Virtualize.dk » Linux

Adding a new disk in linux using thin provisioning.

admin — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:01:10 +0000

I had to add another harddrive to a test VM and wondered how to take advantage of thin provisioning in linux. On Windows VM’s you have to do a “Quick Format” to use thin provisioning. Here is what you do on a linux (ubuntu) VM.

Shutdown the VM (if you dont have Hotadd-feature licensed)
Add a new harddrive with thin provisioning
Start the VM
Log in
Check the dmesg to find the devicename of the new harddrive ( in my case /dev/sdb )
sudo mkfs.ext3 /dev/sdb (use another mkfs-command to use the filesystem of your choise)
/dev/sdb is entire device, not just one partition!
Proceed anyway? (y,n) y
Wait for it to finish
Mount the harddrive (sudo mount /dev/sdb /home/newharddrive)

Upgrading vmware tools and kernel on a linux (ubuntu) VM.

admin — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:59:38 +0000

This is the way it worked for me

Upgrade all apps (sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade)
Reboot
Upgrade the kernel (sudo apt-get dist-upgrade)
Reboot
Install new kernel headers ( sudo apt-get install linux-headers-`uname -r` )
Choose “Install/update vmware tools” in the VI-client
Mount the CD (sudo mkdir /mnt/cdrom && sudo mount /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom )
Copy the tar to your homefolder ( cp /mnt/cdrom/VMwareTools-x.x.x-yyyyyy.tar.gz /home/username)
Untar (cd /home/username && tar zxvf VMwareTools-x.x.x-yyyyyy.tar.gz)
Install the upgrade (sudo /home/username/vmware-tools-distrib/vmware-install.pl)
Follow the instructions on the screen
Reboot

Done