Specifications

VMware, Inc. 133
Chapter 3 Using the VMware Management Interface
Using Parallel Ports in a Virtual Machine
Virtual!machines!must!be!configured!so!that!parallel!ports!on!the!virtual!machine!are!
connected!to!the!appropriate!port!on!the!physical!machine.
To connect the virtual machine's first parallel port (LPT1) to the physical
computer's first parallel port
1 Reboot!the!physical!computer!and!enter!the!BIOS!setup.!
Typically,!you!press!F2!or!Delete!while!the! machine!is!booting.!Find!the!parallel!
port!mode!setting!and
!set!it!to!PS/2.!(The!typical!choices!are!AT!and!PS/2.)!If!PS/2!
is!not!available!as!an!option,!set!it!to!bidirectional.
2Log!on!to!the!console!operating!system!as!root!and!enter!the!following!commands:
/sbin/insmod parport
/sbin/insmod parport_pc
/sbin/insmod ppdev
Type!lsmod!and!confirm!that!these!modules!are!in!the!listing!of!loaded!modules.
To!make!these!changes!permanent,!add!the!three!lines!shown!above!to!the!end!of!
the!file!/etc/rc.d/rc.local.
3Be!sure!the!virtual!machine!is!shut!down!and!powered!off,!and!add!the!following!
options!to!the!virtual!
machineʹs!configuration!file!as!described!in!“Setting!Startup!
and!Shutdown!Options!by!Modifying!the!Configuration!File!Directly!(Advanced!
Users!Only)”!on!page 126.
! Add!an!option!called!parallel0.present!and!set!its!value!to!true.
! Add!an!option!called!parallel0.fileName!and!set!its!value!to!
“/dev/parport0”.
! Add!an!option!called!parallel0.bidirectional!and!set!its!value!to!true.
4 Look!for!the!line!config.version = 6 in!the!configuration!file!to!make!sure!the!
virtual!machine!is!using!virtual!hardware!version!6.!
This!line!is!present!in!the!configuration!file!for!any!virtual!machine!created!with!
ESX!Server!1.5.x.!and!later.!If!the!virtual!machine!was!created!under!ESX!Serv er!1.0!
or!1.1!and!has!not!been
!updated,!add!the!config.version = 6 line!to!the!
configuration!file.