Specifications

Table Of Contents
VMware Server Virtual Machine Guide
224 VMware, Inc.
This!option!is!useful!if!you!want!to!squeeze!every!possible!bit!of!speed!from!your!serial!
connection!over!a!pipe!to!the!virtual!machine.!In!principle,!there!is!no!limit!on!the!
output!speed!!the!speed!at!which!the!virtual!machine!sends!data!through!the!virtual!
serial!port.!In
!practice,!the!output!speed!depends!on!how!fast!the!application!at!the!
other!end!of!the!pipe!reads!data!inbound!to!it.
<n>!is!the!number!of!the!serial!port,!starting!from!0.!So!the!first!serial!port!is!serial0.!
<x>!is!any!positive!integer.!It!specifies!the!time!taken
!to!transmit!a!character,!expressed!
as!a!percentage!of!the!default!speed!set!for!the!serial!port!in!the!guest!operating!system.!
For!example,!a!setting!of!200!forces!the!port!to!take!twice!as!long!per!character,!or!send!
data!at!half!the!default!speed.!A!setting!of!50!
forces!the!port!to!take!only!half!as!long!per!
character,!or!send!data!at!twice!the!default!speed.
You!should!first!use!the!guest!operating!system!to!configure!the!serial!port!for!the!
highest!setting!supported!by!the!application!you!are!running!in!the!virtual!machine.
After!the!serial!port!speed
!is!set!appropriately!in!the!guest!operating!system,!
experiment!with!this!setting.!Start!with!a!value!of!100!and!gradually!decrease!it!until!
you!find!the!highest!speed!at!which!your!connection!works!reliably.
Examples: Debugging over a Virtual Serial Port
You!can!use!Debugging!Tools!for!Windows!(WinDbg)!or!Kernel!Debugger!(KD)!to!debug!
kernel!code!in!a!virtual!machine!over!a!virtual!serial!port.!You!can!download!
Debugging!Tools!for!Windows!from!the!Windows!DDK!Web!site!at!
www.microsoft.com/whdc/devtools/debugging/default.mspx.
The!following!two!examples!illustrate!how!to!use!
a!virtual!serial!port!to!debug!kernel!
code!in!a!virtual!machine:
! With!the!debugging!application!on!the!VMware!Server!host!(Windows!hosts!only)
! With!the!debugging!application!in!another!virtual!machine!on!the!same!VMware!
Server!host!(useful!on!a!Linux!host!and!can!also!be!done!on!a!Windows!host)
Either!of!these!methods!lets!you!debug!kernel!code!on!one!system,!without!requiring!
two!physical!computers,!a!modem!or!serial!cable.
Debugging an Application in a Virtual Machine from the Windows or
Linux Host
In!this!example,!you!have!kernel!code!to!debug!in!a!virtual!machine!(called!the!target!
virtual!machine)!and!are!running!WinDbg!or!KD!on!your!Windows!host.