Specifications

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VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide
To prepare the host, make sure you have a recent version of Debugging Tools for
Windows — one that supports debugging over a pipe. You need version 4.0.18.0 or
higher.
When you are ready to begin, complete the following steps:
1. Power on the virtual machine.
2. Check to make sure the serial port is connected. Choose VM > Removable
Devices. On that menu, serial<n> should be reported as
\\.\pipe\<namedpipe> (on Windows hosts) or /tmp/<socket> (on Linux hosts).
If the serial port is not connected, choose the virtual serial port, then Connect.
3. On the host, open a Command Prompt window and do one of the following:
• If you are using WinDbg, type the following:
windbg -k com:port=\\.\pipe\<namedpipe>,pipe
• If you are using KD, type the following:
kd -k com:port=\\.\pipe\<namedpipe>,pipe
Then press Enter to start debugging.
Debugging an Application in a Virtual Machine from another Virtual Machine
In this situation, you have kernel code to debug in a virtual machine (called the target
virtual machine) and are running Debugging Tools for Windows (WinDbg) or Kernel
Debugger (KD) in another virtual machine (called the debugger virtual machine) on
the same host.
This setup is useful if you are running GSX Server on a Linux host. The debugger virtual
machine must be running Debugging Tools for Windows (WinDbg) or Kernel
Debugger (KD) in a Windows guest operating system.
To prepare the target virtual machine, follow the steps for the server virtual machine
in Connecting Two Virtual Machines on page 303. Make sure when you configure the
target virtual machine’s virtual serial port that you select the Yield CPU on poll check
box, as the kernel in the target virtual machine uses the virtual serial port in polled
mode, not interrupt mode.
To prepare the debugger virtual machine, make sure you have downloaded
Debugging Tools for Windows. Then follow the steps for the client virtual machine in
Connecting Two Virtual Machines on page 303.
When you are ready to continue, complete the following steps:
1. Power on both virtual machines.