Setting Up for Linux Desktops

Table 1‑2. Recommended vRAM Settings for 2D or vSGA Graphics (Continued)
vRAM Size
Number of
Monitors Maximum Resolution
16 MB 1 2560x1600
32 MB 2 2048x1536 or 2560x1600
48 MB 3 2048x1536
64 MB 3 2560x1600
64 MB 4 2048x1536
128 MB 4 2560x1600
RHEL and CentOS only support this configuration on vSphere 5.5.
To support this configuration on Ubuntu, you must recompile the kernel and
disable 3D. For information about how to disable 3D, see
http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2114809 .
For NeoKylin, this configuration is not supported.
NOTE To connect to a RHEL 6.6 or CentOS 6.6 desktop with multiple monitors, you must set the number of
displays and the amount of video memory as described in “Create a Virtual Machine and Install Linux,” on
page 13. In addition, with the virtual machine (VM) powered off, you must edit the vmx file and set
svga.maxWidth and svga.maxHeight according to the number and orientation (horizontal or vertical) of the
displays. You also must set svga.autodetect to false. Then power on the VM. The general rule is that the
svga.maxWidth and svga.maxHeight values must be large enough to support all the displays. To support 4
displays at the maximum resolution of 2560x1600, add the following lines to the vmx file. You do not need
to modify the parameter svga.vramSize.
svga.maxWidth="10240"
svga.maxHeight="3200"
svga.autodetect="false"
If you have multiple monitors, you must set these parameters. Otherwise, you might encounter one or more
of the following problems:
n
Only one monitor displays correctly. The other monitors might be black or mirror another monitor.
n
A keystroke is displayed multiple times.
n
The desktop becomes very slow.
If you encounter an autofit issue with the recommended settings, you can specify a larger vRAM size.
vSphere Client permits a maximum vRAM size of 128 MB. If your specified size exceeds 128 MB, you must
modify the vmx file manually. The following example specifies a vRAM size of 256 MB:
svga.vramSize = "268435456"
NOTE To configure four monitors for a RHEL 7.1 machine that uses 2D rendering or 3D rendering with
vSGA, set a maximum resolution of 2048x1536 for each monitor. To configure a RHEL 7.1 machine to use up
to three monitors, set a maximum resolution of 2560x1600 for each monitor.
To improve performance for a RHEL 7.1 machine in a vSGA multiple-monitor environment, set the 3D
Memory setting for the virtual machine to 1 GB or larger, and configure 4 vCPUs for the machine. If you
configure four monitors at 2048x1536 resolution on a RHEL 7.1 machine, set Memory to 4 GB, and configure
4 vCPUs for the machine.
Chapter 1 Features and System Requirements
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