VM ware inside BartPE /WinpE boot cd

[harshadd]

I want to be able to boot a computer with BartPE / WinPE and then start up VMware player to use a VMware Vertual machine inside it, Doing this i want to overcome problems due to Hardware changes, as BartPE/WINPE will take care of hardware on most of the PCs and VMware machine is free from any HW changes as it used own hw settings..

can any 1 help in this?
Rgds
HarshadD

[jg007]

This sounds like it will be a slow way of doing things as in general bart PE etc is slow and it uses RAM for storage so will not leave you much memory to stick the VM in .also I have not tried this but sounds awkward to configure as the VM will still need to be stored on a HDD / Flash drive

Please can you give more details of exactly what it is you are trying to do and why it is that you do not want to run the VM on top of standard windows,

[harshadd]

This sounds like it will be a slow way of doing things as in general bart PE etc is slow and it uses RAM for storage so will not leave you much memory to stick the VM in .also I have not tried this but sounds awkward to configure as the VM will still need to be stored on a HDD / Flash drive

Please can you give more details of exactly what it is you are trying to do and why it is that you do not want to run the VM on top of standard windows,

Hi, thanks for attention
YES you are right
Infact I have Two Ides in mind but AIM is one.
AIM : to have my set of OS and applications mobile with me, I will take my USB stick (and/or) USB hard drive and use any PC (with RAM 1GB or more, which is verry common now a days.) and boo using my USB (Stick/HDD)
Idea 1: I need to carry bootable USB having BartPE/WINPE installed with VM-Player inside it. ie VMware player is an utility on that USB. and Ones I have Player running I can load my virtual machine from a USB harddrive from another USB port

Idea 2: I need to carry 160GB HDD having Bart PE/WINPE image for booting VM-Player ie VMware player is an utility on that image itself and Ones I have VM-Player running I can load my virtual machine from same harddrive(may be diff partition on it).

[Nepomuk]

I don't think, BartPE is the best option for this. If all you want to have is a sort of "mobile VMWare", I'd get some version of Linux for USB pendrives and install VMWare on that. You won't be using the Linux part of it much anyway. Then you can carry your VMWare images around with you on your mobile harddrive (or the pendrive, if it's big enough).
I can post a list of potential linux distributions, if you like.

Greetings,
Nepomuk

[harshadd]

Good that you diverted my attention to non MS choice..
Basically I want any OS which will allow me to run VMware Player, and to access USB storage readily.
If there is a way to install such Linux on Portable HDDrive let me know. But Need a GUI based linux as I want to use windows at the end on VM.

HarshadD

[AmberJain]

Good that you diverted my attention to non MS choice..
Basically I want any OS which will allow me to run VMware Player, and to access USB storage readily.
If there is a way to install such Linux on Portable HDDrive let me know. But Need a GUI based linux as I want to use windows at the end on VM.
HarshadD

Hello,
Just saw this thread and I think I can offer some help........

You can get all help from web page of pendrive linux (link below):
Pendrivelinux.com
The above link contains all the information you need to run linux off a usb drive.
__________________________________________________ ________________
One of Linux Distribution which I use and can be booted off USB drive is as follows:
1. SLAX

__________________________________________________ ________________

If you want to run ubuntu off usb drive, visit tutorial at link below:
Ubuntu to usb tutorial
__________________________________________________ ________________

Once you have installed linux on usb drive and booted it, then you can use VMware on linux to suffice to your needs.
__________________________________________________ ________________
There is also a choice to run Wine (Wine is an Open Source implementation of the Windows API on top of X, OpenGL, and Unix).
__________________________________________________ ________________

If you need help wid anything else, either google it or post it here (I know nepomuk would be of much help to you in this case).

HOPE THIS HELPS.............

[Nepomuk]

You can get all help from web page of pendrive linux (link below):
Pendrivelinux.com
The above link contains all the information you need to run linux off a usb drive.

That site looks good, I'll have a look at that too.

One of Linux Distribution which I use and can be booted off USB drive is as follows:
1. SLAX

SLAX isn't listed under the "supported host systems list", which looks like this:

