Specifications

Table Of Contents
VMware, Inc. 89
Chapter 4 Managing Virtual Machines and the VMware Server Host
NOTE If!you!have!full!permissions!on!a!configuration!file!but!do!not!have!execute!
permission!to!the!directory!in!which!the!configuration!file!resides!or!any!of!its!
parent!directories,!then!you!cannot!connect!to!the!virtual!machine!with!a!
VMware!Server!Console!or!a!VMware!Scripting!API.!Furthermore,!you!cannot
!
see!the!virtual!machine!in!the!VMware!Management!Interface!or!in!the!
VMware!Server!Console.!Nor!can!you!delete!any!files!in!the!virtual!machine’s!
directory.
Virtual!machines!and!their!resources,!such!as!virtual!disks,!physical!disks,!devices!and!
snapshot!files,!should!be!located!in!areas!accessible!to!their!users.
If!a!vmware!process!is!not!running!for!this!configuration!file,!vmware-authd!checks!to!see!
if!this!virtual!machine!is!in!the!inventory.!If!the!virtual!machine
!is!in!the!inventory,!
vmware-authd!becomes!the!owner!of!the!configuration!file!(not!necessarily!the!user!that!
is!currently!authenticated)!and!starts!the!console!with!this!configuration!file!as!an!
argument!(for!example,!vmware /<path_to_config>/<configfile>.vmx).
The!vmware-authd!process!exits!as!soon!as!a!connection!is!established!to!a!vmware!
process!and!
at!least!one!user!has!connected.!Each!vmware!process!shuts!down!
automatically!after!the!last!user!disconnects.
Default Permissions
When!you!create!a!virtual!machine!with!VMware!Server!on!a!Linux!host,!its!
configuration!file!is!assigned!the!following!default!permissions,!based!on!the!user!
accessing!it:!
! Read,!execute!and!write!(7)!!For!the!user!who!created!the!configuration!file!(the!
owner).
! Read!and!execute!(5)!!For!the!primary!group!to!which!the!owner!belongs.
! Read!(4)!!For!users!other!than!the!owner!or!a!member!of!the!ownerʹs!group.
When!you!first!install!the!VMware!Server!software!and!run!the!configuration!program!
vmware-config.pl,!you!can!set!these!permissions!for!any!existing!virtual!machine!
configuration!files.
If!you!plan!to!use!a!virtual!machine!
and!its!configuration!file!you!created!in!other!
VMware!products!with!VMware!Server,!you!must!open!the!configuration!file!(choose!
File!>!Open)!to!connect!to!the!virtual!machine!from!the!VMware!Server!Console!or!the!
VMware!Management!Interface.!Then!set!the!default!permissions!as!above.