One of your VMware Server Guest OS'es could not reach the network (though seemingly it has connection)?

Today I faced a new issue with my VMware Server environment. I had cloned 4 Guest OS'es (I followed the steps on how to clone VMs in VMware Server here: http://panoskrt.wordpress.com/2009/01/20/clone-virtual-machine-on-vmware-server-20/) and had them run simultaneously on a physical server box and interconnected each other (each with a distinctive fixed IP). Due to some technical issue, I needed to replace one of the Guests with a "blank" one and reinstall the apps into it. What I did was just copied the entire VM folder and added it to my inventory (clue: what did I miss out here?).

After I booted up the newly replaced Guest (along with other Guests at the same time), I realized that it could neither ping other Guests, nor it could be pinged by them. After a few cracks (such as disabling all firewall-related settings, changing from fixed IP to DHCP client, etc.), I decided to restart all the Guests in a different sequence. Then it turned out to be another Guest facing the same symptoms this time. With few rounds of tests (and wastage of time), I finally believed there were only 2 Guests which shared the same problem.

It was then I finally recalled back there were some particular steps I must follow in order to clone VMs in VMware Server (unlike VMware Workstation). One of them is the UUID setting. Since I had pinpointed the root cause I started to compare the contents of the .VMX files of the conflicting Guests. It was this line in the .VMX file which must not have the same value as other Guests: uuid.bios = "56 4d ac f5 60 eb ..."

Thank goodness I could resolve it by today! (And get some good sleep tonight hopefully)

Extremely slow file transfer rate when copy files between host and guest OS (VMware Server)?

Today I managed to resolve a 2-day performance issue with copying files from the host running VMware Server to any guest OS (VM) and vice versa. Luckily I found a solution from VMware Knowledge Base:

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1006619

It is a known issue with VMware Server host running in Windows Server 2003 or 2008 environment.

Cheers~

New Year's Resolution for 2011

This year I'm gonna upgrade myself, kind of. First is the language. I would like to master 2 specifically: English and Japanese. Secondly is the other language. I would like to learn Java, JavaScript and C#.

The clock is already ticking, and I'm already 30 this year. So no regrets later, fight now!! GO GO GO...