VMWare Server
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VMWare Server 2.0 Beta on Ubuntu 7.10.
WTF #0: After you install the software there is not really any indication of what you need to do next. You need to figure out to look at the web interface itself. Running the `vmware` command just tells you to "Try 'man vmware' for more information."
WTF #1: I tried to log on with my normal username/password, and it failed. I looked at the logs, and.... it had crapped over itself because my password, which contains angle brackets, had been stuck into some XML document unescaped, and thence b0rked it (unescaped, plaintext, passwords? In my logfiles?)
WTF #2: Turns out you need to log in as root to be able to do anything (unescaped, plaintext, root, passwords?). Somewhat understandable, I guess, but not obvious. Not very happy running such a large mish-mash of crappy code as root. It's the kind of software that you'd only want to run inside a.... virtual machine.
WTF #3: Ran into this bug. Had to edit the /usr/lib/vmware/webAccess/tomcat/apache-tomcat-5.5.17/webapps/ui/jslib-1.0.63181/modules/com.vmware.webaccess.app_1.0.0/WebAccess.properties file to fix it, restart server, flush cache, etc.
WTF #3.5: Trying to run /etc/init.d/vmware-mgmt restart just hangs stopping the host agent, doesn't even respond to ^C. Requires a kill <pid> from the commandline to die. Trying to run /etc/init.d/vmware start afterwards tells you vmware is not correctly installed. Run /usr/lib/vmware-configure.pl. For the fourth time.
WTF #4: Their webAccess management interface is some kind of full-blown-javascript-GUI-toolkit application. Ugh.
WTF #5: The installer warns you that the webAccess interface may not work because I have IPv6 enabled on my host machine, and advises me to disable it. And indeed, the webAccess interface does not work, and just hangs when I try and configure my VM. The issue? The whole reason I was installing VMWare was because I wanted to develop IPv6 support for a game. Disabling IPv6 is not an option, throwing VMWare Server out the window is.
I guess this is just what you have to expect when you use the kind of software that big companies pay thousands of dollars for. Next up, QEMU (actually, I still have enough patience left to try the VMWare Server 1.x series).
Rant over. Continue.
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@SpComb said:
Next up, QEMU (actually, I still have enough patience left to try the VMWare Server 1.x series).
I decided to not bother with VMware Server 2.0, at least until they return to the "VMware Server Console" interface or keep it as a supported option.
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@SpComb said:
Next up, QEMU (actually, I still have enough patience left to try the VMWare Server 1.x series).
Try VirtualBox instead, it is supposedly based on QEMU and has a nice interface which gives some features that QEMU doesn't have or are hard to find (like live CD/DVD switching, guest additions), it can also use VMDK (or w/e it's called) naively.
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@Lingerance said:
it can also use VMDK (or w/e it's called) naively.
I don't like naive software. No thanks.
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@Lingerance said:
[...can also use VMDK (or w/e it's called) naively.
Hey, wait, I have it on [i]good authority[/i] QEMU can use VMDK naively. It can also use it natively, which is pretty neat.
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I didn't know if that was a feature that was inherited or not, now I know.
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So I gave VMWare Server 1.0.4 a spin... it's like night and day. Works perfectly. VMWare needs to put a bigger disclaimer on their Beta software.
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@SpComb said:
VMWare needs to put a bigger disclaimer on their Beta software.
...Why? It's a beta you were supposed to file a bug report.
