org
driftfile /var/lib/ntp/drift

Thefollowingisasample/etc/ntp/step-tickers:
0.vmware.pool.ntp.org
1.vmware.pool.ntp.org

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Installing and Configuring Linux Guest Operating Systems

Theconfigurationdirectivetinker panic 0instructsNTPnottogiveupifitseesalargejumpintime.This

isimportantforcopingwithlargetimedriftsandalsoresumingvirtualmachinesfromtheirsuspendedstate.
NOTEThedirectivetinker panic 0mustbeatthetopofthentp.conffile.
Itisalsoimportantnottousethelocalclock,oftenreferredtoastheundisciplinedlocalclock,asatimesource.
NTPhasatendencytofallbacktothissourceinpreferencetotheremoteserverswhenthereisalargeamount
oftimedrift.
Anexampleofsuchaconfigurationis:
server 127.127.1.0
fudge 127.127.1.0 stratum 10

Commentoutbothoftheselinesfrom/etc/ntp.conf.
AftermakingchangestotheNTPconfiguration,youmustrestarttheNTPdaemon.Seeyouroperatingsystem
vendorsdocumentationfordetails.

VMware Tools Time Synchronization Configuration

WhenusingNTPintheguestoperatingsystem,disableVMwareToolsperiodictimesynchronizationusing
oneofthefollowingoptions:
1

Settools.syncTime = "0"intheconfigurationfile(.vmxfile)ofthevirtualmachine.

DeselectTimesynchronizationbetweenthevirtualmachineandthehostoperatingsysteminthe
VMwareToolstoolboxGUIintheguestoperatingsystem.

Runthecommandvmware-guestd --cmd "vmx.set_option synctime 1 0"intheguestoperating

system.

TheseoptionsdonotdisableonetimesynchronizationsdonebyVMwareToolsforeventssuchastools
startup,takingasnapshot,revertingtoasnapshot,resumingfromsuspend,orVMotion.Theseevents
synchronizetimeintheguestoperatingsystemwithtimeinthehostoperatingsystem,soitisimportantto
makesurethatthehostoperatingsystemstimeiscorrect.
TodothisforVMwareACE,VMwareFusion,VMwarePlayer,VMwareServer,andVMwareWorkstation,run
timesynchronizationsoftwaresuchasNTPorw32timeonthehost.ForVMwareESX,runNTPintheservice
console.ForVMwareESXi,runNTPintheVMkernel.

Virtual Hardware Clock Configuration

WhenconfiguringaLinuxguestoperatingsystem,ifyouaregivenachoicebetweenkeepingthehardware
clock(thatis,thevirtualCMOStimeofdayclock)inUTCorlocaltime,chooseUTC.Thisavoidsanyconfusion
whenyourlocaltimechangesbetweenstandardanddaylightsavingtime(inEngland,summertime).

Additional Notes
ThissectionprovidesadditionalusefulnotesforLinuxadministratorswhowanttooptimizetheirLinuxguest
operatingsystems.ThesenotesdonotdetailstepbystepinstructionsforfinetuningyourLinuxvirtual
machines,buttheyofferfurtherinsightintounderstandingthebehaviorofyourvirtualmachines.Thissection
coversthefollowingtopics:

AsynchronousI/Oonpage 16

LinuxTimerRatesforVirtualMachinesonVMwareESXonpage 16

LinuxSwappinessonpage 17

ParavirtualizationandVirtualMachineInterfaceonpage 17

OpenVirtualMachineToolsonpage 19

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Installing and Configuring Linux Guest Operating Systems

Asynchronous I/O
SupportforasynchronousI/OinthekernelandcorrespondingsystemcallsareincludedinLinuxkernel
version2.6.ButtheAPIfortheappropriatesystemcallsdiffersfromtheoriginalfunctions,soasimple
recompilationofexistingapplicationsmightbeinsufficienttousethenewchange.Thechangerequiressource
codemodificationthathasoccurredindifferentapplicationsatdifferentrates.
BeawareofthisissuewhenconsideringapplicationsthatuseasynchronousI/O.Inbenchmarking,for
example,IometerisatoolthatcanbeusedforstoragesystemperformancemeasurementsonbothWindows
andLinux.However,becauseitssourcecodewasneverupdatedtousethenew,correctedasynchronousI/O
systemcallsonLinux,thenumbersitproducesonLinux(usingrawdevices)areartificiallyandunfairlylow.
ConsiderthiswhendoingLinuxtoWindowscomparisonsanduseasynchronousI/Oawaretoolssuchas
aiostress,whenneeded.

