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Running Google Earth with VMwarePlayer on Linux |
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Wednesday, 05 April 2006 |
Google Earth was
created to put satellite imagery and other geographic information right on the (Windows)
desktop. Unfortunately no Linux version is available jet. In the meantime the
Linux Community was trying to get Google Earth running on a Linux Desktop. This
Tutorial will explain how to install and run it using VMware Player. VMware
Player is free software that lets you evaluate new or pre-release software
contained in virtual machines, without any installation or configuration
hassles. It runs any virtual machine created by VMware Workstation, GSX Server
or ESX Server.
VMware Workstation
is desktop virtualization software that runs multiple operating systems
simultaneously on a single PC. It delivers excellent performance and advanced
features such as memory optimization. We’ll use it to create a Windows XP
virtual machine. This can be done with the Evaluation Version (30 day) and an
evaluation license. We’ll later run Google Earth with the free VMware Player.
Except for the Windows Software you will be able to run GoogleEarth free of
charge on a Linux machine.
Step 1: Getting the software
To get the whole thing running we need the following software:
You should have Suse 10.0 installed on your PC and should store the
VMware software in the user’s home directory. In this workshop I stored
everything in /home/frank/installations.
To get your 30-day trial version of VMware Wokstation running you have to
register here:
http://www.vmware.com/download/ws/eval.html
Please make sure to get a trail license key by email.
Make the Windows XP Installation CD available and look for a
proper Windows XP license key. Alternatively you can also use a Windows 2000
Installation CD. You should get a proper license for less money.
Step 2: Suse 10.0
Installation
I don’t want to explain how to install Suse. It is very easy theses
days. If you need help, please use the following link:
http://www.linux.org/dist/reviews/suse10.html
It is now time
to specify which programs you wish to install on your system. There are
thousands of packages available for SUSE
Linux, and to make it simpler to manage the packages have been
placed into groups of similar applications. We just need a basis system. Save
time and hard disk space and just install the necessary files. Please make sure
to install Microsoft True Type Fonts.
Remark: You will later
have the possibility to add and remove software packages using YAST.
Step 3: Installing VMware
Workstation
As already
motioned above, we’ll use VMware Workstaion to establish Windows XP on our
Linux PC. That means we have to install it just ones to create the virtual
machine using the evaluation license. After successfully preparing the starter
image we’ll delete the software and will use VMware Player instead.
Go to your home directory were
you stored your VMware Wokstation package. (in my case
/home/frank/installations), get root permissions and install the software.
cd /home/frank/installations
su
rpm -i VMware-workstation-5.5.1-19175.i386.rpm
VMware Workstation is now installed on your system. Before we can start
it first time, we have to configure it using the following command as super
user.
/usr/bin/vmware-config.pl
This script will
ask you first to read and accept the “End User License Agreement”. Scroll down,
read it carefully and hit the <q>
key to quit. After doing this, the script will ask a lot of questions. In most
cases you can accept the default settings in the brackets by using the <enter> key. Please make sure to
configure the network settings correctly. If you have multiple Ethernet network
interfaces available on your machine, install the correct one. I had eth0 and
wlan0 available on my test machine and I used wlan0. I also established “NAT
networking” and configured a static IP address and netmask by answering the question “Do you want this program to probe for an
unused private network?” with NO. Please
make sure to remember these settings. You’ll later use it again to configure
VMware Player.
That’s it; you
can now run VMware Workstation by invoking the following command as a normal
user:
/usr/bin/vmware
Its time to enter
the serial number you received by email after the registration. Go to Help – Enter Serial Number and fill the
required data in.
Create a new virtual
machine and use the wizard to select your Operating System and location in
which you would like to store everything. Please make sure to remember it
later.
I recommend using
“Disk Size” not larger that 4 GB and please do not split disk into two
files. (see settings below):
You can also
change the hardware settings to your needs. If you have enough RAM available,
you can specify the amount of memory allocated to your virtual machine.
After configuring
the system you can start the Windows installation by inserting the Windows
installation CD in your CD-ROM device and clicking on the “Power on” button.
VMware should automatically boot from the CD and start the installation
process. You also have the possibility to change the boot options. Yes - VMware
comes with virtual BIOS. Just hit the F2 button to set it up if necessary.
Depending on your
hardware, it will take a few minutes to install Windows on your system. Everything
will be installed in one single file on your Linux PC. Please check this file
after the installation. If you used the location according to the settings
above, you should find the *.vmdk file here:
/home/frank/vmware/Windows XP Professional
Additionally
VMware will create some more files in the same directory like you can see
below. The VMware Player will need it to run the virtual machine.
I recommend
copying the content of the entire subdirectory to a save place. Just in case,
you never know!
cp -R /home/frank/vmware/Windows XP Professional /home/frank/Backup
That’s it – how
easy can it be? There is no need any more to keep VMware Workstation on your
system. It will work the next 29 days but we will use the free VMware Player
instead. To install the “Player” it will be necessary to delete the
“Workstation” software. Just open your Linux console and use the following
commands:
su
rpm -e VMwareWorkstation
Step 4: Installing VMware
Player
It’s now time to
install VMware Player. We’ll use it to run Windows XP and to install and run
GoogleEarth. Open your favourite Linux console, get super user permissions and
go to your installation directory:
su
cd /home/frank/installation
rpm –i VMware-player-1.0.1-19317.i386.rpm
VMware Player is now installed on your system. Before we can start it
first time, we have to configure it using the following command as super user.
/usr/bin/vmware-config.pl
Please use the same settings you’ve used already in Step 3 while
installing VMware Workstation.
Run VMware Player after the installation like this:
/usr/bin/vmplayer
Step 5: First run and
GoogleEarth installation
This
will be already the last step in our workshop. After starting VMware Player we
just have to find the correct vmx file. Please go to your file system were you
stored the Windows virtual machine and open it.
Windows
should start nice and shiny in a new window.
First
make sure that the Internet connection on your Linux PC is up and running and
the Windows virtual machine is also able to browse the net. To check this, open
the Internet Explorer and browse to the following website:
http://earth.google.com/
You
should now be able to download GoogleEarth software.
You
can always leave the Windows environment by using the key combination CTRL+ALT.
While
downloading the software make sure to have the correct display settings.
GoogleEarth requires a resolution of at least 1024x768 to be viewed properly.
The
next question you should answer with “No”.
We will use the “OpenGL Software Emulation” mode to run GoogleEarth.
Hit Ctrl 5 to open a
Search box and fill your favourite destination in.
If
you like to “Autostart” Windows XP in
your KDE session, you have to create a file startWindowsXP with the following content:
#!/bin/sh
vmplayer /home/frank/installations/winxp/Windows\ XP\
Professional.vmx
(Remark:
Use the correct location of your vmx
file)
Store
the file in the following directory und make it executable:
cp startWindowsXP /home/frank/.kde/Autostart
cd /home/frank/.kde/Autostart
chmod 744 startWindowsXP
Conclusion:
In the
VMware environment GoogleEarth is running without any problems. I also used
Wine in one of the older workshops but had a lot of trouble to get it running. I had to live with some deficiencies (no
menus, bad fonts etc.).
http://www.linux-tip.net/cms/content/view/215/6/
This
solution seems to work much better but also reasonable fast and stable. The
only disadvantage I can see in this solution is that you need an installable
Windows version.
But
if you have or can get a Windows CD (XP or 2000) then you really can fulfil your
“dream of flying” ever on a Linux machine for free.
Please download the pdf version of the article here.
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