AppSecLive.org

VM Ware workstation is working fine with me only issue i am facing is while converting vmdk to vmx sometimes i am getting error.I do not what mite be the reason may be its because of my system configuration.

Another good easy and free solution will be to use VMX Builder. I have seen a good post on that at

VMX Builder for VMware Player

That should be the fastest, easiest & the most cost effective way to create VMX files for VMware Player.

I hope that help,
Erick

Thanks Brad and Matt for taking time out to explain as well as facilitate. With a community like yours, I can depend upon for while I initiate this new journey into the world of application testing for security.

Will keep pinging you guys every now and then.

Magnet,
Check out the .vmx file here:
http://appseclive.org/content/downloads
 
Let us know if you have any problems!!
 
-Brad

If you're band new to VMs and all things virtual, you've got a bunch of choices - mostly depending on if you want to spend money and what OS you want to have be the host OS (that is where the virtual boxen run).  Here's a quick run down of your options:

1. VMware's ESX (free), Server (free), Workstation ($s), Player (free), Fusion (Mac only $s):  ESX and Server and more "enterprise-ish" and less Desktop user friendly (that said, I've got Server running on a desktop at my house).  Workstation and Fusion are basically the same thing - Workstaion does Win//Lin and Fusion is for Macs.  Player allows you to run OSes but not really tweak and otherwise play around with them.  Between their products, they cover Win/Lin/Mac.
2. Virtual Box (free):  Very much like a hibrid of VMware's Workstation + Server.  The interface is very much like Workstation but it has some not well publicized features which can make it VMware Server-ish.  Downloads for Win/Lin/Mac.
3. Parallels workstation ($s) is very much like VMware's Workstation and virtual box.  It was the first commercial VM engine for Mac that really caught on.  (I used Virtual PC for the Mac before that company was purchased by Microsoft but I'm pretty sure the Mac client died when MS bought them)  Win/Mac (maybe more)
4. Qemu - A VM engine which started out (and has stayed) a GPL'ed project.  Like many FLOSS projects, its a bit rough around the edges (don't expect a pretty GUI and lots of hand holding) but it works well.  Natively *nix like Lin, ports for Win/Mac available.

 This is NOT a comprehensive list of all things virtualization.  These are the ones I'm most familiar with. 
The OWASP Live CD will work under any of the four above.  Here's the run down on how that works:

1. VMware:  Download the .vmdk file, create a new virtual machine and when setting up the disk drive, point at that file.
2. Virtual Box:  Download the .vdi file, create a new virtual machine and when setting up the disk drive, point at that file.
3. Parallels:  Download the .vmdk file, convert the file to Parallels format/import it, create a new virtual machine using the converted file as the hard drive. (reported by user - search the mail list for details)
4. Qemu:  Download the .vmdk file, convert the file to qemu format, and create a new virtual machine using that as its hard drive.

BTW, the reason we provide "virtual hard drives" and not a complete virutal install is because:

• It keeps the download to a single file
• It keeps the download a bit smaller
• Mostly, it allows you freedom to setup the virtual machine in the way that fits your need.  Do you want networking bridged, NAT or host only?  How much RAM do you want to allocate?  All those settings are under your control when we only provide the hard disk.

 
Hope that helps! 
(Sorry for length, but I type fast)

Magnet,

This is a great point. The .vmx file is actually a plain text file that contains pointers to the .vmdk file, which contains the operating system. Its kind of a virtual hard drive.

Sun's VirtualBox is open source and can handle .vmdk files. They have releases of it on most major operating systems.

http://www.virtualbox.org/

I don't actually use Vmware except to create the images for the live CD. VirtualBox does everything I need and more, but that's just me. =)

I'm going to create a .vmx file for you today and post it on the downloads page. Thanks for bringing this to our attention!!

P.S. You'll need to download both the .vmx file and the .vmdk file if you plan on using the Vmware Player. Just place them both in the same directory and it should work fine. If not, post here and we will get to the bottom of it.

-Brad