Connecting to a remote ESX / ESXi / vCenter Server from VMware Workstation

Products

• VMware Desktop Hypervisor

Issue/Introduction

VMware Workstation 8.x and above allows you to create a remote connection to an ESX/ESXi/vCenter Server to manage virtual machines. When connected to a remote machine, you can:

• Create new Datacenters on a vCenter Server
• Check the power status of virtual machines
• Power on and off existing virtual machines
• Create new virtual machines
• Modify virtual machine settings (hard disk, CD-ROM, etc)
• Upload virtual machines to the server using the OVF tool

Environment

VMware Workstation 10.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation 11.x (for Linux)
VMware Workstation 11.x (for Windows)
VMware Workstation Pro 15.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation 8.x (Linux)
VMware Workstation Pro 15.x (Linux)
VMware Workstation Pro 14.x (for Windows)
VMware Workstation 10.x (Linux)
VMware Workstation 9.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation 9.x (Linux)
VMware Workstation 8.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation Pro 14.x (for Linux)

Resolution

To connect to a remote server:

1. Go to File > Connect to server.
2. Enter the server hostname or IP address and username and password. If the server runs on a non-standard port, follow the hostname / address with a colon and then the port number.
   
   For example, 192.168.1.2:2020
    
3. When prompted you can choose to store the password, to never store the password, or to decide later.

For more information, see the Using remote connections section of the Workstation User's Guide.

Note: vApps are not supported while connecting through Workstation. For more information, see Unable to view vApps when using Workstation's Connect to Server feature. (2010903)

Additional Information

Workstation only supports connecting to vSphere 4.1 and later. Connecting to older versions of ESX/ESXi/vCenter may cause unexpected results.

Unable to view vApps when using Workstation's Connect to Server feature.