Linux Timer Rates for Virtual Machines on VMware ESX

Modernsystemsuseahardwaretimerforavarietyoffinegrainedoperationsattheoperatingsystemlevel.
VMwaresvirtualizationplatformsvirtualizethistimerintheESXkernel.Becausethevirtualtimerprovided
tothevirtualmachineisactuallysoftware,itissubjecttothesameresourcerestrictionsasotherprocesses.The
busierthesystem,themorethetimerexecutionmustcontendwithotherhypervisoractivities.Therearetwo
implicationsofthis:

Whenthesystemisverybusy,thesoftwaretimermightnotexecuteasregularlyasitdoeswhenthe
systemislessbusyandvirtualtimecanfallbehind.

Dependingonhowfrequentlytheoperatingsystemisinterruptedbythetimer,thehypervisormustdo
differentamountsofwork.

TheamountofworkrequiredtomanagethevirtualtimerisgreatestwithRedHatEnterpriseLinux5SMP
systems,whichuseaclockfrequencyof1000Hzandsufferfromamultiplicativeamountofworkbecauseof
SMPsupport.Forinstance,thefollowingtableshowsthenumberoftimerinterruptsona1000HzRedHat
EnterpriseLinux5virtualmachine:
Table 6. Timer Interrupts for Multiple Virtual CPUs in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
Virtual CPU Count

Timer Interrupts per Second per Virtual Machine

1000

6000

20000

72000

Table 7. Timer Interrupts for Selected Linux Distributions

Linux Version

Timer Interrupts per Second per Virtual CPU

RedHatEnterpriseLinux5

1000

RedHatEnterpriseLinux4

100

SUSELinuxEnterpriseServer10SP1

250

SUSELinuxEnterpriseServer9

1000

SUSELinuxEnterpriseServer8

100

Theamountofworkthatneedstobedonebythehypervisorincreasesdramaticallywiththeadditionof
virtualCPUs.Inaddition,decreasingthetimerinterruptrategreatlydecreasestheworkthatneedstobedone
bytheVMkerneltovirtualizethetimer.RedHatEnterpriseLinux5.1andRedHatEnterpriseLinux4.7offer
aLinuxkernelthatenablesreducingthetimerrate.Byaddingtheparameterdivider=10totheboot
parametersasdescribedinLinuxTimeSynchronizationRecommendationsonpage 12,youcanreducethe
amountofworkrequiredoftheVMkerneltovirtualizethetimerbyanorderofmagnitude.

Copyright 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Installing and Configuring Linux Guest Operating Systems

