Officially Supported VMware Server 2.0 Guest Operating Systems

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In the world of VMware Server 2.0 there are both supported and unsupported guest operating systems. It is important to understand, however, that just because an operating system is not officially supported to run within a VMware Server virtual machine does not necessarily mean it will not actually work in this environment. It simply means that VMware, Inc. has not actually validated that it will work. In fact, the majority of operating systems missing from the officially supported list will actually run without any problems in VMware Server.

If the required guest operating system is not officially supported it is still worth trying to run it inside a VMware Server virtual machine. After all, when virtual machines can be created in minutes (and deleted in seconds if a test fails), there is little to lose in a little guest operating system experimentation.




Unsupported Linux Guest Operating Systems

There are many Linux distributions and versions freely available today, and as such it would be impossible for VMware to validate every single one. It is important to note, however, that even if a specific Linux guest operating system is not listed as being officially supported, it does not necessarily mean it will not run within VMware Server 2.0. In fact, it is usually sufficient to select the closest match from the list. In the case of unsupported Linux distributions, identify the kernel version (current mainstream versions are 2.4 and 2.6) and whether the operating system is 32-bit or 64-bit, and then make an appropriate selection from the Other Linux options. In most cases, the Linux distribution will run perfectly (or at least no less perfectly than a supported distribution) within the VMware Server virtual machine.

Officially Supported Guest Operating Systems

With the above information in mind, the following tables list the current officially supported VMware Server 2.0 guest operating systems:

Microsoft Windows (64-bit)

Microsoft Operating Systems (64-bit)

Supported Versions

Windows Server 2008 x64

Standard Edition, Enterprise Edition

Windows Vista x64

Business Edition, Ultimate Edition

Windows XP x64

Windows Server 2003 x64 Standard Edition

SP1, SP2, R2

Windows Server 2003 x64 Web Edition

SP1, SP2, R2

Windows Server 2003 x64 Enterprise Edition

SP1, SP2, R2

Microsoft Windows (32-bit)

Microsoft Operating Systems (32-bit)

Supported Versions

Windows Server 2008

Standard Edition and Enterprise Edition

Windows Vista

Business Edition and Ultimate Edition

Windows XP

SP2

Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition

SP1, SP2, R2

Windows Server 2003 Web Edition

SP1, SP2, R2

Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition

SP1, SP2, R2

Windows Small Business Server 2003 Standard Edition

R2

Windows Small Business Server 2003 Premium Edition

R2

Windows 2000 Server

SP3, SP4

Windows 2000 Advanced Server

SP3, SP4

Linux Operating Systems (64-bit)

Linux Operating Systems (64-bit)

Supported Versions

Mandriva Linux 2006

Red Hat Enterprise Linux

5.0, 5.1

Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS

4.5

Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES

4.5

Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS

4.5

SUSE Linux

9.0, SP1, SP2, SP3

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server

10, 10 SP1

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9.0

SP1, SP2, SP3, SP4

SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop

10, 10.1, 10.2

openSUSE

10.2

Open Enterprise Server

SP1, SP2

Ubuntu Linux

8.04 7.10, 7.04, 6.10, 6.06, 5.10, 5.04

Linux Operating Systems (32-bit)

Linux Operating Systems (32-bit)

Supported Versions

Mandriva Linux

2006, 10.1, 10.0, 9.x

Red Hat Enterprise Linux

5.1, 5.0

Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS

4.5

Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES

4.5

Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS

4.5

SUSE Linux

9.0, 9.1, 9.2, 9.3

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server

10, 10 SP1

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server

9, SP1, SP2, SP3, SP4

SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop

10, 10.1, 10.2

openSUSE

10.2

Open Enterprise Server

SP1, SP2

Ubuntu Linux

8.04, 7.10, 7.04, 6.10, 6.06, 5.10, 5.04

Sun Solaris

Sun Solaris Operating Systems

Supported Versions

Solaris 64-bit Platform Edition 10

update 3, update 4

Solaris 32-bit Platform Edition 10

update 3, update 4

Novell Netware

Novell Netware Operating Systems

Supported Versions

NetWare 6.x Server 32-bit

6.5 SP6


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