VMware Workstation - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

VMware Workstation is a virtual machine

Virtual machine

A virtual machine is a "completely isolated guest operating system installation within a normal host operating system". Modern virtual machines are implemented with either software emulation or hardware virtualization or both together.-VM Definitions:A virtual machine is a software...

software suite for x86 and x86-64

X86-64

x86-64 is an extension of the x86 instruction set. It supports vastly larger virtual and physical address spaces than are possible on x86, thereby allowing programmers to conveniently work with much larger data sets. x86-64 also provides 64-bit general purpose registers and numerous other...

computers from VMware

VMware

VMware, Inc. is a company providing virtualization software founded in 1998 and based in Palo Alto, California, USA. The company was acquired by EMC Corporation in 2004, and operates as a separate software subsidiary ....

, a division of EMC Corporation

EMC Corporation

EMC Corporation , a Financial Times Global 500, Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company, develops, delivers and supports information infrastructure and virtual infrastructure hardware, software, and services. EMC is headquartered in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, USA.Former Intel executive Richard Egan and his...

, which allows users to set up multiple x86 and x86-64 virtual machines (VMs) and use one or more of these virtual machines simultaneously with the hosting operating system

Operating system

An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...

. Each virtual machine instance can execute its own guest operating system, including Windows

Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...

, Linux

Linux

Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...

, BSD variants, and others. In simple terms, VMware Workstation allows one physical machine to run multiple operating systems simultaneously, whereas other VMware products help manage or migrate VMware virtual machines across multiple physical host machines. Workstation is sold and developed by VMware; VMware Player

VMware Player

VMware Player is a freeware virtualization software package from VMware, Inc. . VMware Player can run virtual appliances. VMware Player can also create virtual machines since version 3.0...

is a similar program with fewer features supplied free of charge.

VMware Workstation supports bridging

Bridging (networking)

Bridging is a forwarding technique used in packet-switched computer networks. Unlike routing, bridging makes no assumptions about where in a network a particular address is located. Instead, it depends on flooding and examination of source addresses in received packet headers to locate unknown...

to existing host network adapters

Network card

A network interface controller is a computer hardware component that connects a computer to a computer network....

, CD-ROM

CD-ROM

A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....

devices, hard disk

Hard disk

A hard disk drive is a non-volatile, random access digital magnetic data storage device. It features rotating rigid platters on a motor-driven spindle within a protective enclosure. Data is magnetically read from and written to the platter by read/write heads that float on a film of air above the...

drives, and USB

Universal Serial Bus

USB is an industry standard developed in the mid-1990s that defines the cables, connectors and protocols used in a bus for connection, communication and power supply between computers and electronic devices....

devices (including USB Isochronous devices such as webcam

Webcam

A webcam is a video camera that feeds its images in real time to a computer or computer network, often via USB, ethernet, or Wi-Fi.Their most popular use is the establishment of video links, permitting computers to act as videophones or videoconference stations. This common use as a video camera...

s, microphones etc.), and provides the ability to simulate some hardware. For example, it can mount

Mount (computing)

Mounting takes place before a computer can use any kind of storage device . The user or their operating system must make it accessible through the computer's file system. A user can access only files on mounted media.- Mount point :A mount point is a physical location in the partition used as a...

an ISO

ISO image

An ISO image is an archive file of an optical disc, composed of the data contents of every written sector of an optical disc, including the optical disc file system...

file as a CD-ROM, and .vmdk files as hard disks, and can configure its network adapter driver to use network address translation

Network address translation

In computer networking, network address translation is the process of modifying IP address information in IP packet headers while in transit across a traffic routing device....

(NAT) through the host machine rather than bridging through it (which would require an IP address for each guest machine on the host network).

Multiple successive snapshots of an operating system running under VMware Workstation can be taken, and the virtual machine can be restarted in the state it was in when any snapshot was saved.

VMware Workstation includes the ability to designate multiple virtual machines as a team which administrators can then power on and off, suspend, and resume as a single object, making it particularly useful for testing client-server environments.

Version history

Major releases:

2001-11-01 - VMware releases Workstation 3.0.
2002-04-09 - Workstation 3.1 is released at Microsoft Tech-Ed 2002
2003-03-23 - Workstation version 4.0 is released.
2004-04-05 - VMware announces the release of Workstation version 4.5.
2005-04-11 - Workstation version 5.0 is released.
2005-09-12 - VMware updates Workstation to version 5.5.
2007-05-09 - VMware releases Workstation version 6.0.
2008-09-23 - VMware releases Workstation version 6.5.0
2009-10-26 - VMware releases Workstation version 7
2011-09-14 - VMware releases Workstation version 8

Known issues

Known limitations of VMware Workstation, , included the following:

Hardware support

Workstation 8 is the first version that requires a x86-64
X86-64
x86-64 is an extension of the x86 instruction set. It supports vastly larger virtual and physical address spaces than are possible on x86, thereby allowing programmers to conveniently work with much larger data sets. x86-64 also provides 64-bit general purpose registers and numerous other...

