The downloaded VMware software installer fails to open

Products

• VMware Desktop Hypervisor

Issue/Introduction

This article provides the troubleshooting steps to follow if you are unable to open the downloaded VMware software installer file when installing VMware Fusion or Workstation.

For general download and installation instructions, see Downloading and installing VMware Fusion (2014097) or Installing and Upgrading VMware Workstation.

Symptoms:

• You cannot open the downloaded Fusion or Workstation installer file
• You see one of these errors:
  
  • There is no default application specified to open the document VMware-Fusion-3.1.1-282344.
  • syntax error near unexpected token `newline'
    
    
• The downloaded file is several hundred bytes in size
• The downloaded file does not have an extension

Resolution

When downloading software installer files, particularly using the Download Manager, you may encounter this issue when launching the downloaded file to install the software product. This issue occurs because the download was incomplete.

To verify that the downloaded file is complete and correct, ensure that the file:

• has a .dmg extension.
• has a size and MD5 sum that match the information on the file download page. The download page for Fusion is here. The download page for Workstation is here.
  
  Note: If you have not done so already, the download pages require you to log in to Customer Connect and agree to the product EULA.

For more information about checking the file size or extension, see Common Mac OS operations that may be needed with VMware Fusion (1022113) or your operating system's documentation.

For more information about checking the MD5 sum value on the downloaded file, see Verifying Integrity of Downloads from VMware (1537).

To ensure that your download is complete and successful, observe these guidelines:

• If you are using the Download Manager, be sure to allow access to the Java applet when prompted.
  
  Note: After choosing the destination location to save the download file to and clicking Save, a Java applet appears and requests access. If you do not see this request, go to the Window menu of your web browser to see if there are any other windows open in the background.
  
  
• Do not close your web browser or sever your Internet connection before the download completes. The Download Manager and your web browser inform you when the download completes.
  
  
• If you are unsuccessful with one web browser, try a different browser.
  
  
• If the download is unsuccessful when using the Download Manager, select Use Web Browser instead.

Additional Information

Downloading and installing VMware Fusion