VMmanager

Running VMmanager on Wine

Copyright (C) 2006 Walter Hermanns

VMmanager and Linux, VMmanager and Wine

• VMmanager has been designed as a Windows application.
• VMmanager cannot run on Linux machines directly.
• Nevertheless, VMmanager works fine with the help of Wine on Linux machines.

The Easy Way

• You must have installed a current version of Wine on your Linux machine.
• Make a new folder and copy the archive file 'vmmanager-linux.1.01.tar.bz2' to this folder. The archive contains the following files:

      vmmanager.exe
      vmmanager.ini
      vmx-params.txt
      vmmanager-lang-en.txt
      vmmanager-lang-fr.txt
      vmmanager-lang-it.txt
      vmmanager-lang-ger.txt
      vmm-wine.html
      GPL.txt

• Extract the archive file to the current folder:

      tar xfvj vmmanager-linux.1.xxx.tar.bz2

• Rename the desired language file 'vmmanager-lang-xxx.txt' to 'vmmanager-lang.txt'.

Using VMmanager

• Start Linux in the graphic mode.
• Open a Linux console.
• Start vmmanager with the command:

      wine  vmmanager.exe

Know Issues

• VMmanager runs in the portable mode by default. The letter 'P' should be shown in the status bar. If none of the letters 'P' or 'U' is shown, VMmanager will not use the preconfigured settings.
• Using non standard GUI settings on your Linux machine, you probably have to change the font settings 'fontname' and 'fontsize' on trial.
• You have to copy a missing ttf file to the folder '~/.wine/drive_c/windows/fonts' by your own.
• On Wine, VMmanager runs with less speed. Wine translates Windows API requests to the Linux machine.
• You should adjust the floppy and CD drive names after you have copied or moved a virtual machine between Linux and Windows hosts.

FAQ

1. I cannot close the GUI by clicking on the 'X' at the right corner of the title bar.
   Perform an update of your Wine installation.
   
   
2. Does VMmanager create valid sparse files when it is running on Wine?
   Yes, you can check it by yourself with the program compareSparse1.01.
   
   
3. I've copied a virtual Linux machine. The network doesn't operate now.
   When you start a copied virtual Linux machine for the first time, VMware generates a new identifier and new mac addresses. Linux controls network adapters by its mac addresses. You should delete the previous nics. Run the hardware detection and configure the new adapters.
   
   
4. I like to change the default settings.
   Check or edit the folling options of the file 'vmmanager.ini'. Linux default settings:

      WineRootDrive = auto   ; Possible values: auto and all Windows drive letters
      ; The option 'auto' should work with an up-to-date version of Wine.
      ; If not, check the fitting drive letter with 'winecfg' and set the drive letter manually:
      ; WineRootDrive = z:
      HostOS = auto          ; Detect the OS, possible values: Windows, Linux, auto
      ; Refer to the VMmanager info menue to check the result of the detection.
      ; Linux selected or detected: floppy and CD Linux devices can be used in addition.
      MinixFormat = 1        ; Enable the minix file system for generating floppy images.
      FontSize = -11         ; You may try other values.
      FontName = "Tahoma"    ; You may try other font names.
      GUIsizeable = 0        ; 1 : The user may change the size of the GUI.
      fullPathName = 1       ; Consider path informations
      logWindows = 0         ; Possible values: 0, 1, 2, 3

5. How can I install presettings made by 'vmmanager.ini' for all users?
   
   • Login as 'root'.
   • Edit the file 'vmmanager.ini' regarding to your concept.
   • Make a directory in the /etc folder.
   • Copy the 'vmmanager.ini' and 'vmmanager-lang-xxx.txt' to this folder.
   • Set the environement variable 'vmmanager' for the specified users.

    mkdir /etc/vmmanager
    cp vmmanager.ini /etc/vmmanager
    cp vmmanager-lang-xxx.txt /etc/vmmanager/vmmanager-lang.txt
    # all users
    echo 'export VMMANAGER=/etc/vmmanager' >> /etc/profile.local
    # older linux versions:
    # echo 'export VMMANAGER=/etc/vmmanager' >> /etc/profile.dos
    #
    # single user:
    # echo 'export VMMANAGER=/etc/vmmanager' >> /home/vmm-user/.bashrc
    reboot
   

   • Now, VMmanager runs in the user mode. You should see the letter 'U' in the status bar.
     If not, check the correct value of the variable 'vmmanager':

    echo $VMMANAGER
   

   
   
6. How to enlarge a disk used by a virtual Linux machine?
   
   
   • Run the virtual machine and read the partitioning informations from the file /etc/fstab.
   • Shutdown the vm.
   • Enlarge the virtual disk with VMmanager.
   • Download the iso image file of the GParted LiveCD and run the machine from the image file.
     The grafic mode should be set manually to vesa, 1024 x 768, 24.
     Resize the partition or create a new linux partition to use the free disk space.
   • If your Linux vm uses Grub to boot from hard-disk, you have to repair the Grub configuration:
     Open a console and run grub.
     With Grub, you can use the TAB completion:
     If you type   root ([TAB] , Grub shows a list of devices like hd0.
     In order to get a list of partitions, type   root (hd0,[TAB].
   • Define the appropriate partition as root partition and setup the disk as shown in the following example:
     
     
     
     
   • Quit Grub and boot the linux machine from hard disk.
   • If you have added a new partition, you should register this partition in the file  /etc/fstab.