VMware, LTSP and Ubuntu 8.04

[bobwdn]

To those of us who are running an LTSP server on Ubuntu 8.04 . . .

I installed VMware following the "How To Install VMware Server (Version 1.0.6) On An Ubuntu 8.04 Desktop" instruction.

By the way, great work, I have used many of these howtoforge howto's to success. Thank's everyone.

So, I had a functional LTSP install from the Ubuntu 8.04 alternate CD. When I installed VMware following the above instructions, that indicate sudo apt-get install linux-headers-`uname -r` build-essential xinetd to install some necessary packages.

After VMware install, it was discovered that our LTSP clients would not boot to a desktop. Rather, they stopped at a BusyBox prompt complaining about mount errors.

Further investigation found that xinetd install will un-install the default inetd service used by a Debian/Ubuntu install (Debian decided to name it openbsd-inetd for some reason.)

Then, re-installing openbsd-inetd service (which un-installs the xinetd service) to my Ubuntu distro, that repaired my LTSP install and the clients could again boot properly.

With xinetd now un-installed, I was concerned that VMware now may not run. To my surprise (and pleasure) VMware runs.

So, I wonder how "dependent" Vmware is on xinetd? Have I created some future bigger problem with any other programs that relate to xinetd removal?

[falko]

It seems VMware needs either xinetd or inetd. So if it's working, that should be fine. I'd check your logs for errors though.

[jws]

Originally Posted by bobwdn

To those of us who are running an LTSP server on Ubuntu 8.04 . . .

I installed VMware following the "How To Install VMware Server (Version 1.0.6) On An Ubuntu 8.04 Desktop" instruction.

By the way, great work, I have used many of these howtoforge howto's to success. Thank's everyone.

So, I had a functional LTSP install from the Ubuntu 8.04 alternate CD. When I installed VMware following the above instructions, that indicate sudo apt-get install linux-headers-`uname -r` build-essential xinetd to install some necessary packages.

After VMware install, it was discovered that our LTSP clients would not boot to a desktop. Rather, they stopped at a BusyBox prompt complaining about mount errors.

Further investigation found that xinetd install will un-install the default inetd service used by a Debian/Ubuntu install (Debian decided to name it openbsd-inetd for some reason.)

Then, re-installing openbsd-inetd service (which un-installs the xinetd service) to my Ubuntu distro, that repaired my LTSP install and the clients could again boot properly.

With xinetd now un-installed, I was concerned that VMware now may not run. To my surprise (and pleasure) VMware runs.

So, I wonder how "dependent" Vmware is on xinetd? Have I created some future bigger problem with any other programs that relate to xinetd removal?

VMware is dependent on xinetd in that if you remotely manage your machines, the port numbers which the vmware server client relies on may not work properly.

Vmware uses port 902 for accessing remote machines. I do not believe it will cause a problem on your machine where you are hosting your guest machines.

You might look into importing the inetd.conf information you have into xinetd.d entries, and run either inetd or xinetd. The difference is primarily in the style of the daemon configuration between each, but as a rule anything that inetd can do, xinetd can be configured to do as well, as well as more functions.

this may be beyond your needs, but if you decide you need to have xinetd vs. inetd, go with xinetd, in most cases as xinetd will perform the functions of inetd and many others, but not the other way around.