Running CoreOS on Fusion

I wanted to play around with CoreOs and Docker a bit so I went to the CoreOS website but unfortunately they do not provide an OVF or OVA download. The CoreOS website doesn’t really explain how to do this, they do show how to do it for ESXi where they show how to create an OVF/OVA. I figured I would do a quick write-up on how to get the latest version up and running quickly in Fusion, without jumping through hoops.

• Download the latest version here: coreos_production_vmware_insecure.zip (~180MB)
• Unzip the file after downloading
• If you look in the folder you will see a “.vmx” file and a “.vmdk” file
• Move the whole folder in to the “Virtual Machines” folder under “Documents”
• Now simply right click the VMX file and “open” it
• You may be asked if you want to upgrade the hardware, I recommend doing this
• Boot

After you are done booting you can “simply” connect to is as follows:

• Look at the VM console for the IP Address
• Now change your directory to the folder where the virtual machine is stored as there should be a key in that folder
• Now run the following command, where 192.168.1.19 is the IP of the VM in my environment:
  ssh -i insecure_ssh_key [email protected]

Note that the key is highly insecure and you should replace it of course. More details can be found here.

PS: Dear CoreOS, please create an OVA or OVF… It will make life even easier for your customers.