Manually uninstalling VMware Workstation from Linux hosts

Products

• VMware Desktop Hypervisor

Issue/Introduction

This article provides steps for manually removing VMware Workstation when the uninstaller script or RPM package fails to remove the product automatically.

Environment

VMware Workstation 14.x (Linux)

VMware Workstation 13.x (Linux)

VMware Workstation 12.x (Linux)

VMware Workstation 11.x (Linux)

VMware Workstation 10.x (Linux)
VMware Workstation 9.x (Linux)

VMware Workstation 8.x (Linux)

VMware Workstation 7.x (Linux)

VMware Workstation 6.x (Linux)
VMware Workstation 5.x (Linux)

VMware Workstation 4.x (Linux)
VMware Workstation 3.x (Linux)

Including Pro version.

Resolution

Note: Log into the host using the root account to execute the terminal commands in this article. If running Ubuntu, the root account is not available by default. Prepend all commands with sudo, or switch to root using this command:

sudo su -

Warning: This command provides unrestricted access to the operating system. It is possible to cause damage to the system when using this access level.
 

1. Open a command prompt. For more information, see Opening a command or shell prompt. Type the commands as indicated in the steps of this procedure.
2. Shut down all VMware applications and services.
   
   /etc/init.d/vmware stop
    
3. Verify that all processes have stopped:
   
   lsmod | grep vm
   
   Note: A zero must be listed beside VMware related modules to indicate that they are no longer running.
    
4. Move the VMware libraries to the /tmp directory:
   
   cd /lib/modules/kernel_version/misc
mv vm* /tmp
   
   Note: If the kernel has ever been updated, you must check and move the files from multiple paths. Substitute the kernel version where indicated above.
    
5. Unload the kernel modules:
   
   rmmod vmnet.o
rmmod vmmon.o
rmmod vmci.o
rmmod vmblock.o
rmmod vmppuser.o
    
6. Remove the VMware startup scripts:
   
   RedHat and Most Distributions:
   
   rm /etc/rc.d/init.d/rc2.d/*vmware*
rm /etc/rc.d/init.d/rc3.d/*vmware*
rm /etc/rc.d/init.d/rc5.d/*vmware*
rm /etc/rc.d/init.d/rc6.d/*vmware*
   
   Ubuntu:
   
   rm /etc/rc2.d/*vmware*
rm /etc/rc3.d/*vmware*
rm /etc/rc5.d/*vmware*
rm /etc/rc6.d/*vmware*
   
   Note: If you are using a different Linux distribution, substitute the correct path in the commands.
    
7. Remove the remaining VMware files and directories:
   
   rm -rf /etc/vmware*
rm /usr/bin/vmware-usbarbitrator
rm /usr/bin/vmnet*
rm -r /usr/lib/vmware*
rm -r /usr/share/doc/vmware*
    
8. If an RPM package was used to install the VMware product, complete these steps to delete the RPM database entry:
   
   rpm -qa | grep VMware
   
   Note: A list of VMware packages is presented. Copy the exact package name for the next step and paste it into the command where indicated.
    
9. Remove the VMware packages:
   
   rpm --erase --nodeps VMware_Package_Name