ThemainlineLinuxkernelhasmovedtoaticklesstimekeepingmodelinwhich,insteadofcountingperiodic
interruptstotellthetime,theLinuxkernelqueriesahardwaretimesourcewhenitneedstoknowthetime.
ThesechangesmakeLinuxamuchbetterbehavedoperatingsysteminphysicalaswellasvirtual
environments.Ticklesskernelskeepbettertimeandreducepowerutilizationonlaptopsandothermobile
deviceswherebatterylifeisimportant.Invirtualmachines,ticklesskernelsareidealbecausetheyimposeless
overheadonthehypervisorandkeepveryaccuratetime.Toserveourcustomersbetter,VMwarehasworked
directlywiththemainlineLinuxkernelaswellasCanonical,thepublisheroftheUbuntudistribution,to
implementoperatingsystemchangestosupportticklesstimekeeping.Becausethemigrationtoatickless
kernelwascompletedrecently,onlyrecentUbuntuLinuxreleasesincorporatethisfunctionality.
Accurateticklesstimekeepingcanalsobeachievedthroughparavirtualization,inwhichtheoperatingsystem
ismodifiedtobeawarethatitisrunningonahypervisor.TheVirtualMachineInterface(VMI),developedby
VMwareinconjunctionwiththeLinuxcommunityandnowpartofthemainlineLinuxkernel,isa
paravirtualizationsolutionthat,inadditiontoprovidinghigherperformance,ensuresaccuratetimekeeping
invirtualmachines.VMwareworkedwithNovellandCanonicaltosupportVMIenabledguestoperating
systems,suchas32bitSUSELinuxEnterpriseServer10SP2andUbuntu8.04LTS,forESX3.5Update2and
later.The32bitversionsofUbuntu7.10and7.04supportVMIonESX3.5andlater.VMwarehasencouraged
RedHattoincorporatesupportforVMIintoitsreleases.OutsideofVMI,VMwarealsoworkedwithNovell
toimplementticklesstimekeepingthroughparavirtualizing64bitSUSELinuxEnterpriseServer10SP2.

Linux Swappiness
Inavirtualizedenvironment,thefrequencyofswappingapplicationsinandoutofmemorycanhaveadverse
effectsonaLinuxvirtualmachinesresponsivenessafterlongidleperiods.Youcanadjustthisfrequency,or
swappiness,bysetting/proc/sys/vm/swappinesstoarangebetween0and100.TuneLinuxswappiness
downtomakeLinuxvirtualmachinesmoreresponsiveusingacommandinsidetheLinuxvirtualmachine
similartothefollowing:
echo 0 > /proc/sys/vm/swappiness

Ifyouwantthissettingtopersist,addthefollowinglineto/etc/sysctl.confintheLinuxvirtualmachine:
vm.swappiness=0

Whenyoulowertheswappinesssetting,idleprocessesinthevirtualmachinearenotpenalizedasLinux,by
default,triestoswapthemout.Swappingandpagefaultsinavirtualmachinearemoreexpensivethanina
nativeenvironment.Forexample,alarge,idleapplicationwithitsownlargecachewouldnotbenefitfrom
beingswappedoutofmemory.Ifitisswappedout,ittakesalongtimeforitspagestoswapbackintomemory
whentheapplicationisaccessed.Theimpactofchangestotheswappinesssettingismorepronouncedin
LinuxvirtualmachinesthaninLinuxdistributionsrunningnatively.

Paravirtualization and Virtual Machine Interface

ESX3.5introducessupportforguestoperatingsystemsthatuseVMwaresparavirtualizationstandard,
VirtualMachineInterface.
Twotechniquesforvirtualizingunmodifiedguestoperatingsystemkernelsarebinarytranslationand
hardwarevirtualization.AcomparisonofthesefullvirtualizationtechniquescanbefoundinthepaperA
ComparisonofSoftwareandHardwareTechniquesforx86Virtualization.Adifferenttechniqueis
paravirtualization,whichrequiresmodificationstotheguestoperatingsystemandcanbeusedinconjunction
withthefirsttwotechniquesoronitsown.Foradditionaldetailsonthistechnique,seethepaper
PerformanceofVMwareVMI.Forlinkstothesepapers,seeResourcesonpage 19.

Paravirtualization
Paravirtualizationisatechniqueinwhichamodifiedguestoperatingsystemkernelcommunicatestothe
hypervisoritsintenttoperformprivilegedCPUandmemoryoperations.Thistechniquereducesthework
requiredofthehypervisor,thusmakingitsimplerthanabinarytranslationhypervisor.Although
paravirtualizationdoesnoteliminatevirtualizationoverhead,itcanimproveguestoperatingsystem
performance.

Copyright 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Installing and Configuring Linux Guest Operating Systems

Theideaofguesthostinteractionisnotanewconcept.IthaslongbeenapartofVMwareproductsintheform
ofVMwareTools.Forexample:

TheVMwareSVGAdriversharesdatastructureswiththehypervisortoallowfasterscreenupdates.

