Installing VMware Server on Windows

Because we don’t want to be sent to jail, or lose our jobs – because you might get the idea of testing your knowledge against live networks, right? :) And because we want to practice our hacking techniques, so we have to start with creating a VIRTUAL lab :)

First we’ll create a virtual machine using VMware Server, which is free software that can be downloaded from here http://www.vmware.com/download/server/

A virtual machine is a simulated computer that runs on a real physical computer but acts as if it is a separate computer, so you can have your PC or laptop that has Windows operating system installed by default and at the same time you can run various Operating systems without the need to format or dual boot.



Here for example, my computer is running Windows, but I was able by using VMware to create a Virtual Machine that has various operating systems installed like Apple, Solaris, and Linux…
Almost any operating system can be installed

So let’s go ahead and install VMware Server (Free)



1- Download VMware Server from the VMware web site http://www.vmware.com/download/server/



2- You will be prompted for the download location, save the file wherever you like.



3- Double click the exe file downloaded to start the installation process. First, the VMware splash screen appears, then the installation wizard screens.



4- Here starts the installation wizard, telling you the software you are installing, and a warning that this software is owned by the company created it and that it’s copyrighted.
Click “Next >”



5- This is the End User License Agreement or EULA for abbreviation, the EULA is very important to read because it gives you a general idea about the software you are about to install, it also includes your rights and your responsibilities; it tells what you are allowed to do with this piece of software and what you are not allowed to do.
And I’m sorry, but if you want to install VMware Server on your machine, then you have to accept the EULA (Take it or leave it)
So if you want to install the software, select “I accept the terms in the license agreement” radio button and click “Next >”





6- These are the components that are included in the package:
VMware Server: This is the core of the software, without it you don’t have functionality.
VMware Management Interface: This is a web based management tool that allows you to connect to, manage and monitor your hosts from a web browser, this is very beneficial if you would like to manage your hosts remotely (IIS is required to be installed)
VMware VmCOM & VmPerl Scripting APIs: VMware Server includes two scripting modules, these scripting modules can be used for task automation (such as start, stop, suspend or reset a host), properties configurations (such as amount of memory dedicated for each machine, number of processors…)
VmCOM is an interface for programming languages such as Visual Basic, Visual C++, VBScript, and because it’s Microsoft related so it can only be installed on a Windows operating system.
VmPerl on the other side uses Perl as a programming language, thus it can be installed on Windows and Linux.

If you care for programming or scripting, you will enjoy this link http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/sdk_pubs.html

VMware Diskmount Utility: With the VMware DiskMount utility, a VMware virtual disk file can be mounted as a Windows drive letter for read/write access to the files it contains.



7- Usually, when you put a CD in your CD Drive, it loads automatically. This will bother you if you work with virtual machines a lot, because whenever you load any CD or ISO image on your virtual host it will load as well on the physical computer.
So it would be better if you disable it.
And there is another point here, security wise it’s better to disable autorun, you know why?
What if you got an autorun CD and the autorun file runs a virus or a Trojan on your machine as soon as the CD is loaded.
For more information http://antivirus.about.com/od/securitytips/ht/autorun.htm
If you would like to disable autorun, check the “Yes disable autorun” checkbox, and then click “Next >”



8- To start the process of installing the files, click “Install”







9- Type in your name and the name of the organization, these 2 fields can be filled in with any data you like.
To get the serial number, you have to register yourself first. If you want to register, on the page of VMware Server http://www.vmware.com/download/server/ there is a link that says “register for your free serial number(s)”, click this link and follow the steps there. The serial numbers you requested will be emailed to you immediately.
After filling in all of the information required, click “Enter >”



By now, we have finished installing VMware; the next step for you is to start creating your virtual machines, and installing any operating system you would like to have.

Till next article
Take care