Configuring WSX in VMware Workstation

Products

• VMware Desktop Hypervisor

Issue/Introduction

This article provides steps to configure and use WSX in VMware Workstation. The WSX service enables Web based remote access of your virtual machines through a Web browser.

 

To be able to configure and use WSX in Workstation, ensure that:

• You are on the same network as your host to access you virtual machines
• You are using a modern browser that supports HTML5 with WebSockets.
• The WSX service renders an HTML5 Web page that can connect to your Workstation hosts or ESX host, enumerates the available virtual machines, allows you to power on the virtual machines and interact with the desktop.
• Virtual machine to be accessed through WSX should be shared in VMware Workstation Server. For information, see Running VMware Workstation as a server with shared virtual machines (2005585) and Understanding VMware Workstation Server from the VMware Workstation Documentation Center.

Environment

VMware Workstation 10.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation 11.x (for Windows)
VMware Workstation Pro 12.x (Linux)
VMware Workstation Pro 14.x (for Windows)
VMware Workstation 9.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation 10.x (Linux)
VMware Workstation 11.x (for Linux)
VMware Workstation Pro 14.x (for Linux)
VMware Workstation Pro 12.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation 9.x (Linux)

Resolution

Notes:

• Both the Windows .msi and Linux .bundle installation files are available for download. You can download it from the Broadcom Products
• You can install WSX on the host machine which is running Workstation or on any other machine on the same network.

 

To install in Windows:

1. Run the downloaded .msi file.
2. Accept the license agreement.
3. Define the port. The default port is 8888.
4. Click Install.
5. Click Finish.

To install WSX in Linux:

1. Log in to the host using the account that you use to run Workstation.
2. Change to root. For example, run the command:

   su root
   
   Note: The command that you use depends on your Linux distribution and configuration.

3. Change to the directory that contains the WSX installer .bundle file.

4. Run the installer from the host system. For example, run this command:
   
   sh VMware-WSX-XXXXXXX.bundle
   
   Where XXXXXXX is the version and build numbers.

5. Follow the prompts and complete the installation.

To run WSX in Windows:

1. Open a browser and navigate to http://localhost:8888/, where 8888 is default port defined.
2. Log in using your system username and password.

To run WSX in Linux:

1. Ensure that your Linux server has Python 2.6 installed.
2. Install WSX and choose a port.
3. Launch the server using this command:
   
   sudo /etc/init.d/vmware-wsx-server start
    
4. Open a browser and navigate to http://localhost:8888/, where 8888 is default port defined.
5. Log in using your system username and password.

After you have logged in to the WSX interface, you need to Add a server. You can use the IP address or host name of the VMware Workstation Server, which is running the shared virtual machines. If WSX was installed on the same machine which has Workstation Server configured, then you will be presented with an option to connect to localhost through the Shared VMs (localhost) option. After authentication, the shared virtual machine will be visible through the WSX interface.

 

Additional Information

You may experience issues while accessing WSX through Android browsers because these browsers do not support the modern Web features needed for VMware WSX and they do not support WebSockets and fast Canvas rendering.