VMware Player - 3.0 Getting Started Guide
Getting Started Guide
VMware Player 3.0
This document supports the version of each product listed and
supports all subsequent versions until the document is replaced
by a new edition. To check for more recent editions of this
document, see http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs.
EN-000171-00
Getting Started Guide
You can find the most up-to-date technical documentation on the VMware Web site at:
http://www.vmware.com/support/
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Contents
About This Book 5
What Is VMware Player?
1
What You Can Do with VMware Player 8
Features in VMware Player 8
7
Host System Requirements for VMware Player
2
Compatible Virtual Machines and System Images 12
Using Virtual Symmetric Multiprocessing 12
11
Supported Host and Guest Operating Systems for VMware Player 13
3
Supported Host Operating Systems 13
Supported Guest Operating Systems 16
Processor Support for 64-Bit Guest Operating Systems 19
Installing and Running VMware Player 21
4
Install VMware Player on a Windows Host 21
Install VMware Player on a Linux Host 22
Start VMware Player 23
Close VMware Player 23
Uninstalling VMware Player 25
5
Uninstall VMware Player on a Windows Host 25
Uninstall VMware Player on a Windows Vista or Windows 7 Host 25
Uninstall VMware Player on a Linux Host 26
Index 27
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Getting Started Guide
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About This Book
This preface provides information about the VMware Player Getting Started Guide and links to VMware
educational resources.
Intended Audience
This book is intended for anyone who wants to install and use VMware Player 3.0. VMware Player 3.0 users
include anyone who wants to create and run virtual machines or virtual appliances. You can download and
safely run prebuilt application environments provided by software vendors or colleagues.
Document Feedback
VMware welcomes your suggestions for improving our documentation. If you have comments, send your
feedback to docfeedback@vmware.com.
Education Resources
The following Education resources are available to you. To access the current version of this book and other
books, go to http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs.
VMware Professional
Services
®
VMware Education Services courses offer extensive hands-on labs, case study
examples, and course materials designed to be used as on-the-job reference
tools. Courses
pilot programs and implementation best practices, VMware Consulting
Services provides offerings to help you assess, plan, build, and manage your
virtual environment. To access information about education classes,
certification programs, and consulting services, go to:
http://www.vmware.com/services/.
are available onsite, in the classroom, and live online. For onsite
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Getting Started Guide
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What Is VMware Player? 1
VMware Player is a desktop application that lets you create, configure, and run virtual machines.
With VMware Player you can use the following features:
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Create virtual machines that can run on a Windows or Linux PC.
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Run virtual
machines.
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Access all of the host machine hardware devices, such as USB drives, from the virtual machine.
The terms host and guest describe physical and virtual machines:
machines, making it easy to take advantage of the security, flexibility, and portability of virtual
Host
Guest
VMware Player provides an intuitive user interface for creating virtual machines or running preconfigured
virtual machines created with VMware Workstation, ESX Server, VMware Server, VMware Fusion, and GSX
Server. On Windows host machines, you can use VMware Player to open and run Microsoft Virtual PC and
Microsoft Virtual Server virtual machines, and Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery, formerly LiveState
Recovery, system images. VMware Player also lets you download virtual appliances and access Open
Virtualization Format (OVF) and Open Virtual Appliance (OVA) files. For information about VMware Player
see the compatible virtual machines and system images topic.
VMware Player makes VMware virtual machines accessible to colleagues, partners, customers, and clients,
regardless of whether they have purchased VMware products. Anyone who downloads VMware Player can
open and run compatible virtual machines.
NOTE Use of VMware Player is subject to the VMware Player end-user license terms. VMware provides no
support for VMware Player. You can download VMware Player from the VMware Web site.
You can also download virtual appliances to use with VMware Player from the Virtual Appliance Marketplace
from the VMware Web site.
For self-help resources, see the VMware Player FAQ under the VMware Desktop Virtualization Products
section of the VMware Web site. You can also participate in the VMware Player Discussion Forum under the
VMware Technology
to exchange information, questions, and comments regarding VMware products, services, and product support
issues.
