Copyright © 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved. 2
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,ESXsupportsalmostallupdatestothesereleases
aswellasspecialized
variantsofthem.See“AppendixA:LinuxVersionsSupportedonESXServer”onpage 20foralistingofLinux
versionssupportedatthetimethispaperwaswritten.Foracomplete,up‐to‐datelistingofguestoperating
systemssupportedbyVMwareproducts,seetheGuest
OperatingSystemInstallationGuide.Foralink,see
“Resources”onpage 19.ChoosingaLinuxdistributionfromthislistoffersperformancebenefitsover
nonsupportedLinuxdistributionsbecauseVMw areproductsoptimizehypervisorsettingsbasedonguest
operatingsystemtypes.
Installing Linux in a Virtual Machine
WhenyoucreatethevirtualmachineinwhichyouplantoinstallyourLinuxguestoperatingsystem,besure
thatitsdevicesaresetupasyouexpect.ThissectiondescribesthecreationofaLinuxvirtualmachinefrom
installablemedia.Onceyouhavecreatedavirtualmachine,youcancreate
templatesandclonesfromthebase
virtualmachine.Thisenablesyoutoprovisionfuturevirtualmachinesquickly.See“CloningaLinuxGuest
OperatingSystem”onpage 9fordetails.ForgeneralinstallationguidelinesforallsupportedLinux
distributions,seetheGuestOperatingSystemInstallationGuide.Foralink,see“Resources”on
page 19.
Memory Recommendations
Besurethevirtualmachineisconfiguredwithatleast512MBofmemoryforRedHatEnterpriseLinux5or
with256MBofmemoryforRedHatEnterpriseLinux3orRedHatEnterpriseLinux4.Ifthememoryinthe
virtualmachineislowerthantherecommendedvalues,RedHat
EnterpriseLinuxpresentsanerrormessage
asitloadscertainVMwaredrivers.
Network Adapter Recommendations
Besuretoselectthecorrectnetworkadapter.Formost32‐bitguestoperatingsystems,youcanselectFlexible
orEnhancedvmxnet.Formost64‐bitguestoperatingsystems,youcanselectE1000orEnhancedvmxnet.
Enhancedvmxnetisnotsupportedonevery32‐and64‐bitLinuxdistribution,but
iftheoptionexists,we
recommendyouselectEnhancedvmxnetasyournetworkadapter.See“vmxnet”onpage 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,and
5.Forinstructionson
downloadingandinstallingadriverfortheBusLogicadapter,seeArchivesforVMwareESXServer2.x.Fora
link,see“Resources”onpage 19.
YoucaninstallRedHatEnterpriseLinux5inavirtualmachineusingthestandardRedHatdistributionCD,
viathebootfloppy/networkmethod,
orfromaPXEserver.IfyouplantouseaPXEservertoinstalltheguest
operatingsystemoveranetworkconnection,youdonotneedtheoperatingsysteminstallationmedia.When
youpoweronthevirtualmachine,thevirtualmachinedetectsthePXEserver.Formoredetailson
installation
throughPXE,seetheVMwareknowledgebasearticle“UsingPXE(PrebootExecutionEnvironment)toInstall
GuestOperatingSystemsoveraNetwork.”Foralink,see“Resources”onpage 19.
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