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How to Install VMWare tools for UBUNTU Server 8.10

Does anyone know of a good step by step guide to installing VMware tools for UBUNTU Server 8.10. I have found great guides for the desktop version and they are compatible to a point. I accept all the defaults in the installer but than am asked for a location for my make file.

I figured this to be a common problem with VMWare users and thougth that VMWare would have created a guide to this by now. If not them than perhaps UBUNTU?
I am looking for one document with step by step tailored to UBUNTU server 8.10. Thanks

John

The following instructions worked for me in a few Ubuntu virtual machines, but I have not tried a server install yet. Further, I did not write these instructions, rather, I googled for instructions and settled on these because they worked for me.

Determine your Ubuntu version: uname -a (for this example, let us say 2.6.15-23-386)
Set up a folder to work in: I use /tools in the root. mkdir /tools
Give it permissions: chmod 777 /tools
Be in root to install tools
Download the vmware tools package into /tools
Set up environment:
sudo apt-get install build-essential
sudo apt-get install linux-source-2.6.15
sudo apt-get install linux-headers-2.6.15-23-386
cd /usr/src
bzip2 -d linux-source-2.6.15.tar.bz2
tar xvf linux-source-2.6.15.tar
ln -s linux-source-2.6.15 linux
mv /usr/src/linux-source-2.6.15/include /usr/src/linux-source-2.6.15/include.orig
ln -s /usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.15-23-386/include /usr/src/linux-source-2.6.15/include
In the /tools folder ./vmware-install.pl

If you upgrade kernels, you have to run through most of this again. When you install, the installer should find files where it expects to. I have probably gone through ground you already know, but I just posted the complete set I had written down for myself. I have had to do these things for RedHat, SuSE and then Ubuntu, so I keep my notes.
... Thinkpads_User

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larstr

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AbdAlmumin

http://www.howtoforge.com/vmware_tools_on_linux

john6216

ASKER

These look great at first glance and will employ them on Thursday April 29th, I will award points then. How does the new UBUNTU 9.04 server stack up to 8.10? Is there a GUI with this one?

john6216

ASKER

Larstr:
With the stable release of UBUNTU 9.04 if you run that command will the VMWare tools as provided by VMWare (non-open source) go in smoother? If so can you think of a reason why 8.10 is superior to 9.04? If not perhaps we should use 9.04 instead of 8.10... I like this solution alot. I am going to test out the OS in our "lab" and see if I can't get that VMWare tools piece in and then I will award points. Thanks Experts!

John

You want to make sure the open source tools are the counterpart of the VMware Tools. The VMware Tools assist file sharing between the Linux guest and the host computer. You will probably need this, so be sure the open source does the same. ... Thinkpads_User