Network (VMTN) section of the VMware Web site. The forum enables VMTN members
The physical computer on which you install the VMware Player software is
called the host machine, and its operating system is called the host operating
system.
The operating system running inside a virtual machine is called a guest
operating system. The virtual machine is called the guest.
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Getting Started Guide
This chapter includes the following topics:
n
“What You Can Do with VMware Player,” on page 8
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“Features in VMware Player,” on page 8
What You Can Do with VMware Player
VMware Player allows you to perform various tasks in a virtual machine. You can create and run virtual
machines, use and evaluate prebuilt applications, simplify software distribution, and collaborate with
colleagues.
Create and Run Virtual Machines
Create a
to production. You can test new multitier applications, application updates, and operating system patches on
a single PC. You can host legacy applications within virtual machines, facilitating operating system migrations
and eliminating the need to port legacy applications.
virtual machine to configure and test desktops and servers as virtual machines before deploying them
Use and Evaluate Prebuilt Applications
Download and safely run prebuilt application environments on virtual machines that are available from the
Virtual Appliance Marketplace section on the VMware Web site. The Virtual Appliance Marketplace includes
virtual machines from leading software vendors, including Oracle, Red Hat, Novell, BEA, SpikeSource, IBM,
and MySQL, as well as virtual machines that are preconfigured with popular open source software.
Transform Software Distribution
Simplify software distribution by shipping preconfigured software on virtual machines. Customers can
experience the benefits of your products immediately, without setup hassles. VMware Player is ideal for
shipping evaluation copies or beta software. You can package complex, sophisticated applications, complete
with a full working environment, on a virtual machine that anyone who downloads VMware Player can use.
Collaborate with Colleagues
VMware Player makes it easy for support, development, and QA to share customer scenarios in virtual
machines.
Features in VMware Player
VMware Player is a desktop application for creating and running virtual machines.
VMware Player includes the following new features:
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Create Virtual Machine with Easy Install - Create a virtual machine and install any supported guest
operating system with Easy Install.
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New User Interface - New virtual machine library interface is now available. The interface to create virtual
machines and edit virtual machine settings is also available.
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Aero Glass Support - New Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM) graphics driver available by default
for Windows Vista and Windows 7 provides support for the Windows Aero user interface. The WDDM
driver also includes support for OpenGL 1.4 and Shader Model 3.0. VMware recommends that you use
the graphics hardware NVIDIA GeForce 8800 and ATI Radeon HD 2600 with Aero.
n
3D Graphics Improvements - OpenGL 2.1 and Shader Model 3.0 support is available for Windows XP
virtual machines. The XPDM graphics driver works with Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7.
However, only Windows XP virtual machines install the graphics driver by default.
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Multiple display Support - Virtual machines can now take advantage of multiple monitors.
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Chapter 1 What Is VMware Player?
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Advanced Linux
Sound Architecture (ALSA) - ALSA is available in VMware Player to improve the audio
in virtual machines running on a Linux host.
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Drag and Drop Enhancements - Ability to drag and drop images, formatted text email attachments, and
zip folders is available for both Windows and Linux hosts. The enhancements add support for new file
types and extends the existing ability to drag and drop certain file types to a broader set of guest and host
operating systems.
n
Virtual Printing - Support for virtual printing allows users to print from virtual machines without mapping
network printers or installing printer drivers in the virtual machine. If virtual printing is enabled in the
virtual machine setting, all of the printers installed on the host operating system are available in the guest
operating system.
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On-Demand VMware Tools Download - VMware Tools integrates the guest operating system with the
host operating system through drag and drop, cut and paste, time synchronization, and features like Unity.
The latest version of VMware Tools is dynamically downloaded during the creation of virtual machines.
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VIX API for VMware Player - Software vendors can use the VIX functionality to add their own interface
to the VMware Player menu bar. VIX API documentation and additional information is available on the
VMware Web site.
For more instructions about how to use these features, select Help > Help Topics to view the online help
provided in VMware Player.
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