Generate Entropy for Linux under VMware
Posted in Operating Systems, Linux, Fedora, Debian, Suse, Red Hat, Security, Tips on Monday, January 7, 2013 by cam
Often with virtualised servers you can have a slow time generating entropy for virtualised systems and you get stuck with this message:
We need to generate a lot of random bytes. It is a good idea to perform some other action (type on the keyboard, move the mouse, utilize the disks) during the prime generation; this gives the random number generator a better chance to gain enough entropy.
The quickest way in my opinion is the following command. Just make sure you have a dvd / cdrom iso mounted and connected with vmware.
until [ 1 = 0 ]; do dd if=/dev/sr0 of=/tmp/dvd.iso; rm /tmp/dvd.iso -f; done
and ^C when your done!