TheVMwarehighperformancevirtualEthernetdriver,vmxnet,sharesdatastructureswiththe
hypervisortoreduceCPUoverhead.

TheVMwareballoondriverisusedbythehypervisortocontroltheguestoperatingsystemsmemory
usage.

TheVMwareToolsserviceenablestimesynchronizationbetweenhostandguest.

Whilesuchguesthostcommunicationprovidesimprovedperformanceandcanbeclassifiedas
paravirtualization,noneoftheseexamplesinvolvechangestotheunderlyingguestoperatingsystemkernel.
However,inordertoparavirtualizetheCPUandthememorymanagementunit,changestotheguest
operatingsystemkernelarerequired.Opensourceoperatingsystems,suchasLinux,allowustomakesuch
changes.

Virtual Machine Interface

Earlyparavirtualizationrequiredoperatingsystemsandapplicationstobecertifiedonmanydifferent
kernelssomefornativehardwareandotherstorunonahypervisor.Also,thelackofastandardguesthost
interfaceledtofrequentinterfacechanges,whichinturncausedversiondependenciesbetweentheguest
operatingsystemkernelandthehypervisor.Inordertoaddresstheseissues,VMwareproposedanew
guesthostinterface,calledVirtualMachineInterface,whichdefinesasetofhypercallsanoperatingsystem
canusetocommunicatewiththehypervisor.Fordetails,seetheParavirtualizationAPIVersion2.5
specification.Foralink,seeResourcesonpage 19.
ThestandardizedinterfaceprovidedbyVMIallowstheguestoperatingsystemkernelandthehypervisorto
evolveindependently.TheVMIspecificationalsomakesitpossibleforothervendorstoenabletheir
hypervisorstosupportguestoperatingsystemsthatuseVMI.
VMIwasdesignedtoabstractnativehardware.Thisfeature,calledtransparentparavirtualization,allowsa
VMIenabledkerneltorunbothonnativehardwareandonhypervisorsthatsupporttheinterfacewithno
additionalmodificationtotheoperatingsystemkernel.
VMIcodeisincludedin32bitLinuxmainlinekernels2.6.22andabove.TheUbuntuLinuxdistribution
includesVMIsupportinversion7.04(FeistyFawn)andlater.NovellincludesVMIsupportinSUSELinux
EnterpriseServer10SP2.ToenableVMI,seeAppendixC:EnablingVMIinaLinuxKernelandinESX3.5
onpage 22.

VMI Performance Benefits

TheVMwareimplementationofVMIoffersanumberofperformanceandresourceutilizationbenefits:

Thesyscallentryandexitpathisfaster.Thisspeedsupsyscalldominatedworkloads.

VMIenabledLinuxkernelsbydefaultuseanalternatetimerinterruptmechanismthatresultsinreduced
physicalCPUconsumption,especiallywhenthevirtualmachineisidle,andinmoreaccurate
timekeeping,evenwhenrunningmanyvirtualmachines.

Becausetheguestkernelcommunicatestothehypervisoritsintenttoperformmemorymanagementunit
(MMU)relatedoperations,MMUvirtualizationoverheadisreduced.Dependingontheworkload,this
canhavevaryingperformancebenefits.

SMPvirtualmachinesrunningVMIenabledoperatingsystemsusesharedshadowpagetables.Asa
resulttheyhavelessmemoryspaceoverheadthanthoserunningnonVMIenabledoperatingsystems.
Formoreinformationonshadowpagetables,seethepaperESXServerArchitectureandPerformance
Implications.Foralink,seeResourcesonpage 19.

Copyright 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Installing and Configuring Linux Guest Operating Systems

Whenaworkloadrunsinusermode,theVMwarevirtualmachineinwhichitisrunningisindirectexecution
mode.BecausedirectlyexecutedcodealreadyrunsatnativespeedsinbothbinarytranslationandVMIstyle
paravirtualization,workloadsthatspendthemajorityoftheirtimeinusermodegainonlymodest
performanceimprovementsfromparavirtualization.

