I am running VMware Workstation on Ubuntu 11.10. Everything is running fine as long as I start the service manually each time I reboot the server. The command I am using is: sudo /etc/init.d/vmware-workstation-server start

Could someone tell me how to start this automatically with the system.

We like to discourage the use of proprietary software - however, you can autostart programs from the System menu:
http://www.ubuntuka.com/autostart-ubuntu-startup/

Will there be any issue with the password for the sudo command? I cannot restart the box at the moment to test this method.

As for the proprietary software, I guess you don't like VMware much huh. I am running production servers in a small network environment and I am relying on the support that VMware provides with there products but I am open to suggestions. What would you recommend? I need something that I can manage remotely as much as possible. I can VNC into the Ubuntu host but I have never been happy with the VNC connection as opposed to a RDP connection. With the VMware Workstation 8, I share the VMs so that I can actually connect to the server from my laptop (which is also running Workstation 8) and manage the VMs from there.

If you have problems with the sudo command, you can set up an exception in sudoers - just for this instance.


I know, VMs and support are annoying.
Finding something to suit your needs in the free-software world will depend on more detailed knowledge of what you do. In a production setup you usually don't want to mess about much I know. Your best practice is too keep an eye out for gnu/linux support companies with a non-proprietary policy and consult with one.

There are a number foss VM setups available for the googling of course.
I think you can get xorg to just export the desktop to another machine...
I wouldn't normally use a remote desktop for remote management of servers - I'd use ssh... but then I'm from a generation that configures all dedicated servers headless