Downloading and installing VMware Workstation

Products

• VMware Desktop Hypervisor
• VMware Workstation 10.x (for Linux)
• VMware Workstation 16.x Pro (for Windows)
• VMware Workstation 17.x Pro (for Windows)
• VMware Workstation Pro
• VMware Workstation 7 (for Linux)
• VMware Workstation Pro 15.x (for Windows)

Issue/Introduction

The article provide steps to download and install VMware Workstation.

Symptoms:

• You are unable to download VMware Workstation
• The download stops intermittently or does not complete
• An auto update to a newer version of VMware Workstation fails

For more information on upgrading to VMware Workstation Pro 17, see: Process to Upgrade from VMware Workstation Pro 14 to VMware Workstation Pro 15

Environment

VMware Workstation 7.x (Windows) VMware Workstation 8.x (Windows) VMware Workstation 9.x (Linux) VMware Workstation 9.x (Windows) VMware Workstation 10.x (Linux) VMware Workstation 10.x (Windows) VMware Workstation 11.x (for Linux)

VMware Workstation 11.x (for Windows) VMware Workstation Pro 12.x (Linux) VMware Workstation Pro 12.x (Windows) VMware Workstation Pro 15.x (Windows) VMware Workstation Pro 16.x (Linux) VMware Workstation Pro 16.x (Windows)

Resolution

 

Table of Contents

• Before starting
• Downloading VMware Workstation
• Installing VMware Workstation
• After installation

Before starting

Before downloading and installing VMware Workstation:

• Ensure that your physical machine meets the system requirements for VMware Workstation. For more information, see System Requirements:
   
  • Workstation CPU Requirements
  • Workstation Host OS Support
  • Workstation Documentation Site
• Ensure that you are using a supported guest operating system.

Downloading VMware Workstation

To download VMware Workstation, visit the Broadcom Support Portal.

Installing VMware Workstation

Notes:

• You must have only one VMware Workstation installed at a time. You must uninstall the previous version of VMware Workstation before installing a new version.

To install VMware Workstation on a Windows host:

1. Log in to the Windows host system as the Administrator user or as a user who is a member of the local Administrators group.
2. Open the folder where the VMware Workstation installer was downloaded. The default location is the Downloads folder for the user account on the Windows host.
   
   Note: The installer file name is similar to VMware-workstation-full-####-####.exe, where ####-#### is the version and build numbers.
    
3. Right-click the installer and click Run as Administrator.
4. Select a setup option:
   • Typical: Installs typical Workstation features. If the Integrated Virtual Debugger for Visual Studio or Eclipse is present on the host system, the associated Workstation plug-ins are installed.
   • Custom: This lets you select which Workstation features to install and specify where to install them. Select this option if you need to change the shared virtual machines directory, modify the VMware Workstation Server port, or install the enhanced virtual keyboard driver. The enhanced virtual keyboard driver provides better handling of international keyboards and keyboards that have extra keys.
      
5. Follow the on-screen instructions to finish the installation.
6. Restart the host machine.

To install VMware Workstation on a Linux host:

 

Note: The Linux bundle installer starts a GUI wizard on most Linux distributions. In some Linux distributions, the bundle installer starts a command-line wizard instead of a GUI wizard.

1. Log in to the Linux host with the user account that you plan to use with VMware Workstation.
2. Open a terminal interface. For more information, see Opening a command or shell prompt
3. Change to root. For example:
   
   su root
   
   Note: The command that you use depends on your Linux distribution and configuration.
    
4. Change directories to the directory that contains the VMware Workstation bundle installer file. The default location is the Download directory.
5. Run the appropriate Workstation installer file for the host system.
   
   For example:
   
   sh VMware-workstation-Full-####-####.architecture.bundle [--option]
   
   Where:
   • ####-#### is the version and build numbers
   • architecture is i386 or x86_64
   • option is a command line option.
     
     This table describes the command line options:
      

     Option	Description
     --gtk	Opens the GUI-based VMware installer, which is the default option.
     --console	Use the terminal for installation.
     --custom	Use this option to customize the locations of the installation directories and set the hard limit for the number of open file descriptors.
     --regular	Shows installation questions that have not been answered before or are required. This is the default option.
     --ignore-errors or -I	Allows the installation to continue even if there is an error in one of the installer scripts. Because the section that has an error does not complete, the component might not be properly configured.
     --required	Shows the license agreement only and then proceeds to install Workstation

      
6. Accept the license agreement.
   
   Note: If you are using the --console option or installing VMware Workstation on a Linux host that does not support the GUI wizard, press Enter to scroll through and read the license agreement or type q to skip to the yes/no prompt.
    
7. Follow the on-screen instructions or prompts to finish the installation.
8. Restart the Linux host.

After installation

On Windows host systems:

• The installer creates a desktop shortcut, a quick launch shortcut, or a combination of these options in addition to a Start Menu item.
• To start VMware Workstation on a Windows host system, select Start > Programs > VMware Workstation.

On Linux host systems:

• VMware Workstation can be started from the command line on all Linux distributions.
• On some Linux distributions, VMware Workstation can be started in the GUI from the System Tools menu under Applications.
• To start VMware Workstation on a Linux host system from the command line, run the vmware & command in a terminal window. For more information, see Opening a command or shell prompt
  
  For example:
  
  /usr/bin/vmware &

When you start the Workstation for the first time, Workstation prompts you to accept the End User License Agreement. After you start the Workstation, the Workstation window opens.