-compatible CPU.
VMware virtual machines do not directly support FireWire.
VMware Workstation v6.5 and older cannot use more than 2 CPUs (or cores) per virtual machine. This means that a single virtual machine cannot use the full power of the underlying hardware on machines with the total number of cores greater than 2 (such as Intel's Core 2 Quad or AMD's Phenom x4). Version 7.0 has support for up to 4 cores/CPUs. Version 7.1 has support for up to 8 cores/CPUs.
VMware Workstation version 5.5 provided only experimental support for 3D
3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...

hardware acceleration
Hardware acceleration
In computing, Hardware acceleration is the use of computer hardware to perform some function faster than is possible in software running on the general-purpose CPU...

, via Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...

's Direct3D
Direct3D
Direct3D is part of Microsoft's DirectX application programming interface . Direct3D is available for Microsoft Windows operating systems , and for other platforms through the open source software Wine. It is the base for the graphics API on the Xbox and Xbox 360 console systems...

8 API. A video has appeared on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....

that demonstrates several 3D-accelerated games running under VMware Fusion and Mac OS X. The release notes for Fusion beta 2 include a list of 3D-accelerated computer games that can run within Windows XP-based virtual machines. In version 6.5, Direct3D 9.0 API support (only up to Shader Model 2.0) is provided on Windows 2000 and Windows XP guests (although not Windows 9x
Windows 9x
Windows 9x is a generic term referring to a series of Microsoft Windows computer operating systems produced since 1995, which were based on the original and later modified Windows 95 kernel...

) and on any host OS. Version 7 has support for Shader Model 3.0 and OpenGL 2.1 graphics. It can run Crysis
Crysis
Crysis is a science fiction first-person shooter video game developed by Crytek , published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows, and released in November 2007. It is the first game of a trilogy. A separate game entitled Crysis Warhead was released on September 12, 2008, and follows similar...

at 14-18 frame/s at low settings. Windows Display Driver Model
Windows Display Driver Model
Windows Display Driver Model is the graphic driver architecture for video card drivers running Microsoft Windows versions beginning with Windows Vista....

support (version 1.0) was introduced in version 7.0, allowing Windows Aero
Windows Aero
Windows Aero is the graphical user interface and the default theme in most editions of Windows Vista and Windows 7, operating systems released by Microsoft. It is also available in Windows Server 2008, but is not enabled by default. Its name is a backronym for Authentic, Energetic, Reflective and...

to run in virtualized Windows Vista
Windows Vista
Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs...

and later Windows guests, but OpenGL is regressed to 1.4.
64-bit
64-bit
64-bit is a word size that defines certain classes of computer architecture, buses, memory and CPUs, and by extension the software that runs on them. 64-bit CPUs have existed in supercomputers since the 1970s and in RISC-based workstations and servers since the early 1990s...

guest operating systems require a 64-bit processor and a BIOS compatible with x86 virtualization
X86 virtualization
In computing, x86 virtualization is the facility that allows multiple operating systems to simultaneously share x86 processor resources in a safe and efficient manner, a facility generically known as hardware virtualization...

. Intel processors require Intel VT
X86 virtualization
In computing, x86 virtualization is the facility that allows multiple operating systems to simultaneously share x86 processor resources in a safe and efficient manner, a facility generically known as hardware virtualization...

hardware virtualization technology as Intel 64-bit processors without hardware virtualization technology do not have segmentation support in long mode
Long mode
In the x86-64 computer architecture, long mode is the mode where a 64-bit application can access 64-bit instructions and registers...

. Only AMD64 processors of revision D or later can run 64-bit guests.
When using VMware Workstation in an environment using Media Access Control
Media Access Control
The media access control data communication protocol sub-layer, also known as the medium access control, is a sublayer of the data link layer specified in the seven-layer OSI model , and in the four-layer TCP/IP model...

(MAC) addresses as unique identifier
Unique identifier
With reference to a given set of objects, a unique identifier is any identifier which is guaranteed to be unique among all identifiers used for those objects and for a specific purpose...

s (UID), the MAC address for each virtual machine should (and often must) be configured manually in order to ensure uniqueness (for example, in an environment in which network switch
Network switch
A network switch or switching hub is a computer networking device that connects network segments.The term commonly refers to a multi-port network bridge that processes and routes data at the data link layer of the OSI model...

es implement MAC security; or in an environment in which Altiris
Altiris
Altiris Inc. is a subsidiary of Symantec specializing in service-oriented management software which allows organizations to manage IT assets. They also provide software for web services, security, and systems management products. Established in 1998, Altiris is headquartered in Lindon, Utah, United...

products use the MAC address as the UID). In such a situation, disabling all networks/adapters other than "bridged" and editing each virtual machine's .vmx file to change "ethernet0.address" to a unique MAC and "ethernet0.addresstype" to "static" will help.