Open Virtual Machine Tools

AspartoftheOpenVirtualMachineToolsproject,VMwarehasopensourcedportionsofVMwareToolsfor
Linux,FreeBSDandSolarisandmovedtoacollaborativedevelopmentmodelwiththeopensource
community.Thismoveallowstheuse,modification,andredistributionofthecodebeingopensourced.
ThirdpartydevelopersoutsideVMwarecancontributethroughcommunitydevelopmentandcollaborate
withVMwareengineersforrapidinnovation,developmentofportstoadditionalguestoperatingsystemsfor
whichVMwareToolspackagesdonotyetexist,andoveralleaseofmaintenance.Customersandpartnerscan
alsosimplifytheincorporationofVMwareToolsinstallationandupgradeaspartoftheirguestoperating
systemlifecyclemanagementandredistributionasopensourcesoftwarecomponents.
OpenVirtualMachineToolsalsowillaidLinuxdistributionsinbundlingOpenVirtualMachineToolsfora
betteroutoftheboxguestoperatingsystemexperienceonVMwareplatformsbyallowingthedistributions
toprovideOpenVirtualMachineToolsthatmatchtheguestoperatingsystemskernelversion.Thisis
especiallyusefulforLinuxreleasesthatshipbetweenreleasesofVMwareplatformsoftware.
Inaddition,thevirtualappliancemarketisdrivingneedsforsupportfornewer,nontraditionalguest
operatingsystems.Thissupportrequiresarapiddevelopmentmodelmadepossiblethroughcommunity
involvementanddevelopment.Ingeneral,nowthatvirtualizationhasbecomemainstream,openingVMware
Toolsfacilitatescollaborativedevelopmentinvolvingthewidercommunity.
Currently,onlythefollowingcomponentsthatarepartofVMwareToolsarenotpartofOpenVirtualMachine
Tools:

VMwareToolsupgrader

(experimental)VMwareDescheduledTimerAccounting(VMDesched)

ThecentralactivitycenteroftheOpenVirtualMachineToolsprojectisatSourceforge.Foralink,see
Resourcesonpage 19.TheSourceforgepageprovideslinkstoannouncements,technicaldiscussions,
administrativeprocesses,documents,developmentprocesses,bugs,usergroups,contributions,projects,
merges,andmore.Italsoallowsyoutobrowse,download,andcontributetothesourcecode.

Resources

AComparisonofSoftwareandHardwareTechniquesforx86Virtualization
http://www.vmware.com/resources/techresources/528

ArchivesforVMwareESXServer2.x
http://www.vmware.com/download/esx/drivers_tools.html

BasicSystemAdministration
http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35/esx_3/r35u2/vi3_35_25_u2_admin_guide.pdf

EnablingVMIwithSLES10SP232bitvirtualmachinesonESX
http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1005701

ESXServer3ConfigurationGuide
http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35/esx_3/r35/vi3_35_25_3_server_config.pdf

ESXServerArchitectureandPerformanceImplications
http://www.vmware.com/vmtn/resources/433

GuestOperatingSystemInstallationGuide
http://www.vmware.com/pdf/GuestOS_guide.pdf

HowtoenableavirtualmachineinterfaceinaLinuxkernelandinESXServer3.5
http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003644

Copyright 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Installing and Configuring Linux Guest Operating Systems

ImprovingGuestOperatingSystemAccountingforDescheduledVirtualMachinesinESXServer3.x
Systems
http://www.vmware.com/resources/techresources/526

InstructionsondownloadingandinstallingadriverfortheBusLogicvirtualSCSIadapter
http://www.vmware.com/download/esx/drivers_tools.html

LinuxGuestMovedtoaSystemwithDifferentProcessorTypePanicsDuringBoot
http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1572

OpenVirtualMachineToolsmainpageatSourceforge
http://openvmtools.sourceforge.net/

ParavirtualizationAPIVersion2.5specification
http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vmi_specs.pdf

PerformanceofVMwareVMI
http://www.vmware.com/resources/techresources/1038

RHEL5andFC7GuestsInstalledwithRedHatVirtualizationAffectsPerformanceofVirtualMachine
http://kb.vmware.com/kb/9134325

