How to Install VMWare Server 2.0.2 on Ubuntu 10.10

Installing VMWare Server 2.0.2 on Ubuntu is no easy task these days. VMWare has mostly abandoned the VMWare Server software in favor of its ESX software. ESX is a great virtual server, but does require some hefty and specific server hardware requirements. For those who do not have the means to acquire the appropriate hardware you had been able to use VMWare Server in the past. With the new kernels used in Ubuntu, the installation for VMWare Server has stopped working. It cannot build the modules needed for networking and other key features due to kernel header changes. Thanks to the hard work of a few people we are able to install VMWare Server in Ubuntu 10.10 on Kernel version 2.6.35.

These directions and downloads are strictly for archival reasons. Please see the Source links at the bottom for original sources.

The first thing to do is to install Ubuntu 10.10 server on your server hardware.

Then download VMWareServer 2.0.2 from vmware.com, or here: VMware Server 2.0.2

Save this in your home directory.

Next download patch and script files needed to modify the installation to make it work: Kernel 2.6.35 VMware Server Install Script

Save this in your home directory also.
Before we begin we have to get some basic dependancies installed:

sudo aptitude install xinetd build-essentials linux-headers-`uname -r`

Now extract the script file:

tar xvzf vmware-server-2.0.x-kernel-2.6.3x-install.sh

Place the VMWareServer installation tar.gz file in the directory that was extracted from the above command:

mv VMware-server-2.0.2-203138.i386.tar.gz raducotescu-vmware-server-linux-2.6.3x-kernel-71f8b66

Now we need to run the script installer as root:

cd  raducotescu-vmware-server-linux-2.6.3x-kernel-71f8b66
sudo ./vmware-server-2.0.x-kernel-2.6.3x-install.sh

The installation is pretty straight forward. You will answer with the defaults for pretty much every question.

You will want to change the administrative user when asked to the user you generally log into the server with. This should not be the root user, and you will use this account to log into the web interface. The login accounts are linked and the password will be the same as the login you use to log into the console.

At the end you should find that you have a functional VMWare Server 2.0.2 installation.

Be sure to check the source links below for any new information and updated files for new kernel versions.