For a first-time compilation, these package commands should be run:

sudo apt-get install build-essential

sudo apt-get install linux-headers-`uname -r`

where uname -r returns 2.6.15-52-386 (as of this writing) so we can also use:

sudo apt-get install linux-headers-2.6.15-52-386

This should install C headers for compilation here:

/usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.15-52-386

When prompted for C headers by vmware-install.pl, use this path:

/usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.15-52-386/include

From VMware Workstation select VM > Install VMware Tools... This should mount a CD-ROM such that these commands work:

cp /cdrom/*.gz /tmp/

cd /tmp

tar xvzf VM*.gz

cd vmware*

sudo ./vmware-install.pl

Verify that Ubuntu is unpacking the right kernel after boot by examining this file:

sudo vim /boot/grub/menu.lst

Set the default entry. The default entry should be the first configuration option in the file.