IF I install the BDE on a Windows machine, will I then be able to ssh to that machine, get a linux shell, then establish a SAT session? Once logged into the BDE what differences are there from logging into a regular CM?

Yes, you can get a SAT session to the CM. It is GA Communication Manager software so it will look the same as a CM you install on it's own server. There are some limitations to BDE which are listed here:

https://devconnect.avaya.com/public/dyn/d_dyn.jsp?fn=736#limitations

Craig, Thanks for the quick reply . Will I be able able to run commands like "statuslicense" and "swversion" at the shell ? And even though I cannot technically connect an LSP or Gateway, can I configure those?

you can configure a gateway, however it will not connect if you try to register one with the BDE Communication Manager image. Thus a SAT: 'status media-gateway' or 'display media-gateway' will always show it unregistered/out of service.

And yes, you can run the commands "statuslicense" and "swversion".

One more thing..since VMWare Workstation and VMWAre Fusion are functionally similar, will this work on VMWare Fusion? I imagine the software is is installed as a VM, so the OS requirements matter less than the VMWare requirements?

We have not tested that version, but it sounds like it will run Linux VM's, so if you can get the network configuration setup properly it should work. There is some networking configuration documentation for BDE provided for VMWare on a windows machine. So it would be up to you to get it configured properly so that client applications can connect to the VM's on your Mac. I would suggest looking through all the BDE configuration documentation to make sure there aren't any red flags for you with a Mac host machine. Please let me know if you are able to make it work.

The DVD I received has a bunch of Windows exes, and no instructions. I am guessing the exe interacts with VMWare workstation to install the VM? Is there a way to manually extract the relevant files and attempt to install the software on VMWare Fusion?

The instructions were sent via email to the person who purchased the DVD. Alternatively the documentation for BDE can be downloaded from https://devconnect.avaya.com/public/dyn/d_dyn.jsp?fn=736#documentation.

To run on Mac, you will need to install and license it on Windows, and then move the VMs to the Mac (sftp), where you will be able to run them. Keep in mind the DADS console can only be run from a windows machine. So you will either have to run it from where you initially install the BDE on Windows, or you will need to create a Windows VM on the Fusion machine.

Thanks for the quick reply..I did not get the emailed documentation (or even the password required for installation) , but I did find it online. will go ahead and try to install this on a Windows installation that is running on my Mac (inside VMWare Fusion). I'm just wondering how this will work, since I'll essentially be installing a VM in VMWare..
If installation in the Windows image contained in VMWare is supported, then I should be fine

If you are running the actual BDE installation on a virtual machine itself then I don't think it will work. The BDE install requires and installation of VMWare for it to work, and a virtual machine isn't going to have VMWare installed on it. This is explained in the documentation.