Benefits of testing Windows Server 2008 with VMware Workstation Why test Windows Server 2008 in VMware Workstation? Here are just a few of the reasons: • Snapshot functionality and Snapshot Manager - With snapshots, you can easily save your Windows Server 2008 configuration at any point in time, make changes and go back to that point at which the virtual machine (VM) was snapped. This is excellent for testing installation, patches, configuration changes and application installs. While snapshot functionality isn't really unique with virtualization products, Workstation's Snapshot Manager is.

No other virtualization program has a snapshot manager as robust as Workstation's. With the Workstation Snapshot Manager, you can view all of your snapshots in a treed display and move back and forth, through time. Here is what it looks like: • Guest OS teaming – With teaming, you can configure multiple VMware Workstation guest VMs to start up all at the same time, as a team. What this means is that you could have a Win 2008 DC, an Exchange 2007 Server, and say, a Windows 2008 OCS Server, all as different guest VMs. You can push a single button and start that entire group of VMs, together. • Private Networking – With Workstation's private networking (also called 'host-only'), you can take your entire team of guest OS systems (or just two machines), put them on a private network, and only allow them to communicate with themselves. This is the best way to prevent your Windows Server 2008 testing from interfering with your current Windows Active Directory domain.

Exchange server is one of the most popular messaging platform. I will show steps to install Exchange server 2010 in Windows Server 2008 R2.

In my opinion, any way that you can use virtualization to test Windows Server 2008 is a decent option but some options are better than others. So what are the other for testing Windows Server 2008?

• VMware Server – One benefit of VMware Server over Workstation is that it is free. However, for testing, I think you will like the ease of use of Workstation better. • VMware ESX Server – Certainly you aren't going to buy ESX Server just to test Windows Server 2008 but if you already have an ESX Server installed, using it to test Windows Server 2008 is a great idea! How to install Windows Server 2008 inside VMware Workstation Installing Windows Server 2008 inside VMware Workstation is not much different than installing other new guest operating systems inside VMware Workstation but there are a few things you need to know. So, here is how to do it, step by step: • If you don't already have VMware Workstation, you can download a fully functioning limited-time demo at this website:. • Obtain Windows Server 2008 either on a DVD or a downloadable ISO file that contains that DVD. Make sure that the version of Win 2008 matches the hardware of your computer.

Thus, if you have an AMB 64-bit CPU, you need the Windows Server 2008 AMB 64-bit Edition. • Make sure that you have the latest version of VMware Workstation to ensure that you have Win 2008 as a listed guest OS. In my case, I have Workstation 6.0.1 and Windows Server 2008 is listed. • Open VMware Workstation and click New Virtual Machine on the Home tab. • Take the default and Select that you want to create a Typical virtual machine. • For the VM type, keep the default of Windows and select the Windows Server 2008 version for your hardware (32-bit or 64-bit). • Enter the VM name of your choice.

I called my VM 'Win2008-1' because I plan on having multiple. • In the next tab, you are asked what kind of network type you want to connect this VM to. I recommend private networking (host-only) if you have an existing Windows AD domain. However, if you aren't concerned with that or if you need interaction between your VM and, say, the Internet, then you may choose the Bridged Networking option. • For Windows Server 2008, the default virtual disk size is 24 GB. If you choose not to use dynamic (allocate disk space now), then this disk space won't really be used until it is needed. I recommend taking the default and clicking Finish.

• At this point, you need to setup the VM to boot the Windows Server 2008 media. You can either insert your DVD and map the virtual CD/DVD to it or direct it to the ISO file you downloaded, like this: Make sure that the drive is 'connected at power on'. • Depending on the amount of RAM you have in your host system, I recommend changing the amount of RAM for the VM to one or two GB (although it will boot and run, very slowly, with the 512 MB that was allocated by default). • Now, Power On / Start your new Windows Server 2008! • Go through the normal Windows installation process, entering your license key, accepting the license agreement, etc. And let the install complete. After the files are copied, expanded, and the OS is loaded, you should see this: • Now, don't forget to load the VMware tools!

Conclusion The Snapshot Manager, teaming of guest VMs, private networking and ease of loading Windows Server 2008 make VMware Workstation an excellent choice for testing Windows Server 2008. In fact, in my opinion, VMware Workstation is the best desktop OS testing tool I have found. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: David Davis (CCIE #9369, VCP, CWNA, MCSE, CISSP, Linux+, CEH) has been in the IT industry for 15 years. Currently, he manages a group of systems/network administrators for a privately owned retail company and authors IT-related material in his spare time. He has written hundreds of articles, six video training courses - including the video training series. His websites are and.

This being the first time I installed VMware Workstation Pro on Linux – as opposed to installing it on Windows, my OS of choice – made this post a learn-as-you-go exercise and a fun one at that. I will be covering version 14, which is the latest release of Workstation at the time of writing. The documentation and release notes for it are available and. To remain in theme, is definitely worth a read if you’re new to this latest release or to Workstation in general. Choosing a Linux Host The documentation for the product, from what I read at least, does not really specify or suggest which Linux distro to go for. Thankfully, this provides a complete list of supported host Linux operating systems, so I’ll be going through it.