OS-specific issues

64-bit Solaris 10 1/06 (Update 1) and Solaris 10 6/06 (Update 2) fail with a triple fault on Core 2 generation processors (this includes processors codenamed Merom, Woodcrest, and Conroe). A Sun Microsystems blog has published a workaround for this issue.

Network protocols

VMware Workstation can swallow CPU interrupt

Interrupt

In computing, an interrupt is an asynchronous signal indicating the need for attention or a synchronous event in software indicating the need for a change in execution....

s, making maintenance of accurate time difficult. Network Time Protocol

Network Time Protocol

The Network Time Protocol is a protocol and software implementation for synchronizing the clocks of computer systems over packet-switched, variable-latency data networks. Originally designed by David L...

(NTP) servers should not be run under VMware.

Vulnerabilities

Vulnerabilities affecting VMWare products typically involve ways for users inside a Guest VM to become super-user, or allow Guests to execute code on the Host.

Notable vulnerabilities of earlier versions include:

Kostya Kortchinsky of Immunity discovered a vulnerability in the 3d API allowing Guests to execute code on the Host. Fixed in VMWare Workstation 6.5.2.
Rafal Wojtczvk of McAfee
McAfee
McAfee, Inc. is a computer security company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, USA. It markets software and services to home users, businesses and the public sector. On August 19, 2010, electronics company Intel agreed to purchase McAfee for $7.68 billion...

discovered a Guest-to-Host memory corruption vulnerability which might allow Guest users to run arbitrary code on the Host. While the CVE
Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures
The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures or CVE system provides a reference-method for publicly-known information-security vulnerabilities and exposures. MITRE Corporation maintains the system, with funding from the National Cyber Security Division of the United States Department of Homeland...

entry is still set to "under review", the vulnerability was fixed in VMWare Player 2.01.
Greg MacManus of iDefense Labs discovered a vulnerability in the Shared Folders implementation which allowed Guests to read/write host files (in a non-default configuration). Fixed in VMWare Workstation 5.5.4.
Core Security discovered that the Shared Folders patch did not correctly account for Unicode
Unicode
Unicode is a computing industry standard for the consistent encoding, representation and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems...

characters. The Unicode traversal vulnerability was fixed in VMware Workstation 6.0.3.

VMware ACE

VMware ACE (assured computing environment) is a feature that allows the deployment of virtual machines that end users can use on their work PC, personal computer, or even a portable USB media device (in the way of a portable application

Portable application

A portable application , sometimes also called standalone, is a computer software program designed to run independently from an operating system...

). In essence, VMware ACE allows the creation of portable

Portable application

A portable application , sometimes also called standalone, is a computer software program designed to run independently from an operating system...

virtual machine

Virtual machine

VMware Tools

VMware Tools is a package with drivers and other software that can be installed in guest operating systems to increase their performance. It has several components, including the following:

Drivers for the emulated hardware:
- VESA-compliant graphics for the guest machine to access high screen resolutions
- Network drivers for the vmxnet2 and vmxnet3 NIC
  Network card
  A network interface controller is a computer hardware component that connects a computer to a computer network....
- Ensoniq AudioPCI
  Ensoniq AudioPCI
  The Ensoniq AudioPCI is a PCI-based sound card released in 1997. It was Ensoniq's last sound card product before they were acquired by Creative Technology. The card represented a shift in Ensoniq's market positioning...
  
  audio
- Mouse integration
Drag-and-drop file support
Clipboard sharing between host and guest
Time synchronization capabilities (guest syncs with host machine's clock)
Support for Unity, a feature that allows seamless integration of applications with the host desktop

Ready-to-use virtual machines

Many ready-made virtual machines (VMs) which run on VMWare Player, Workstation, and other virtualization software are available for specific purposes, either for purchase or free of charge; for example a free Linux

Linux

-based "browser appliance" with the Firefox browser installed which can be used for safe Web browsing; if infected or damaged it can be discarded and replaced by a clean copy. The appliance can be configured to automatically reset itself after each use so personal information is not stored. VMs distributed legally only have freely distributable operating system

Operating system

s, as operating systems on VMs must be licensed; ready-to-use Microsoft Windows VMs, in particular, are not distributed, except for evaluation versions.

Other tools

PowerWF - Provides a visual representation of VMware VIX scripts, converting them into workflows, or converting workflows into Powershell cmdlets and modules. VIX is VMware's addition to Microsoft's Powershell for automation of the VMware Player.

External links

Reviews

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