All right, I think I need a guru or three… 
Here’s what I’ve got:
ESXi 5.5
Ubuntu 14.04 Unity x64 on a VM
VMware Tools
Ignition 7.7
Oracle Java 7u65 and 8u11
When trying to start a mobile client, it errors for a broken pipe. This is actually a big improvement over the not-able-to-start-a-VM issue I started with.
The short story is that Ubuntu couldn’t find any RANDR extensions for the display. At this point, I’m not sure if this is a VMWare thing or an Ubuntu thing.
Any thoughts?
Do you have a graphic environment installed on Ubuntu?
There is a paper on here somewhere about using Mobile on headless, which is what I am thinking about.
Yes, the first big troubleshooting question is headless or not? (I assume Unity means not headless, but Linux distros always manage to surprise me.)
For headless, try the steps at inductiveautomation.com/support/kb/160
If not, can you tell me how much memory the vm has, and let me know exactly what the error says?
Nope, running headful. My confidence wasn’t high enough yet for a headless installation.
So, this morning I closed my eyes, held my nose, and jumped into the water. 
But this time, following the same step I took before:
For fun, I tried a separate Unity install and even a Gnome install, always with the result of the mobile module not working.
It seems that since there is already an Xserver of some sort running the display, xvfb cannot correctly initialize it.
I may play around some more later, but since I’ve got one working, I’ll migrate over to the headless server. Good thing it’s not production-ready, yet! 
So glad it works!
If you have problems with headless, let me know. We have some more souped up instructions (beyond the kb article) that aren’t ready for prime time, but may solve particular issues. My dream is to one day develop a single set of instructions that always gets mobile working on all Linux distros. I probably have a better chance of finding a unicorn next to a pot of gold. LOL
I know what you mean. I can always find one or the other, but never both... 
Kathy,
If possible I would like a copy of the souped up instructions just for possible info down the road. Email is best.
Thanks in advance.
I am unable to find the knowledge base article that used to be at inductiveautomation.com/support/kb/160
Can anyone help?
support.inductiveautomation.com … e-on-linux
And if that link doesn’t work for you for some reason, do a search in the knowledge base for ‘linux’. It’s the only article that comes up for that right now.
I’m gonna bump this a moment. Kathy, could I also get a copy of the “souped up” instructions? Having trouble and just want have a set n-hand for a sanity check-- or lack of it…
Done.
Er, not done. The email bounced. Can you send a message to me at kapplebaum at inductiveautomation dot com ? I’ll send it in the reply.
Kathy I also would like a copy of these instructions sent to me as well. Thanks
Also, by “headless” is this referring to run level 3? I was under impression I would need to set the default run level to graphical/5 to get the mobile module to work.