Here’s a condensed version. OS Vendor OS Release Canonical Ubuntu 17.04 Canonical Ubuntu 16.04 CentOS CentOS 7.4 Debian Debian 9.1 Debian Debian 9.0 Debian Debian 8.9 Microsoft Windows Server 2016 Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 Microsoft Windows Server 2012 Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Red Hat Fedora 26 Red Hat Fedora 25 Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.4 Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.3 Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.9 SUSE SUSE Linux Enterprise Server/Desktop 12 SP3 SUSE openSUSE 42.3 In all cases, the host OS must be 64-bit.

For this post, I’ve chosen to install Workstation on CentOS 7.4. Although not required, I also chose to install X Windows to make life a little bit easier although plain old terminal will do just fine. Before installing Checking the Linux version If you choose to install Workstation on an existing Centos machine, running either of these commands will tell you which version is currently installed. Rpm -- query centos - release Finding out which version of Centos you’re running As shown, I’m running version 7.4 meaning I’m good to go. I must also add that I’m installing Workstation on a Centos VM. For all intents and purposes, Workstation will be running in nested mode. Though this is perfectly doable, it is not recommended that you do so mainly out of performance considerations.

If you’re installing Centos from scratch, head to download the latest version. I doubt that bandwidth or disk space will be an issue, but if they are, you can always download the minimal ISO and add any missing components and dependencies as you go along. Downloading Workstation VMware Workstation for Linux, which is distributed as an executable bundle, may be downloaded from. I can’t recall the number of times I wrote this but remember, you need to sign up for an account before being able to download anything. Downloading Workstation 14 Pro from my.vmware.com If X Windows is installed, you can use a browser running on Linux to download Workstation directly to the filesystem.

Alternatively, use wget or download the bundle on a Windows machine and upload it to Linux using WinSCP or similar. Installing Workstation Pro on Linux Once you’ve finished setting up the Linux host, log in as root. It helps to issue a yum update command just to bring your Linux install to the latest patch level and version. I downloaded the Workstation bundle file to a temp directory I named todelete. The next item on the to-do list is to make the bundle file executable. This is easily taken care of by running chmod on the file using a terminal window, like so. Chmod a + x VMware - Workstation - Full - 14.0.0 - 6661328.x86_64.bundle Making a file executable in Linux You’ll see that the file is now displayed in green, meaning it can be executed using the./ convention.

Running the Workstation 14 Pro installer from a terminal window on Centos I got a few Gtk warnings but the installer works just fine as shown next. Is a toolkit used to create graphical interfaces for application which is what the VMware Workstation Pro installer uses.

The VMware Workstation Pro Installer On the first screen, press Next to accept the VMware Workstation – End User License Agreement. Accepting the Workstation EULA On the second screen, select the first option and press Next to accept the VMware OVF Tool component for Linux – End User License Agreement.

Accepting the OVF Tool EULA Select whether you want the product to check for updates on startup and press Next. Setting the check for updates preference Select whether you wish to participate in the customer experience improvement program or not. Setting the CEIP preference Specify the user context under which Workstation Server runs. I went to the suggested setting which is root. Specifying the user used to run the Workstation Server component Select the default location for the virtual machines you’ll create.

Setting the virtual machine location Select the network port Workstation Server will be listening on and press Next. It’s best to stick with port 443, which is of course the standard port for https. Setting the listening port for Workstation Server You can optionally enter one of two types of licenses; upgrade or new install. If you leave the field empty, you are given the chance to try out Workstation Pro for up to 30 days. Workstation installer prompting for a license key Press Install to begin the installation.

Wait for the installer to copy the required files and install/configure the respective components. VMware Workstation 14 Pro installation in progress In my case, the installation proceeded without any hiccups.

Workstation 14 Pro successfully installed Give it a spin If X Windows is available, an easy way to run Workstation Pro is via its application shortcut under System Tools. If you’re running Centos core, Workstation can be run using the next command from terminal. / usr / bin / vmware & Launching Workstation from X Windows and a terminal The first time Workstation is run, you will be prompted to enter a license key.

As mentioned, this step is optional in that you are allowed to run Workstation for up to 30 days fully unlocked. However, once the trial period expires, you must enter a valid key to keep using the software. Workstation prompting for a license key After pressing OK, you are taken to the Home screen and reminded – yet again – that you are running Workstation in evaluation mode. Pressing OK to disregard. Running Workstation Pro for the first time The following video is a walkthrough on how to create a VM under Workstation Pro running on Linux. The process is identical to that carried out on either Windows and probably Mac; I don’t have that much experience with the latter OS, so if you do and have tried this, by all means, drop a comment and share your experience.

An IT veteran for over 23 years, I covered various roles throughout my career. Prior to joining Altaro as a blog writer and QA tester, I was employed as an infrastructure engineer at a cloud services provider working exclusively with VMware products. The Altaro VMware blog enables me to share the experience and knowledge gained and, much to my surprise, is what got me the vExpert 2017 award. Besides being a techie and a science buff, I like to travel and play guitars.

I also do some photography and love having a go at playing the occasional XBOX game, Halo being my absolute favourite. I am also a proud father of two and parent to a crazy Dachshund called Larry. Purves D. Et Al. 2008. Neuroscience 4th Edition on this page.