It's my understanding that CentOS is a carbon copy of Red Hat - with the exception of the art work. Assuming that this is true, the support matrix for VMware Server 2.0.1 states Red Hat 5.1. I cannot seem to locate a CentOS 5.1 x86-64 copy. I can get a copy of 5.3 and 5.4. If I take this route, what should I expect running VMware 2.0.1?
Thanks, Gene Poole
gene.poole@macys.com wrote:
It's my understanding that CentOS is a carbon copy of Red Hat - with the exception of the art work. Assuming that this is true, the support matrix for VMware Server 2.0.1 states Red Hat 5.1. I cannot seem to locate a CentOS 5.1 x86-64 copy. I can get a copy of 5.3 and 5.4. If I take this route, what should I expect running VMware 2.0.1?
My VMware Server 2.0.1 instances all still seem to run normal. I've been running them on 5.3 for quite some time, and this week on 5.4 with no issues. I wouldn't expect any problems. I'm running x86 versions of everything.
Regards, Max
Max Hetrick wrote:
gene.poole@macys.com wrote:
It's my understanding that CentOS is a carbon copy of Red Hat - with the exception of the art work. Assuming that this is true, the support matrix for VMware Server 2.0.1 states Red Hat 5.1. I cannot seem to locate a CentOS 5.1 x86-64 copy. I can get a copy of 5.3 and 5.4. If I take this route, what should I expect running VMware 2.0.1?
My VMware Server 2.0.1 instances all still seem to run normal. I've been running them on 5.3 for quite some time, and this week on 5.4 with no issues. I wouldn't expect any problems. I'm running x86 versions of everything.
That's actually pretty strange because the glibc update in 5.4 will break VMware Server 2.0.1. Have you rebooted or restarted vmware since the update? if you haven't, don't until you look up the fix...
However, other than this issue which may be fixed in 2.0.2 (I still had a problem but haven't spent much time investigating), the combination works fine. And for the original poster - being 'supported' in vmware just means that they supply a binary kernel module that matches the kernel. You can still run vmware in 'unsupported' combinations but whenever you update the kernel you have to run the script that rebuids the matching module for you before vmware will start. And the 2.0.1 version worked fine with Centos 5.0->5.3.
Also, anyone just starting with VMware might want to look at the ESXi version now that it is a free download instead of running the server version.
Les Mikesell wrote:
That's actually pretty strange because the glibc update in 5.4 will break VMware Server 2.0.1. Have you rebooted or restarted vmware since the update? if you haven't, don't until you look up the fix...
Yeah, I've rebooted my instances. My one instance is my laptop which gets restarted twice a day actually. I've not had any issues at all. Everything has been running great.
I'm running this RPM from VMware:
VMware-server-2.0.1-156745
So, I'm not sure. Is it something related to x86_64 systems only then? All mine are x86, and I see a lot of references to x86_64 here. Just a thought.
Regards, Max
On Thu, Oct 29, 2009 at 7:01 AM, Max Hetrick maxhetrick@verizon.net wrote:
Les Mikesell wrote:
That's actually pretty strange because the glibc update in 5.4 will break VMware Server 2.0.1. Have you rebooted or restarted vmware since the update? if you haven't, don't until you look up the fix...
Yeah, I've rebooted my instances. My one instance is my laptop which gets restarted twice a day actually. I've not had any issues at all. Everything has been running great.
I'm running this RPM from VMware:
VMware-server-2.0.1-156745
So, I'm not sure. Is it something related to x86_64 systems only then? All mine are x86, and I see a lot of references to x86_64 here. Just a thought.
This issue (including workarounds) is being tracked here:
http://bugs.centos.org/view.php?id=3884
Akemi
Max Hetrick wrote:
Les Mikesell wrote:
That's actually pretty strange because the glibc update in 5.4 will break VMware Server 2.0.1. Have you rebooted or restarted vmware since the update? if you haven't, don't until you look up the fix...
Yeah, I've rebooted my instances. My one instance is my laptop which gets restarted twice a day actually. I've not had any issues at all. Everything has been running great.
I'm running this RPM from VMware:
VMware-server-2.0.1-156745
So, I'm not sure. Is it something related to x86_64 systems only then? All mine are x86, and I see a lot of references to x86_64 here. Just a thought.
