Specifications

CHAPTER 2 Installing VMware GSX Server
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• A remote management client and operating system that meet the system
requirements for running the GSX Server remote management software. See
Remote Client Requirements on page 23.
• The installation CDs or disks for your guest operating systems.
• The GSX Server installation software. If you bought a GSX Server media kit, the
installation software is on the CD in your package. If you bought the electronic
distribution, the installation software is in the files you downloaded.
• Your GSX Server serial number. The serial number is included in the email
message you received from VMware or from the reseller from whom you
purchased GSX Server.
Also, before you install and run VMware GSX Server, check the following notes and
make any necessary adjustments to the configuration of your host operating system.
• The real-time clock function must be compiled into your Linux kernel.
• GSX Server for Linux systems requires that the parallel port PC-style hardware
option (CONFIG_PARPORT_PC) be built and loaded as a kernel module (that
is, it must be set to m when the kernel is compiled).
• (SuSE Linux 7.1 and later hosts): The inetd process must be configured to
start when the host operating system boots. See Before You Install on a SuSE
Linux 7.1 or Later Host on page 59.
• (SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 8 hosts): The gcc package must be installed on
your host before you install GSX Server. See Before You Install on a SuSE Linux
Enterprise Server 8 Host on page 60.
Caution: Some operating systems, such as Red Hat Linux 7.2 and 7.3, include a firewall
by default. This firewall prevents access from the VMware Virtual Machine Console and
the VMware Management Interface on client computers to the GSX Server host. In
order for the VMware Virtual Machine Console to connect to the host, you need to
open up port 902. To connect to the host with the VMware Management Interface,
you need to open up port 8333 (and port 8222 if you plan to disable SSL for the
management interface).
On the Server
You can install up to three software packages on the Linux server:
• The GSX Server package for the server (from an RPM or tar archive available on
the GSX Server CD-ROM or the VMware Web site). The RPM file is called
VMware-gsx-<xxxx>.i386.rpm while the tar archive is called