• Mandriva Linux 2006 and 2007
• Mandriva Corporate Desktop and Server 4.0
• Mandrake Linux (Versions: 10.1 and 9.0 — stock 2.4.19)
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux (Versions: 5.0; WS 4.5 (Beta, formerly called 4.0 Update 5); AS 4.0, updates 1, 2, 3, 4; ES 4.0, updates 1, 2, 3, 4; WS 4.0, updates 1, 2, 3, 4; AS 3.0, updates 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8; ES 3.0, updates 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8; WS 3.0, updates 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8; 2.1 — stock 2.4.9‐e3)
• Red Hat Linux (Versions: 9.0 — stock 2.4.20‐8, upgrade 2.4.20‐20.9; 8.0 — stock 2.4.18; 7.3 — stock 2.4.18; 7.2 — stock 2.4.7‐10, upgrade 2.4.9‐7, upgrade 2.4.9‐13, upgrade 2.4.9‐21, upgrade 2.4.9‐31; 7.1 — stock 2.4.2‐2, upgrade 2.4.3‐12; 7.0 — stock 2.2.16‐22, upgrade 2.2.17‐14)
• SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (Versions: 10; 9 SP4 (Beta); 9, 9 SP1, 9 SP2, 9 SP3; 8, stock 2.4.19)
• SUSE Linux (Versions: 10.1; 10; 9.3; 9.2, SP1; 9.1 — stock 2.6.4‐52; 9.0 — stock 2.4.21‐99; 8.2 — stock 2.4.20)
• Ubuntu Linux 5.04 - 6.10

(Those are just the 32-bit systems, but you get the idea.)
It might work nevertheless, you'd just have to find out.

If you want to run ubuntu off usb drive, visit tutorial at link below:
Ubuntu to usb tutorial

Ubuntu might actually be a good idea in general, but as it's on a USB pendrive, maybe a smaller distribution would be a better choice. I'm thinking about something like Damn Small Linux, however I don't know yet, if the VMWare Player will work on it. But I'll find out. ^^

There is also a choice to run Wine (Wine is an Open Source implementation of the Windows API on top of X, OpenGL, and Unix).

Just to clarify, WINE allows you to run many Windows programs directly under Linux (and many other systems). You may well not need it, if you're using VMWare with a Windows anyway.

If you need help wid anything else, either google it or post it here (I know nepomuk would be of much help to you in this case).

:-D Thanks for trusting in me! ^^

Greetings,
Nepomuk

[AmberJain]

SLAX isn't listed under the "supported host systems list", which looks like this

I just thought that Vmware player might work on it. But sorry I never tested it.

Thanks for trusting in me!

I always trust you (blindly in linux atleast)

THANKS.........

[harshadd]

Slax!! well will it be GUI based when installed on USB stick? coz at the end i have to run VMW on it which needs a GUI interface.

rgds
HarshadD

[AmberJain]

Slax!! well will it be GUI based when installed on USB stick? coz at the end i have to run VMW on it which needs a GUI interface.

rgds
HarshadD

Hello,
Although SLAX has GUI when installed on USB stick, still you should not use it (as neomuk mentioned earlier that SLAX isn't listed under the "supported host systems list" for VMware player).

You have other graphical options such as Damn Small Linux, PendriveLinux, Xubuntu, gOS, Gentoo, CentOS etc (as mentioned on pendrivelinux.com). But I dont know which of them will support VMware player. But as nepomuk said (reply #7) he will find out this for you. I would just advise you to wait till Monday(he will probably be back on bytes.com on Monday). Then you will probably get an answer to your question (from nepomuk).

Till then I will also post a question in Linux forum of bytes.com (as this is getting a Linux question and rather than a windows one). We may probably get help in Linux forum also.

THANKS................

[AmberJain]

Hello,
I have posted this question in linux forum also. It can be found here
That may help us a lot.....

THANKS

[Nepomuk]

...But as nepomuk said (reply #7) he will find out this for you. I would just advise you to wait till Monday(he will probably be back on bytes.com on Monday). Then you will probably get an answer to your question (from nepomuk)...

I just wanted to say, that I don't have the answer yet, but I'm checking various things out and I'll probably have an answer for you within the next few days.

Greetings,
Nepomuk

PS.: It's still Monday where I live, so Ambr was right in a way... ^^

[harshadd]

I download and configured DSL , but I can not change its settings even the root password. How can I make it custom? How can I install vm player on it?? I hv allready downloaded vm player and the procedure to install it. but as I can not save any changes I am not able to install it.

[Nepomuk]

I download and configured DSL , but I can not change its settings even the root password. How can I make it custom? How can I install vm player on it?? I hv allready downloaded vm player and the procedure to install it. but as I can not save any changes I am not able to install it.

To reset the root password, run

sudo passwd

and you should be able to enter a new password.
Also, you should install apt and GNU tools (there's an entry in the menu to do that) and then restart. Check, if your settings were saved by opening a console (I think they're named "Xshell" in the menu) and typing

apt

then not pressing enter but the TAB button twice. If it worked, it should list various options including "apt-get". If it didn't, I'll have to do more research (which, by the way, I currently am).

If this does work, we'll install a few further things for you. So, does it?

Greetings,
Nepomuk