How to Install VMware Workstation Player on Ubuntu 18.04

VMware is a mature and stable virtualization solution that allows you to run multiple, isolated operating systems on a single machine.

With VMware Workstation Player you can create and run your own virtual machines and evaluate software distributed as a virtual appliance from many software vendors available from VMware’s Solution Exchange .

VMware Workstation Player is not open-source and it is free only for personal non-commercial use. If you are looking for an open-source virtualization platform, you should try Oracle’s VirtualBox .

This tutorial explains how to install VMware Workstation Player on Ubuntu 18.04. The same instructions apply for Ubuntu 16.04 and any other Debian based distribution, including Debian, Linux Mint and Elementary OS.

Prerequisites #

Before continuing with this tutorial, make sure you are logged in as a user with sudo privileges .

For proper installation and operation of VMware Workstation Player, your system should meet the following requirements:

• 1.3GHz or faster 64-bit CPU.
• 2 GB RAM memory minimum/ 4GB RAM or more recommended.

Installing VMware Workstation Player on Ubuntu #

Perform the following steps to install VMware Workstation Player on Ubuntu 18.04:

1. Install Required Packages #

Open your terminal either by using the Ctrl+Alt+T keyboard shortcut or by clicking on the terminal icon and install the build dependencies by typing:

sudo apt updatesudo apt install build-essential linux-headers-generic

2. Download VMware Workstation Player #

To download the latest version of VMware Workstation Player you can either visit the VMware downloads page and download the installation bundle with your web browser or use the following wget command :

wget --user-agent="Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; rv:60.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/60.0" https://www.vmware.com/go/getplayer-linux

Once the download is completed make the installation file executable using the following chmod command:

chmod +x getplayer-linux

3. Install VMware Workstation Player #

The installation is pretty straightforward, just follow the on-screen instructions.

Start the Installation wizard by typing:

sudo ./getplayer-linux

A screen similar to the following will be displayed. Accept the terms in the license agreement and click on the Next button.

Next, you will be asked whether you like to check for product updates on startup. Make your selection and click on the Next button.

VMware’s Customer Experience Improvement Program (“CEIP”) helps VMware to improve their products and services by sending anonymous system data and usage information to VMware. If you prefer not to participate in the program select No and click on the Next button.

In the next step, you will be prompted to enter the licence key. VMware Workstation Player is free for personal non-commercial use. Purchasing a license key will enable the Pro features an can be used commercially.

If you don’t have a license key, leave the field empty and click on the Next button.

Next, you will see the following page informing you that the VMware Workstation Player is ready to be installed. Click on the Install button.

The installation may take several minutes. During the installation, you will see information about the progress. Once completed the following screen will appear informing you that the Mware Workstation Player is successfully installed.

4. Start VMware Workstation Player #

Now that VMware Workstation Player is installed on your Ubuntu system you can launch it by clicking on the VMware Player icon (Activities -> VMware Workstation Player).

When you start VMware Player for the first time, a window like the following will appear asking you whether you like to use VMware Workstation Player free for personal non-commercial use or enter a license.

Make your selection, click on the OK button and the VMware Player application will start.

Uninstalling VMware #

If for some reasons you want to uninstall VMware Player, use the following command:

sudo /usr/bin/vmware-installer -u vmware-player

You’ll be asked whether you want to keep the configuration files:

All configuration information is about to be removed. Do you wish to
keep your configuration files? You can also input 'quit' or 'q' to
cancel uninstallation. [yes]:

Type “yes” or “no” and VMware Player will be removed from your system:

Uninstalling VMware Installer 3.0.0
    Deconfiguring...
[######################################################################] 100%
Uninstallation was successful.

Conclusion #

At this point, you have successfully installed VMware Workstation Player on your Ubuntu system. You can now explore the application options and create your first virtual machine.

To learn more about VMware Workstation Player visit their official documentation page.

If you have any questions, please leave a comment below.