VMware and unRAID - how to set up a test environment?

[nia]

Hi.

 

I want to have a development/test environment set up to test how I add different things to unRAID before doing it in real life.

 

I have tried to read through most of the "Installing VMware Server on unRAID Box", but I'm trying a slightly different approach. Reason being that I would like my test environment to be as close to production as at all possible.

 

Assumption:

• My production machine will boot unRAID directly from USB, not on top of a VMware installation.
  
• My production unRAID will run a VMware based instance of a Windows(7 or XP) system.
  
• The VMware installation in unRAID in production will have access to a physical serial port on the unRAID machine.
  

 

Vision:

• My test environment must look very closely to production.
  
• I want a VMware server machine that boots directly from a USB key into unRAID - just like production.
  
• The unRAID server is accessible over the net as a normal unRAID server is.
  
• Inside the virtual unRAID, I want to load a VMware server that in turn installs Windows (as the production environment should)
  

 

What I have got so far:

Using a PLOP boot manager as described here http://www.vladan.fr/great-tip-how-to-boot-from-usb-image-in-vmware-workstation/, I have a VMware server 2.0.2 installed here on my W7 laptop booting into unRAID.  

 

However, my first stumbling block is the fact that unRAID does not recognise the Ethernet port supplied by VMware. ifconfig -a only reports about the loopback interface. Without that I'm kind of stuck.   :'(

 

Any idea how to enable the ethernet interface. I tried setting it up in VMware as both bridged and NAT.

 

I'm not too sure about how to determine if the 4 Virtual disks I have set up is recognised by unRAID without the Web interface. an ls-command in the /mnt folder do not list any disks.

 

Thanks for any input.

 

I hope this will end up in a fairly simple cookbook as to how to set up a VMware test environment without requiring the download and recompiling of krenels and whatnot to the benefit of newbies and non-linux-wizards.

 

/Niels

PS: Sorry for starting a second VMware thread, but the old one spans several years and versions and addresses a lot of different issues.

[dacne]

In your vmx file, locate the ethernet entries (they start with ethernetX.  where X is 0 for the first adapter)

Add, or modify if already present, this line: ethernetX.virtualDev = "e1000"  (substitute X accordingly)

For details see: http://www.sanbarrow.com/vmx/vmx-network.html

 

To list disks: sfdisk -l

[nia]

Thanks dacne.

 

I'm leaving on a business trip to Paris for the rest of the week, so I won't get a chance to try this out before the weekend. I'll post back when I've tried applying the instructions.

 

Anyone got other comments to my overall approach to the objective of getting VMware running?

 

What I did not write in my initial post: I guess that I probably will have to install a Slackware 12.2 to be able compile the VMware unless I will be able to do that from within the unRAID installation or obtain it in some other way?

 

/Niels