2.0

VMware, Inc. 9
Getting Started with VMware Player
! Appliance!view!–!Virtual!machine!appliances!can!now!be!preconfigured!to!display!an!appliance!view.!A!
virtual!appliance!is!a!pre‐installed!and!preconfigured!application!and!operating!system!environment!that!
runs!on!any!standard!x86!desktop!or!server!in!a!virtual!machine—for!example,!a!Web!server!application!
with!a!browser‐based
!console.!The!appliance!view!gives!you!a!brief!description!of!the!type!of!server!or!
appliance!and!provides!a!link!that!opens!the!browser!on!the!guest!operating!system!and!connects!to!the!
correct!port!for!the!server!console.!If!a!virtual!machine!is!configured!with!an!appliance!view,!VMware!
Player!defaults!to!the!appliance!view.!You!can!also!use!the!traditional!console!view!if!you!prefer.
! Welcome!page!—!The!Welcome!page!gives!you!the!option!of!browsing!to!a!virtual!machine!file,!opening!
a!recently!used!virtual!machine,!or!downloading!a!virtual!appliance!from!the!Virtual!Appliance!
Marketplace.!It!also!displays!information!about!a!featured!virtual!appliance,!which!you!can!download.
! Experimental!support!for!Virtual!SMP™!—!You!can!use!VMware!Player!to!power!on!a!virtual!machine!
that!has!more!than!one!virtual!processor!assigned.
Host System Requirements for VMware Player
The!minimum!host!system!requirements!for!installing!and!using!VMware!Player!are:
! Standard!x86‐compatible!or!x86‐64‐compatible!PC
! Processor!speed!–!733MHz!or!faster!
! Memory!–!512!MB!minimum!(2GB!recommended).!You!must!have!enough!memory!to!run!the!host!
operating!system,!the!virtual!machine,!and!applications!on!the!host!and!guest!operating!systems.!
! Hard!disk!–!At!least!1GB!free!disk!space!is!recommended!for!each!guest!operating!system.!
For!installation,!VMware!Player!requires!approximately!200MB!(Linux)!or!250MB!(Windows)!free!disk!
space.!You!can!delete!the!installer!after!installation!is!complete!to!reclaim!disk!space.
See!“Supported!Host!and!Guest!Operating!Systems!for!
VMware!Player”!on!page 13!for!additional!information!
about!supported!host!and!guest!operating!systems.
Compatible Virtual Machines and System Images
The!following!virtual!machines!and!system!images!are!compatible!with!VMware!Player:
! VMware!Virtual!Machines!–!VMware!Player!runs!virtual!machines!created!with!VMware!Workstation 4!
and!higher,!GSX Server 3.x,!VMware!Server,!and!ESX Server 2.x!and!higher.!Workstation 4!virtual!
machines!run!in!legacy!mode.!Virtual!machines!created!in!versions!earlier!than!Workstation 4!must!be!
upgraded!using!another!VMware!product!before!you!can!run!them!in!VMware
!Player.!
! Microsoft!Virtual!PC!and!Virtual!Server!Virtual!Machines!–!On!Windows!hosts,!VMware!Player!can!run!
Microsoft!Virtual!PC!and!Virtual!Server!virtual!machines.!When!you!open!a!Virtual!PC!virtual!machine!
in!VMware!Player,!VMware!Player!automatically!creates!a!VMware‐compatible!configuration!file!(with!a!
.vmx!extension),!and!preserves!the
!original!Virtual!PC!configuration!file!(with!a!.vmc!extension).!You!can!
save!the!VMware‐compatible!virtual!machine.!
! Symantec!Backup!Exec!System!Recovery!System!Images!–!On!Windows!hosts,!VMware!Player!can!run!
system!images!created!with!Symantec!Backup!Exec!System!Recovery!(formerly!Symantec!LiveState!
Recovery).!When!you!open!a!Backup!Exec!System!Recovery!system!image!in!VMware!Player,!VMware!
Player!automatically!creates!a!VMware‐compatible!configuration!file!(with
!a!.vmx!extension),!and!
preserves!the!original!Backup!Exec!System!Recovery!system!image!file!(with!a!.sv2i!extension).!You!can!
save!the!VMware‐compatible!virtual!machine.
Virtual SMP
Virtual!SMP!support!in!VMware!Player!is!experimental.!With!this!feature,!you!can!use!VMware!Player!to!run!
a!virtual!machine!that!has!more!than!one!virtual!processor!assigned.