SUSELinuxEnterpriseServerinformation
http://www.novell.com/products/server/

TimekeepingbestpracticesforLinux
http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1006427

TimekeepinginVMwareVirtualMachines
http://www.vmware.com/resources/techresources/1066

UbuntuLinuxdownloadpage
http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download

VMwareUpdateManagerReleaseNotes
http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/vi_pages/vi_pubs_35u2.html

UsingPXE(PrebootExecutionEnvironment)toInstallGuestOperatingSystemsoveraNetwork
http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1162

Appendix A: Linux Versions Supported on ESX Server

Table8liststheLinuxandFreeBSDversionssupportedonspecificversionsofESXServer.SeetheGuest
OperatingSystemInstallationGuideforthemostrecentcompatibilityinformation.Foralink,seeResources
onpage 19.
Table 8. Supported Linux and FreeBSD Operating Systems
Guest Operating System

ESX Server

CentOS5.0

3.0.33.5U2

RedHatEnterpriseLinux5

3.0.23.5U2

RedHatEnterpriseLinux4

2.5.23.5U2

RedHatEnterpriseLinux3

2.0.13.5U2

RedHatEnterpriseLinux2.1

2.03.5U2

RedHatLinux9.0

2.02.5.5

RedHatLinux8.0

2.02.5.5

RedHatLinux7.3

2.02.5.5

RedHatLinux7.2

2.02.5.5

SUSELinuxEnterpriseServer10

3.0.13.5U2

SUSELinuxEnterpriseServer9

2.53.5U2

Copyright 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Installing and Configuring Linux Guest Operating Systems

Table 8. Supported Linux and FreeBSD Operating Systems

Guest Operating System

ESX Server

SUSELinuxEnterpriseServer8

2.03.5U2

SUSELinux9.3

2.5.22.5.5

SUSELinux9.2

2.5.12.5.5

SUSELinux9.1

2.52.5.5

SUSELinux9.0

2.12.5.5

SUSELinux8.2

2.02.5.5

UbuntuLinux8.04

3.5U2

UbuntuLinux7.10

3.5U1U2

UbuntuLinux7.04

3.0.23.5U2

FreeBSD4.11

2.5.42.5.5

FreeBSD4.10

2.52.5.5

FreeBSD4.9

2.5

Appendix B: Command-Line Options for VMware Tools Upgrades

WhenyouinstallorupgradeVMwareTools,youcanenterseveralcommandlineoptions,listedinTable9.
RightclickavirtualmachineandselectInstall/UpgradeVMwareTools.Thenenterthecommandline
optionsintheAdvancedfield.SeeBasicSystemAdministrationformoredetails.Foralink,seeResourceson
page 19.
Table 9.
Option

Description

-u user

Specifiesauserwithsufficientprivilegesonthetargetvirtualmachine,including
VirtualMachine.Config.*,VirtualMachine.Interact.*,andVirtualMachine.Provisioning.*

-p password

Specifiesapasswordonthecommandline.Ifthisisomitted,thetoolimmediatelypromptsfor
apassword.

-n vmname

Thenameofthevirtualmachinetoupgrade.Thisnamecorrespondstothedisplaynameofa
virtualmachine.Specifymultiplevirtualmachinesusingmultiple-nparameters.The-noption
isignoredif-hisspecified.

-h host

Attemptstoupgradeallthevirtualmachinesonaparticularhost.Failsifthespecifiedhostis
notESXversion3.0orgreater.

-m maxpowerons

Onaparticularhost,powerononlythisnumberofvirtualmachinesatatime.

-o port

SpecifiestheVirtualCenterServerport,ifoneotherthanthedefaultport902hasbeen
configured.

-t maxpowerontime

Afterthetoolsupgradeisscheduledonavirtualmachine,thevirtualmachineispoweredon
andallowedtorunthroughthetoolsinstallationprocess.Inmostcases,theguestpowersoffthe
machinewhentheprocesscompletes.Thisparameterallowsausertosetthemaximumamount
oftimeforavirtualmachinetobepoweredonincasetheguestisunabletoshutdownthe
machineitself.

