Run Linux in VMware

Overview

VMware offers two main products: VMware Workstation Pro (now free for personal use) for Windows/Linux hosts, and VMware Fusion for macOS. Both provide excellent performance and integration features.

What You Need

Windows/Linux Host: VMware Workstation Pro from vmware.com
macOS Host: VMware Fusion from the same site (requires Broadcom account)
Linux ISO file downloaded
At least 8GB RAM on host

Create a New Virtual Machine

Click Create a New Virtual Machine
Select "Installer disc image file (iso)" and browse to your Linux ISO
Guest OS type is auto-detected — confirm it's correct
Name the VM and choose storage location

Configure Hardware

Memory: 4 GB minimum (8 GB recommended)
Processors: 2 cores minimum (4 recommended)
Disk: 25 GB minimum, "Split into multiple files" for portability
Network Adapter: NAT (default) or Bridged

Install Linux in the VM

Power on the VM — it boots from the ISO
Follow the installer prompts for your distribution
Select "Erase disk" (safe — only erases the virtual disk)
Create user account and set password
Complete installation and reboot

Install VMware Tools / Open-VM-Tools

# Inside the Linux VM, install open-vm-tools
# Ubuntu/Debian:
sudo apt install open-vm-tools-desktop fuse

# Fedora/RHEL:
sudo dnf install open-vm-tools-desktop fuse

# Enable auto-mount for shared folders
sudo systemctl enable --now open-vm-tools

This enables better graphics, shared clipboard, and drag-and-drop.

Useful VMware Features

Shared Folders

VM → Settings → Options → Shared Folders
Add a host folder and check "Enable" and "Make permanent"
The folder appears at /mnt/hgfs/foldername in the guest

Snapshots

VM → Snapshot → Take Snapshot — save the VM state before risky changes.

Clone VM

VM → Manage → Clone — create an exact copy for testing.

Unity Mode (Windows) / Fusion Mode (macOS)

Run Linux applications side-by-side with host apps without seeing the full VM window.

Host-Specific Notes

Windows Host

If Hyper-V is enabled, VMware may run in TCG (software) mode — much slower
Disable Hyper-V: bcdedit /set hypervisorlaunchtype off
Or use "Windows Sandbox" feature alongside VMware carefully

macOS Host (VMware Fusion)

Fusion works on both Intel and Apple Silicon Macs
On Apple Silicon, only ARM64 Linux guests are supported
Consider UTM as a free alternative — see our UTM guide

Linux Host (VMware Workstation Player)

Player is free for personal use; Pro has advanced features
KVM/QEMU may offer better native performance on Linux — see our KVM guide

Troubleshooting

"Could not open /dev/vmmon": Reload VMware modules: sudo vmware-modconfig --console --install-all
Poor graphics performance: Ensure open-vm-tools-desktop is installed
No network in VM: Check NAT service is running on host