Installing Virtual Printer Driver in a Windows virtual machine on Fusion 11.x

Products

• VMware Desktop Hypervisor

Issue/Introduction

This article provides steps to install VMware Virtual Printer in a Windows guest operating system.

Symptoms:
Starting with Fusion 11, the VMware Tools build bundled with Fusion no longer delivers VMware Virtual Printer functionality. You must install the VMware Virtual Printer application separately to make the printers on the Mac host visible in the virtual machine.

Environment

VMware Fusion Pro 11.x
VMware Fusion 11.x

Resolution

To install VMware Tools in a Windows guest operating system:
 

1. Ensure that your Windows virtual machine is powered on and the VMware Tools are installed.
2. Log in to the virtual machine as a user with Administrative privileges.
3. When the desktop is loaded, click Virtual Machine in the VMware Fusion menu, then click Install Virtual Printer.
4. Navigate to CD in the Windows Explorer and double-click on the Virtual-Printer-version.exe file.
5. Follow the prompts in the wizard to complete the Virtual Printer installation.
6. When the Virtual Printer installation has finished, restart the virtual machine for the changes to take effect.

Notes:

• Windows guest operating systems generally require a reboot to load updated drivers. The ability to suppress a reboot is intended to accommodate coordination with other guest OS patching maintenance periods. A reboot should be performed as soon as feasible to benefit from the updated Virtual Printer drivers.