Installing Fedora 16 guest OS on VMware ESXi 5. What type OS should I choose?

Question

Im trying to install Fedora 16(64bit) as guest OS on my VMware ESXi 5 host... But when configuring new vm, in tab Guest Operating System there is no Fedora 16. I can choose between RedHat 6, CentOS and Other Linux, Other Linux 2.6.x ...

What should I choose for best performance?

Solution 1

Fedora 16 isn't supported on ESXi but obviously it's a RH variant so logic would suggest choosing RHEL6-64bit. The only problem with that is that F16 has a v3.3 kernel, whereas RHEL6 is a 2.x kernel so you may have some problems adding in the vmtools, if you planned to do so. Ultimately though always try to use supported OSs.

Solution 2

Fedora is a bad idea for production, given the rapid release cycle. It's not an easy target for vendors like VMWare. But I understand developer pressure...

Choose either "Redhat Enterprise 6 64-bit" first or the "Other 2.6.x Linux". Fedora 16 will already have a paravirtual SCSI device and network card in the build. If the VMWare Tools don't install properly, you'll still have some flexibility. (check to see if the guest's IP shows up in the vSphere console before you attempt to install the VMWare Tools)

Comments

[B14D3]

I prefer Centos but my developers want to have the most fresher php. I can't argue with them (Their boss is also my boss :D ). So we choose Fedora (closest to centos but with fresh packages ).

[cjc]

@B14D3 Can't you run CentOS and then use a different repo for PHP? For example, webtatic.com/packages/php54 In that case, the rest of your OS will be supported, even if PHP54 comes from a non-standard repo.

[B14D3]

yes I can but some times there are problems with additional repos (for example percona and remi) and I dont want that kind of mess on my server ... on Fedora all works fine with basic repos.