If you are running on the cutting edge, with Ubuntu Hardy 8.04, and recently decided to install VMware Server Console on that machine you may have gotten a very strange error message, something along the lines of this:

/usr/lib/vmware-server-console/bin/vmware-server-console: /usr/lib/vmware-server-console/lib/libpng12.so.0/libpng12.so.0: no version information available (required by /usr/lib32/libcairo.so.2)
/usr/lib/vmware-server-console/bin/vmware-server-console: /usr/lib/vmware-server-console/lib/libgcc_s.so.1/libgcc_s.so.1: version `GCC_4.2.0' not found (required by /usr/lib32/libstdc++.so.6)
/usr/lib/vmware-server-console/bin/vmware-server-console: /usr/lib/vmware-server-console/lib/libpng12.so.0/libpng12.so.0: no version information available (required by /usr/lib32/libcairo.so.2)
/usr/lib/vmware-server-console/bin/vmware-server-console: /usr/lib/vmware-server-console/lib/libgcc_s.so.1/libgcc_s.so.1: version `GCC_4.2.0' not found (required by /usr/lib32/libstdc++.so.6)
/usr/lib/vmware-server-console/bin/vmware-server-console: /usr/lib/vmware-server-console/lib/libpng12.so.0/libpng12.so.0: no version information available (required by /usr/lib32/libcairo.so.2)
/usr/lib/vmware-server-console/bin/vmware-server-console: /usr/lib/vmware-server-console/lib/libgcc_s.so.1/libgcc_s.so.1: version `GCC_4.2.0' not found (required by /usr/lib32/libstdc++.so.6)

This is caused by VMware Server Console being compiled with an older version of those libraries then included in Hardy. To resolve this problem I found a variety of solutions on multiple sites, but the simplest and one which worked for me is the following:

$ sudo cp /lib/libgcc_s.so.1 /usr/lib/vmware-server-console/lib/libgcc_s.so.1/
$ sudo cp /usr/lib/libpng12.so.0 /usr/lib/vmware-server-console/lib/libpng12.so.0/

The explaniation, in French is:

Il s’agit du bug #189250 is not in libcairo (Ubuntu) recensé sur le launchpad Ubuntu, lié au fait que VMWare Server a été compilée avec une version plus ancienne de GCC que celle intégrée nativement dans Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron. Pour fixer ce bug, il faut copier quelques librairies spécifique (on va d’abord sauvegarder les anciennes…) (source)

UPDATE: 64 bit users, there is a second step required to get Server Console Running on Ubuntu 8.04

sudo ln -s /usr/lib32 /usr/l32
sudo sed -i -e 's/usr\/lib/usr\/l32/g' /usr/lib32/gtk-2.0/2.10.0/loader-files.d/libgtk2.0-0.loaders
sudo sed -i -e 's/usr\/lib/usr\/l32/g' /usr/lib32/libgdk_pixbuf-2.0.so.0.1200.9

Take from: vmware-server in hardy - Ubuntu Forums and vmware-server-console on Hardy 64-bit - Ubuntu Forums

For information on fixing VMware server on 8.04 or more information on this issue visit these sites:
VMware Server 1.0.5 sur Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron - Taltan.blog.bkp
VMware Server, Ubuntu “Hardy Heron” 8.04 and Linux 2.6.24 « Federkiel
vmware-server in hardy - Page 4 - Ubuntu Forums
Bug #177869 in ia32-libs (Ubuntu): “vmware-server-console broken after 2.2ubuntu2”
Bug #193692 in ia32-libs (Ubuntu): “[hardy] ia32-libs_2.2ubuntu6 failure when running VMWare”

Here is a screenshot of VMware Server Console 1.0.5 running on Hardy:

Have you been following the news surround Ubuntu release of JeOS? Want to try it out, but not sure where to start? Build an Apt-proxy, quick simple and very helpful.

The power behind JeOS, Just Enough Operating System, is that you only get the minimal packages you need to get the job done. Current versions of JeOS, 7.10 and 8.04 are both designed to work on the VMware Server and VMware ESX platform. For help setting up VMware server on Gutsy Gibbon check out this step by step guide, part 1 (Gutsy Server Install) and part 2 (VMware Server Install).

Once you have VMware server setup and running you are ready to build your first virtual machine. There are a ton of great guides out there for all aspects of this process, but since we are working with JeOS, you need to take a few precautions that normally you could skip.

Currently Hardy JeOS doesn’t include (or I couldn’t get it to work) SCSI drivers, so you need to use an IDE drive when you make your virtual machine.

If you need more detailed instructions on how to setup the virtual machine, I’m going to refer you to this article, published by linux-mag.com, Their article “How to Develop Virtual Appliances Using Ubuntu JeOS | Linux Magazine“. Note: this article refers to JeOS 7.10, which is close enough to 8.04 at this level.

Read more »

Ubuntu comes in 3 main sizes, Large, Small, and tiny to meet different needs.

Complete description of each version after the break.
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