Installing the VMware Management Interface

Installing the VMware Management Interface

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IT reseller takeaway: This book excerpt from Virtualization: From the Desktop to the Enterprise outlines prerequisites and steps for installing a VMware tool -- the VMware Management Interface -- which allows you or your customers to manage guest virtual machines.

The Management Interface requires that the libdb.so.3 library be installed first. You can search for it by issuing find / –name libdb.so.3 at the CLI. The operating system should respond with its location. The Management Interface comes as a TAR and is readily downloadable from VMware's Web site. Follow these steps:

1. To begin the install, go to the CLI or open a terminal window. If your user account doesn't have superuser permissions, you'll need to issue the su - command.

2. Next, browse to the location of the installation file. If it's on a CD-ROM, be sure to mount the CD-ROM first: mount /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom

3. Create a temporary directory to extract the file: mkdir /tmp/vminterface

4. Now, copy the TAR to the temporary location: cp VMware-mui-.tar.gz /tmp/vminterface

5. Change to the directory holding the TAR archive: cd /tmp/vminterface

6. Extract the archive: tar xzf VMware-mui-<versionnumber>.tar.gz

7. Change your present working directory to the location of the installation directory: cd /tmp/vminterface/vmware-mui-distrib

8. Finally, run the installation script: ./vmware-install.pl

9. You'll be asked to read and accept the license agreement. Press Enter to display the agreement, and use the space bar to scroll through the agreement. Type yes, and then press Enter.

10. The script will ask for a directory to install the binaries. The default is normally sufficient.

11. You'll next be asked to supply the destination location of the initd directories. You can change the default if necessary.

12. Next, you'll be prompted for the location of the init scripts. Press Enter if the default is sufficient.

13. The install script will then provide a default location to install the Management Interface files. Press Enter to continue. If the directory doesn't exist, the script will ask if it's okay to create the directory.

14. You'll have to supply a location for the documentation files. The default is normally sufficient. Press Enter to continue. If the directory structure doesn't exist, the system will ask if it can create the directory. Select the default of Yes.

15. The script will finally end the installation by evoking the configuration script for the Management Interface.

16. The configuration script will ask you to set a limit for session timeouts. It defaults to 60 minutes. Press Enter to complete the install.

17. When finished installing the Management Interface, be sure to log off with exit.

With the Management User Interface (MUI) installed, it's time to test its functionality. Start X Windows, and launch the Management Interface.

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About the author   
Chris Wolf is an instructor at ECPI Technical College, as well as a leading industry consultant in enterprise storage, virtualization solutions, and network infrastructure management. He has a master's degree in information technology from Rochester Institute of Technology, and his IT certification list includes MCSE, MCT, and CCNA. Wolf authored MCSE Supporting and Maintaining NT Server 4.0 Exam Cram, Windows 2000 Enterprise Storage Solutions and Troubleshooting Microsoft Technologies, and he contributes frequently to Redmond Magazine and Windows IT Pro Magazine. Wolf also speaks at computer conferences across the nation.


This was first published in September 2006

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