Question about VMWare

[wsmeyer]

Some of the BMW software I have like TIS, WDS and ETK are in a VMWare file that I then use a VMWare Player to run a virtual instance of XP. This got me thinking, if I or someone had a copy of the full VMWare software, not just the player, couldn't I just make one to distribute that had all of the BMW software installed in it already installed?

[NorCalZman]

not sure about the answer to your question, but is the reason why you are asking this is that it is difficult to install these programs? I use VMWare to run PA Soft. Took an hour to install it but it works fine.

[slater]

Some of the BMW software I have like TIS, WDS and ETK are in a VMWare file that I then use a VMWare Player to run a virtual instance of XP. This got me thinking, if I or someone had a copy of the full VMWare software, not just the player, couldn't I just make one to distribute that had all of the BMW software installed in it already installed?

what format does the VMware Player store the VM in - .vmdk?

i haven't used the Player but i deploy and maintain enterprise-level VMware products on a daily basis. the beauty of the VM is that it is entirely portable... so yes, technically - you could distribute it.

peter

[wsmeyer]

not sure about the answer to your question, but is the reason why you are asking this is that it is difficult to install these programs? I use VMWare to run PA Soft. Took an hour to install it but it works fine.

I have them all installed on my computer but yeah they are all kind of a pain to install and I thought that would be a much easier way for people to get up and running.

[wsmeyer]

what format does the VMware Player store the VM in - .vmdk?

i haven't used the Player but i deploy and maintain enterprise-level VMware products on a daily basis. the beauty of the VM is that it is entirely portable... so yes, technically - you could distribute it.

peter

Thanks for your input Peter, there are a bunch of .vmdk files in the main folder but the one I use to launch it is a .vmx file.

I'm just guessing but the player is free so it undoubtedly won't let you create or edit these things. But if I did get the full version somewhere cough cough could I then open the one I have, install all the rest of the programs, then save it?

[slater]

Thanks for your input Peter, there are a bunch of .vmdk files in the main folder but the one I use to launch it is a .vmx file.

I'm just guessing but the player is free so it undoubtedly won't let you create or edit these things. But if I did get the full version somewhere cough cough could I then open the one I have, install all the rest of the programs, then save it?

i think ideally what you are looking for is the VMware Workstation software, which is like VMware Player and ESXi merged into one, and it runs on top of windows. that said, you can actually download and install the free version of ESXi server, but you'll need a spare box/laptop for it. if you have an extra machine/hard drive kicking around, it's not hard to install (burn the .iso to a CD - it's only 350MB - and boot off of it to run the ESXi installer). then you manage it with the vSphere client installed on another windows machine.

the .vmx file is the config file for the VM, it tells the VM how to load and where the .vmdk files are, and they can be edited with a text editor! the .vmdk files are the logical disk files. the entire directory that those files are in can be zipped up and moved to another VMware Player/Workstation/ESXi installation and booted up.

peter

[toddness]

I run a small vmware environment here at home. I could provide you access and help set up the image and convert it to vmplayer image.