Posts Tagged ‘VMware’

I recently tried installing Ubuntu x64 in VMware on my 32-bit Windows machine. I have done this in the past for other 64-bit operating systems, however not on this particular workstation, which is an HP xw4600. The process is typically very straightforward since VMWare has a “Easy Install” process for known operating systems.

This time around I ran into some issues while the Ubuntu image was booting. Each time I tried to start the VM, I received the following error:

This kernel requires an x86-64 CPU, but only detected an i686 CPU. Unable to boot - please use a kernel appropriate for your CPU.

I was almost positive that my processor was 64-bit compatible, but I double-checked Intel’s site to make sure. According to Intel, I was good to go. I decided to give VMWare’s compatibility checker a try, and it stated that I was able to run 64-bit virtual machines as well.

I figured the issue was probably due to 64-bit extensions being disabled in the BIOS, so I took a look there. I dug and dug, but could not find any tabs or sections related to 64-bit extensions or virtualization. After looking around some more, I found my answer in a very unlikely location (at least in my opinion).

Under the main Security menu, there is an entry for System Security. There, you will find three values, two of which are disabled by default. These are Virtualization Technology (VTx) and Virtualization Technology Directed I/O (VTd). After enabling both of these items and saving my BIOS settings, the 64-bit OS installed without a hitch.

I applaud HP for being careful regarding Virtualization Technology, but they could have made the options or documentation regarding these options a little easier to find.

I installed VMware on my Vista machine not too long ago, and found that I could no longer reach my machine remotely via the CopSSH daemon [Read my article on CopSSH here], nor via the Remote Desktop Client. At first I thought it might have been a problem with the port forwarding on my router, but I quickly found that I could not reach my main computer within my own LAN.

The problems started immediately after I installed VMware, so I figured that was the culprit. I dug around a bit and found nothing out of the ordinary as far as my installation was concerned, so I dug around on the web. I found the solution to my problem in the VMware user forum.

It is well known that VMware installs several virtual network adapters to use for NAT, among other things. What is not so well known is that when your Vista firewall is enabled, it views these two new adapters as interlopers, and configures the firewall as if you were on a public network without notifying you of the change. This essentially shuts down any service ports you might have had open, custom or otherwise, if you did not specify them in the firewall exemption list at some earlier point.

To remedy the problem, you can do one of two things:

1) Turn of  the Vista firewall. That’s it – you should be good to go after that.

2) Configure your virtual machines to use bridged networking, and disable the two VMware virtual adapters in the Windows Device Manager, leaving your firewall enabled.

I actually disabled both of the adapters and disabled Vista’s firewall, but that’s just me.

Hopefully this helps someone out there with the same issue.