No, I have it on an x86 box and had to use the workaround here: http://communities.vmware.com/message/1364852 /lib/libc-2.5.so is actually still available after the upgrade so you don't have to copy it from another system - it just isn't the target of the libc.so.6 symlink anymore.
Someone reported different behavior on core duo's vs. xeons which is probably what you are seeing, but eventually both crashed.
Les Mikesell wrote:
No, I have it on an x86 box and had to use the workaround here: http://communities.vmware.com/message/1364852 /lib/libc-2.5.so is actually still available after the upgrade so you don't have to copy it from another system - it just isn't the target of the libc.so.6 symlink anymore.
Someone reported different behavior on core duo's vs. xeons which is probably what you are seeing, but eventually both crashed.
Ok, thanks! I'll keep my eye out. These machines aren't business critical, but I'll definitely keep a watch out.
Regards, Max
However, other than this issue which may be fixed in 2.0.2 (I still had a problem but haven't spent much time investigating), the combination works fine.
The upgrade to VMware Server 2.0.2 on 5.4 has not gone well for me. The XP shutdown command hangs. XP Task Manager then shows nothing running any significant cpu load then totally hangs the guest and a forced reboot is required. The forced reboot generates a "Communication Error" . Restarting vmware fails until all processes related to vmware are killed, config.pl is re-run and the server restarted. Upgrading Vmware tools finally succeeded after several tries with only cryptic messages that the "Installation failed". I haven't tried a guest shutdown since the tools were fixed so I don't know if this is or is not related. Not a trace of information in any of the logs. Will pursue this further tonight. Server 2.0.1 and it's predecessors have run flawlessly for me the last few years.
In addition, my tea is cold and my little toe hurts. There - I've done all my whining for the day.
benm
On Thu, Oct 29, 2009 at 9:29 AM, gene.poole@macys.com wrote:
It's my understanding that CentOS is a carbon copy of Red Hat - with the exception of the art work. Assuming that this is true, the support matrix for VMware Server 2.0.1 states Red Hat 5.1. I cannot seem to locate a CentOS 5.1 x86-64 copy. I can get a copy of 5.3 and 5.4. If I take this route, what should I expect running VMware 2.0.1?
Thanks, Gene Poole
I am running VMware Server 2.0.1 on CentOS 5.2 and 5.3 with no problems. Search this mailing list for info on 5.4, as I think there was a small issue that needed to be worked around.
Brian Mathis wrote:
I am running VMware Server 2.0.1 on CentOS 5.2 and 5.3 with no problems. Search this mailing list for info on 5.4, as I think there was a small issue that needed to be worked around.
I believe this was the issue:
http://communities.vmware.com/thread/229957
Regards, Max
gene.poole@macys.com wrote:
It's my understanding that CentOS is a carbon copy of Red Hat - with the exception of the art work. Assuming that this is true, the support matrix for VMware Server 2.0.1 states Red Hat 5.1. I cannot seem to locate a CentOS 5.1 x86-64 copy. I can get a copy of 5.3 and 5.4. If I take this route, what should I expect running VMware 2.0.1?
my experience with VMWare Server 2.0.x on x86_64 platforms is abysmal. its totally unstable and unusable, on both Linux (RHEL 5.x) and Windows Vista 64bit, even if you are just running 32bit VMs.
John R Pierce wrote:
It's my understanding that CentOS is a carbon copy of Red Hat - with the exception of the art work. Assuming that this is true, the support matrix for VMware Server 2.0.1 states Red Hat 5.1. I cannot seem to locate a CentOS 5.1 x86-64 copy. I can get a copy of 5.3 and 5.4. If I take this route, what should I expect running VMware 2.0.1?
my experience with VMWare Server 2.0.x on x86_64 platforms is abysmal. its totally unstable and unusable, on both Linux (RHEL 5.x) and Windows Vista 64bit, even if you are just running 32bit VMs.
I don't like the change to a web based console in the 2.x series so I'm still mostly using 1.x versions (and I've had some things running under Centos 3.x/VMware 1.x for years with no issues). But, I hadn't seen any real problems with the 2.0.1 version before the glibc change in the 5.4 upgrade. What kind of trouble did you have?
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Akemi Yagi -
Ben Mohilef -
Brian Mathis -
gene.poole＠macys.com -
John R Pierce -
Les Mikesell -
Max Hetrick