Install Linux Mint 12 using VMware player on Windows 7 as host

Step by Step guide to install Linux Mint

Its been a while I played around with Linux OS. My earlier experiences with Ubuntu were that of a constant battle spending hours at night to fix issue. Even simple things such as wireless internet access were a hassle to configure given I am not an expert in Linux. This all changed with Linux Mint. Linux Mint is a Linux-based computer operating system designed for usability and ease of installation, particularly for users with no previous Linux experience. Its very light weight and the current install file is just over 1GB, so even your 5 yr old computer works great with this OS.

If you are ready to take the plunge go ahead follow the step by step instructions. I installed it as a Virtual OS on my Windows 7 machine and it works great. For virtualization I used the VMware Player which is free. So lets move ...

Step1 : Download and install VMware Player

VMware Player is a freeware virtualization software package from VMware, Inc. VMware Player can run existing virtual appliances and create its own virtual machines (which require a licensed operating system to be installed to be functional). It uses the same virtualization core as VMware Workstation, a similar program with more features, and not free of charge. Here is the download link

https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/evalcenter?p=player 

You will find documentaion, getting started guide, etc. on the site. During the install it will ask you to reboot to complete the installation.

Step2 : Download Linux Mint installer Disk image file(iso)

Get latest version of Linux Mint In my case it was version 12 names Lisa. Here is the download link

http://www.linuxmint.com/download.php

Download either 32-bit or 64-bit full-featured standard version.

Step3 : Launch VMware Player

Select option to Create a New Virtual Machine.

Step4 : Select installer disc_image file(iso)

Browse and select the Linux Mint .iso file you downloaded earlier. Don't worry about the waring that operating system was not detected and you will get to specify that on the next screen. Click next

Step5 : Select Operating System

Now choose Linux for the operating system and Ubuntu or Ubuntu 64-bit for the version either depending on what Linux mint iso image you downloaded earlier.

Step6 : Name the Virtual Machine

Enter name for your Virtual Machine and select where you would like to create the hard disk.

Step7 : Specify Disk Capacity

Set the size of your Virtual Machine hard disk. Basically it must be less than whatever free space available on your computer. Linux Mint will ask for a minimum of 6GB, I choose to set that at 25GB.

Step8 : Ready to Create Virtual Machine

Before we click Finish lets customize our hardware. Click on the Customize Hardware button.

Step9 : Customize our Hardware for the Virtual Machine

Adjust your memory setting, default in my case was 1GB. I increased it to 2GB, please make sure you leave some for your hosting machine. Also change the number of processors from 1 to 2. Click close and then click Finish.

Step10 : Linux Mint running on your computer

Do you see Linux Mint? Well at this point you are running the Linux Mint 12 from your iso image. So to install it on your computer click on the link that says Install Linux Mint.

Step11 : Installing Linux Mint on your computer

At this point just make sure your host computer(in my case Windows 7 PC) has internet connectivity. VMware Player enables NAT between the host computer and Linux Mint virtual machine. The installation will take some time so you can browse thru the slides for some information related to Linux Mint. Here are some of the screen shots ...
Don't be alarmed by the Erase Disk message, its only cleaning up the newly created Virtual Hard disk. Keep going ...
Restart the machine. On the next screen click on the Virtual machine and then press ENTER. Also click on I Finished Installing button to remove the message at the bottom of the screen.

Step11 : Welcome Screen - ALL DONE

Step12 : VMware Tools for Linux

If you see the message to install VMware tools for Linux just download and install.
Tip: You can shutdown the Virtual Machine by clicking on the Top right corner where your user name is.