VMware GSX Server 2.5.2

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Miracle Linux 2.1 Installation Guidelines

The easiest method of installing Miracle Linux 2.1 in a virtual machine is to use the standard Miracle Linux distribution CD. The notes below describe an installation using the standard distribution CD; however, installing Miracle Linux 2.1 via the boot floppy/network method is supported as well.

Before installing the operating system, be sure that you have already created a new virtual machine and configured it using the New Virtual Machine Wizard (on Windows hosts) or Configuration Wizard (on Linux hosts).

Note: At this time, Miracle Linux 2.1 is not a supported guest operating system.

Note: You should not run the X server that is installed when you set up Miracle Linux 2.1. Instead, to get an accelerated SVGA X server running inside the virtual machine, you should install the VMware Tools package immediately after installing Miracle Linux 2.1.

Installation Steps

Use the GSX Server Configuration Editor to verify the virtual machine's devices are set up as you expect before starting the installation. For example, if you would like networking software to be installed during the Miracle Linux 2.1 installation process, be sure the virtual machine's Ethernet adapter is enabled and configured. VMware also recommends that you disable the screen saver on the host system before starting the installation process.
Insert the Miracle Linux 2.1 installation CD in the CD-ROM drive on your GSX Server host and power on the virtual machine.
You need to install Miracle Linux 2.1 using the text mode installer, which you may choose when you first boot the installer. At the Miracle Linux 2.1 CD boot prompt, you are offered the following choices:
To install or upgrade a system ... in graphical mode ... To install or upgrade a system ... in text mode, type: text <ENTER>. To enable expert mode, ... Use the function keys listed below ...
To choose the text mode installer, type text followed by Enter.
Follow the installation steps as you would for a physical machine. Be sure to make the choices outlined in the following steps.
Choose the language and keyboard, then in the Installation Type screen, choose either Server or Workstation for the installation type.
A warning appears that says:
Bad partition table. The partition table on device sda is corrupted. To create new partitions, it must be initialized, causing the loss of ALL DATA on the drive.This does not mean that anything is wrong with the hard drive on your physical computer. It simply means that the virtual hard drive in your virtual machine needs to be partitioned and formatted. Click the Initialize button and press Enter. Also note that sda appears in the message as the device name if the virtual disk in question is a SCSI disk; if the virtual disk is an IDE drive, hda appears in the message as the device name instead.
Allow automatic partitioning of the disk to occur in the Automatic Partitioning screen.
If your host operating system supports DHCP and is connected to a LAN, then in the Network Configuration screen, select the Use bootp/dhcp option.
In the Mouse Selection screen, choose Generic - 3 Button Mouse (PS/2) and select the Emulate 3 Buttons? option for three-button mouse support in the virtual machine.
In the Video Card Selection screen, choose the default selection.
During the configuration of the X server, select the defaults and proceed through this section as quickly as possible, as this X server is replaced by an X server specific to your guest operating system when you install VMware Tools in this virtual machine.
Continue to the Starting X screen and click the Skip button to skip testing the configuration.

This completes basic installation of the Miracle Linux 2.1 guest operating system.

VMware Tools

Be sure to install VMware Tools in your guest operating system. For details, see Installing VMware Tools. Do not start the X server in the guest operating system until you install VMware Tools.

Enabling Sound After Installing Miracle Linux 2.1

The GSX Server sound device is disabled by default and must be enabled with the Configuration Editor (Settings > Configuration Editor) after the operating system has been installed. To set up the virtual machine to play sound, see Configuring Sound in GSX Server.

Known Issues

On a Linux host with an XFree86 3.x X server, it is best not to run a screen saver in the guest operating system. Guest screen savers that demand a lot of processing power can cause the X server on the host to freeze.

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