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[LDM #FKG-151989]: Running LDM on Windows XP



Hi Noel,

Sorry for the tardy reply...

> Thanks so much for the thorough explanation of running LDM on a
> windows machine.  Its encouraging to know that we may actually be able
> to develop our products/use LDM on an existing computer.

I think that the VMware option is viable for many sites.  I know that
a few sites have been using VMware Player + Linux virtual machine to
run applications like GEMPAK for a few years now.

> I've looked at the vmware website some, and I'm a bit confused, so I
> have a few questions for you to clarify the route that I'll take to
> get LDM running on the windows computer.

OK, shoot...

> 1. Its unclear how much software I'll need and whether the software is
> free.  Here's what it seems that I need to do.
>
> a) Download free VMWare player 2.0 onto  the windows machine.
> b) Download a free linux operating system(ubuntu, fedora, etc).
> c) Download free LDM.

> Is this the right idea?

Yes, absolutely!  As I mentioned in a previous email, I have run Ubuntu, Fedora,
OpenSUSE, and FreeBSD virtual machines in VMware Player on my old, slow (IBM
T30) laptop with good success.  I am just about to embark on investigating the
latest OpenSUSE distribution, 10.3, so that I can investigate some problems a
user in Europe reported.

> This documentation got me a little confused on the vmware player site:
> "VMware Player is free software that enables users to easily run any
> virtual machine on a Windows or Linux PC. VMware Player runs virtual
> machines created by VMware Workstation, VMware Server, or VMware ESX
> and also supports Microsoft virtual machines and Symantec LiveState
> Recovery disk formats."

Right.

> What is the virtual machine that they are speaking of?

The virtual machine/virtual appliance they are referring to is something
like Ubuntu Linux, Fedora Linux, etc.  There are a lot of different virtual
machines/appliances that can be run, so it can be a bit confusing.

> Is that another product I need to download/use?

No.

> I'm not that savvy on all the operating systems, so thus the question.

No worries.

> Thanks very much for your time on this.  Hopefully I won't be emailing
> with more platform-type questions since I assume your job focuses more
> on the actual unidata software, but this information is very helpful
> in moving toward our goal of product development.

Yes, my job does focus on the software that we distribute.  I am very keen
on the VMware approach (Player or other) since it provides Windows users
with a way to run our *nix-only applications on a platform that they are
familiar with.

One last comment is in order:

The *nix virtual machine (e.g., Fedora Linux) is a real operating system.
It requires creation of user accounts (e.g., 'ldm'), security updates,
installation of development tools (if they are not already bundled in),
etc.  The road ahead includes more than just loading VMware Player and
a virtual machine.  It requires some setup on the Linux side.  Don't
worry, however, we can help you get going.


Cheers,

Tom
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Ticket Details
===================
Ticket ID: FKG-151989
Department: Support LDM
Priority: Normal
Status: Closed