Workstation 17.6 installation/upgrade fails.

Products

• VMware Desktop Hypervisor

Issue/Introduction

• Workstation 17.6 Installation fails with the error message :
  

  An error occurred while applying security settings.
  
  Authenticated Users is not a valid user or group.
  
  This could be a problem with the package, or a problem connecting to a domain controller on the network.
  
  Check your network connection and click Retry, or Cancel to end the install.

• The issue is seen in environments using non-English language settings.

Environment

VMware Workstation 17.6 

Cause

'Users' and 'Authenticated Users' should be a part of the local group for the Workstation installation to complete.

If the computer is set to use any non-English language, the 'Users' and 'Authenticated Users' are translated in the respective language and the Installer cannot find these users in the local group.

Resolution

The issue is fixed in Workstation version 17.6.1.

Follow the workaround below to address the issue:

On the machine:

1)Right-click on My Computer and select Manage.

2) Open the Local Users and Group tree.

3) Open the Groups folder and search for a profile named "Users". If not found, right-click on the Groups folder and select New Group. Type in Users (case sensitive) as the New Group name and select Create.

4) Open the Groups folder and search for a profile named "Administrators". If not found, right-click on the Groups folder and select New Group. Type in Administrators (case sensitive) as the New Group name and select Create.

5) Open the Groups folder and search for a profile named "Authenticated Users". If not found, right-click on the Groups folder and select New Group. Type in Authenticated Users (case sensitive) as the New Group name and select Create.

6) Close the Computer Management window, restart the system and proceed with VMWare Workstation installation.

7) Navigate to the directory "C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware Workstation", if a popup appears to give permission, proceed to grant the required permission.

Now Workstation app should get launched without any issues.