VMware: Using player to install yor VM's

VMware player is almost a complete virtualization platform, the only thing that is missing to achive the full functuality of its big brother Workstation is the "Configuration Wizard".
I had found a website that allows you to define a vmx file (the configuration file) but i have found also a procedure to create your own.

The basics.

virtualHW.version
This parameter defines the version used. Defaults to 4

displayName
This parameter will be used in order to identify the virtual machine.

memsize
This parameter is obvious. Configures the amount of memory reserved for the vm.
defaults to Megabytes. Example 512


ideX:X.fileName
This parameter will be used in order to identify the disk . An example could look like this: "FREEDOS.vmdk"

ideX:X.present
Enables the availability of the disk to the vm. TRUE/FALSE

guestOS
The id of the operating system. See bellow in the Guest OS section list.
example winXPPro

Network
This section is a little bit more complicated. Each nic can have 3 status:
- bridget.
- hostOnly
- Internal Network.
Example :

ethernet0.present = "TRUE"
ethernet0.vnet = "VMnet0"
ethernet0.virtualDev = "vlance"

cdrom.

ide1:0.fileName = "E:\2k3-sp1-pebuilder313\pebuilder.iso"
ide1:0.deviceType = "cdrom-image"
ide1:0.startConnected = "TRUE"
ide1.1.present = "FALSE"


A more complex vmx file.

This example has been extracted from http://sanbarrow.com/vmxbuilder.html

###### stupid-long-name .vmx #################
######
###### use copy and paste
###### to export this file
######
#######################################
####### generated by Ullis VM builder #

####### Identity ######################
displayName = "stupid-long-name"

# Devices
config.version = "8"
virtualHW.version = "4"
memsize = "512"
numvcpus = "2"
guestOS = "winNetEnterprise"

####### ide-disks #####################
ide0.0.present = "FALSE"
ide0.1.present = "FALSE"
ide1:0.present = "TRUE"
ide1:0.fileName = "E:\2k3-sp1-pebuilder313\pebuilder.iso"
ide1:0.deviceType = "cdrom-image"
ide1:0.startConnected = "TRUE"
ide1.1.present = "FALSE"

####### scsi-controllers ##################
scsi0.present = "TRUE"
scsi0.virtualDev = "buslogic"
scsi1.present = "TRUE"
scsi1.virtualDev = "lsilogic"

####### scsi-disks #####################
scsi0:0.present = "FALSE"
scsi0:1.present = "FALSE"
scsi0:2.present = "FALSE"
scsi0:3.present = "FALSE"
scsi0:4.present = "FALSE"
scsi0:5.present = "FALSE"
scsi0:6.present = "FALSE"
scsi1:0.present = "FALSE"
scsi1:1.present = "FALSE"
scsi1:2.present = "FALSE"
scsi1:3.present = "FALSE"
scsi1:4.present = "FALSE"
scsi1:5.present = "FALSE"
scsi1:6.present = "FALSE"

####### nics ##########################
ethernet0.present = "TRUE"
ethernet0.vnet = "VMnet0"
ethernet0.virtualDev = "vlance"
ethernet1.present = "TRUE"
ethernet1.vnet = "VMnet1"
ethernet1.virtualDev = "vmXnet"
ethernet2.present = "TRUE"
ethernet2.vnet = "VMnet2"
ethernet2.virtualDev = "vlance"
ethernet3.present = "TRUE"
ethernet3.vnet = "VMnet3"
ethernet3.virtualDev = "vmXnet"

####### sound #########################
sound.present = "FALSE"

####### usb ###########################
usb.present = "FALSE"

####### floppies #######################
floppy0.present = "FALSE"
floppy0.startConnected = "FALSE"
floppy1.present = "FALSE"
floppy1.startConnected = "FALSE"

####### ports #########################
parallel0.present = "FALSE"
serial0.present = "FALSE"
serial1.present = "FALSE"

####### cluster-options ##################
####### skipping Cluster-options ###########


The Guest Os supported.
Bellow is the list of operating systems supported and the Id
Microsoft Windows, 32-bit

winVista = Windows Vista (experimental)
longhorn = Windows Longhorn (experimental)
winNetBusiness = Windows 2003 Small Business Server
winNetEnterprise = Windows 2003 Enterprise Server
winNetStandard = Windows 2003 Server
winNetWeb = Windows 2003 Web Server Edition
winXPPro = Windows XP Professional Edition
winXPHome = Windows XP Home Edition
win2000AdvServ = Windows 2000 Advanced Server
win2000Serv = Windows 2000 Server
win2000Pro = Windows 2000 Professional
winNT = Windows NT
winMe = Windows Me
win98 = Windows 98
win95 = Windows 95
win31 = Windows 3.1 / Windows 3.11
windows = Other Windows
Microsoft Windows, 64-bit

winVista-64 = Windows Vista x64 Edition (experimental)
longhorn-64 = Windows Longhorn x64 Edition (experimental)
winNetEnterprise-64 = Windows 2003 Enterprise Server x64 Edition
winNetStandard-64 = Windows 2003 Server x64 Edition
winXPPro-64 = Windows XP Professional x64 Edition
Linux, 32-bit

ubuntu = Ubuntu Linux
redhat = Red Hat Linux
rhel4 = Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4
rhel3 = Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3
rhel2 = Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2
suse = SuSE Linux
sles = SuSE Linux Enterprise Server
mandrake = Mandrake Linux
nld9 = Novell Linux Desktop 9
sjds = Sun Java Desktop System
turbolinux = Turbo Linux
other26xlinux = Other Linux on a 2.6.x kernel
other24xlinux = Other Linux on a 2.4.x kernel
linux = Other Linux
Linux, 64-bit

ubuntu-64 = Ubuntu Linux 64-bit
rhel4-64 = Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 64-bit
rhel3-64 = Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 64-bit
sles-64 = SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 64-bit
suse-64 = SuSE Linux 64-bit
other26xlinux-64 = Other Linux 2.6.x 64-bit
other24xlinux-64 = Other Linux 2.4.x 64-bit
otherlinux-64 = Other Linux 64-bit
Sun Microsystems Solaris

solaris10-64 = Solaris 10 64-bit
solaris10 = Solaris 10
solaris9 = Solaris 9
solaris8 = Solaris 8
solaris7 = Solaris 7
solaris6 = Solaris 6
solaris = Other Solaris
Novell Netware

netware6 = Netware 6.x
netware5 = Netware 5.x
netware4 = Netware 4.x
netware = Other Netware
FreeBSD

freeBSD-64 = FreeBSD 64-bit
freeBSD = FreeBSD
Apple Darwin

darwin = Apple Darwin (unsupported)
Other

other = Other OS
other-64 = Other 64-bit OS