Fun With VMware V. 7 Workstation

VMware V. 7 of Workstation supports multiple processors with multiple cores and it can handle the Aero interface. It works on both hosted on and running 64-bit operating systems. It supports the various forms of USB 2.0 devices.

There is the ability to record an activity and rerun it, stepping into and back out of bugs; and the Workstation also has the ability to interact directly with a VM from within leading IDEs.

A tester can duplicate an unexpected event and run the software in the VM and turn on recording. He may capture the recording in a file and log the bug in the defect tracker with a URL pointing to the saved file as the recording files are very large—they capture the entire VM, and so can reach multiple gigabytes.

The developer may replay the saved file and watch the defect appear again. Rewinding the recording enables the defect to be replayed as many times as necessary. Workstation also enables flags to be set at any point so that various events can be highlighted in the replay.

The natural extension to the concept of playback is that of saving an entire VM as a static snapshot. At any point, you can throw out the modified VM and return to the previous (snapshot) version

It will also be useful for performing software reviews; install the software to be reviewed within the VM and let the VM’s registry get corrupted. When you’re done, either save the VM to a DVD or throw it out, and use the original snapshot as the basis for new clean VMs.

Snapshots need not occur just once. VMware has a way of scheduling them to be captured at regular intervals so that you can easily return to a previous point in a lengthy process.

Similarly, one can install the entire software tools and testing data needed to develop or to sustain a system - Requirements, Modeling, IDE, Compiler, Testing, Database - on a reference VM and distribute that to the developers on the team. This will obviate the need for each developer to acquire, install, and configure all the tools and data that would be needed to develop or to sustain that system.

SpringSource tools are part of this release. They enable developers to automatically start Workstation, power on a virtual machine, revert to a specific snapshot, inject the SpringSource server, copy the project to the virtual machine, start the application, and attach a debugger”—all from within the IDE (Eclipse and Visual Studio).

VMware Workstation can run multiple VMs simultaneously. You can identify a group of VMs that are to boot together and be treated as a group.

Price is $189 per seat.