Preparation
aptitude install gcc linux-headers-server
Installation
There’s basically one issue that comes up with VMWare Server installation on Intrepid, and it’s solved by the patch posted here. Start the installation, and when it asks if you want to run vmware-config.pl, say no. Let installation finish, then apply the patch to /usr/bin/vmware-config.pl, and invoke it directly.
Management UI
If you don’t like the web interface (or, like I often am, you’re on a Mac where it’s not available) but you have a windows (virtual?) machine handy, you can install the virtual infrastructure client hidden on every VMware server 2 installation. So for my Mac, I went to a Windows VM, visited https://myserver:8333/client/VMware-viclient.exe in Exploder, and allowed that executable to run. Actually, since it’s a .NET application, I had to download and install that, first.
No Loopback
Neither the web interface or the windows MUI tool like having the console accessed on a loopback interface. That means, if your host is fubarre.com and you’re on its local network, you’d better use its local IP address instead when logging in.