Notes on VMware Workstation 4, Build 6030

Build 6030 is a release build of VMware Workstation 4.

New in Version 4.0.5

This release introduces internationalization of the shared folders and drag and drop features. These features now support localized guest operating systems, including locales such as Japanese that use double-byte characters.

In this release, VMware Tools for Windows guests uses less memory than in previous releases.

Note: Version 4.0.5 is the first public release since version 4.0.2.

New in Version 4.0.2

This release fixes a security vulnerability in VMware Workstation 4.0.1 (for Linux systems) build 5289 and earlier releases. By manipulating symbolic links, a non-root user could delete files in any directory. VMware Workstation (for Windows operating systems) does not have this vulnerability. For details, see this knowledge base article.

New in Version 4.0.1

New operating systems supported
Version 4.0.1 provides support for the following recently released operating systems:

• Microsoft Windows Server 2003
• Red Hat Linux 9
• SuSE Linux 8.2
• FreeBSD 4.8

Shared Folders in a Windows guest use UNC path names
In version 4.0.1, with the latest version of VMware Tools installed, Windows guest operating systems identify shared folders using a UNC path. For details, see this discussion of shared folders.

Updating to Version 4.0.5

If you are updating to version 4.0.5 from a previous version of Workstation 4, the process is simple.

• On a Windows host, uninstall the previous version using the Add/Remove Programs control panel. When prompted, leave your existing license in place. Then install version 4.0.5 using the update installer that you downloaded from the VMware Web site.
• On a Linux host, no special steps are needed to uninstall the previous version. Install version 4.0.5 using the update installer that you downloaded from the VMware Web site.
• Virtual machines created under previous versions of Workstation 4 should run with no problems under version 4.0.5. However, we recommend that you update VMware Tools to the version included in Workstation 4.0.5. Follow these instructions to install VMware Tools.

If you are upgrading from an earlier version of VMware Workstation, please read the notes on steps to take before you upgrade.

Known Issues

If you are installing a Linux guest operating system, we recommend that you use the text mode installer.
Some graphical mode Linux installers do not work properly in this release of Workstation.

If you are installing Workstation 4 on a SuSE Linux 8.2 host that has been updated, force the configuration program to compile the VMware modules.
If you are installing VMware Workstation 4 on a SuSE Linux 8.2 host and have applied updates to the host operating system, you may see an error message when you try to start a virtual machine. The message may include the phrase "unable to reserve memory" or "could not lock ... memory" or "NOT_IMPLEMENTED F (785):681."

The approach SuSE Linux 8.2 uses for minor updates does not change the kernel version number. As a result, when you install and configure Workstation, it uses kernel modules that are not appropriate for your running kernel.

To resolve the problem, you need to rerun the Workstation configuration program with a switch that forces it to compile kernel modules appropriate for your running kernel. To do so, as root, run the following command:
vmware-config.pl --compile