-s

Skipsthetoolsanddoesonlythevirtualhardwareupgrade.

-q

Worksquietly.Doesnotproducestatusorcompletionmessagesonshutdown.

Copyright 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Installing and Configuring Linux Guest Operating Systems

Appendix C: Enabling VMI in a Linux Kernel and in ESX 3.5

TouseVMI,youmustenableitinyourLinuxkernelandfortheESX3.5virtualmachinesinwhichthatkernel
isrunning.ThefollowinginstructionscanalsobefoundintheVMwareknowledgebasearticleHowto
enableavirtualmachineinterfaceinaLinuxkernelandinESXServer3.5.Foralink,seeResourceson
page 19.

Enabling VMI in ESX 3.5

InESX3.5,eachvirtualmachinecanhaveVMIeitherenabledordisabled.ToenableVMIforaparticular
virtualmachine,ontheSummarytabforthatvirtualmachine,clickEditSettings,selecttheOptionstab,click
Paravirtualization,andmakesureSupportVMIParavirtualizationischecked,asillustratedinFigure1.
Figure 1. VMI Paravirtualization option in ESX 3.5

WhenVMIisenabledinthevirtualmachinesettings,thelspcioutputintheguestoperatingsystemincludes
anewPCIdevice(identifiedasamemorycontroller),asshownbelow.
linux-iwwp:~ # lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 440BX/ZX/DX - 82443BX/ZX/DX Host bridge (rev 01)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 440BX/ZX/DX - 82443BX/ZX/DX AGP bridge (rev 01)
00:07.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ISA (rev 08)
00:07.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 IDE (rev 01)
00:07.3 Bridge: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ACPI (rev 08)
00:0f.0 VGA compatible controller: VMware Inc [VMware SVGA II] PCI Display Adapter
00:10.0 SCSI storage controller: LSI Logic / Symbios Logic 53c1030 PCI-X Fusion-MPT Dual Ultra320
SCSI (rev 01)
00:11.0 Ethernet controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] 79c970 [PCnet32 LANCE] (rev 10)
00:12.0 Memory controller: VMware Inc Unknown device 0801 (rev 01)

NOTETheVMIPCIdevice,likeothervirtualPCIdevices,takesupavirtualPCIslot.

Copyright 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Installing and Configuring Linux Guest Operating Systems

ThepresenceoftheVMIdeviceinthelspcioutput,however,doesnotconfirmthattheguestoperating
systemisrunninginVMImode.ThefollowingdmesgoutputconfirmsVMImode,indicatingthatVMIis
enabledinthevirtualmachinesettingsaswellasintheLinuxkernel.
Detected VMI ROM version 3.0
VMI Timer active.

NOTEVMIenabledkernelsareincludedinsomeLinuxdistributions.CheckwithyourLinuxvendortosee
ifaVMIenabledkernelisavailable.

If you have comments about this documentation, submit your feedback to: docfeedback@vmware.com
VMware, Inc. 3401 Hillview Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94304 www.vmware.com
Copyright 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved. Protected by one or more of U.S. Patent Nos. 6,397,242, 6,496,847, 6,704,925, 6,711,672, 6,725,289, 6,735,601, 6,785,886,
6,789,156, 6,795,966, 6,880,022, 6,944,699, 6,961,806, 6,961,941, 7,069,413, 7,082,598, 7,089,377, 7,111,086, 7,111,145, 7,117,481, 7,149, 843, 7,155,558, 7,222,221, 7,260,815,
7,260,820, 7,269,683, 7,275,136, 7,277,998, 7,277,999, 7,278,030, 7,281,102, 7,290,253, and 7,356,679; patents pending. VMware, the VMware boxes logo and design,
Virtual SMP and VMotion are registered trademarks or trademarks of VMware, Inc. in the United States and/or other jurisdictions. All other marks and names mentioned
herein may be trademarks of their respective companies.
Revision 20081120 Item: TN-070-PRD-01-01

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