How to Install VMware Workstation 14 Pro on Debian 9 (Stretch)

Hello Techies, VMware Workstation is one of the best Virtualization tool used at windows and Linux desktop level. Recently VMware has released its latest version of Workstation 14 Pro for x86_64 systems. With this release it includes the support of latest Linux and Windows OS, provides feature to connect VMware vSphere and vCloud Air. With help of VMware Workstation we can create and run multiple VMs and also we can define customize network and VLANs for the VMs.

A VM (virtual Machine) can be attached to the following networks like Bridge, Host Only and Nat. As it is a paid tool but we can try it free for 30 days, after that we can buy its license.

In this article we will discuss how to install VMware Workstation 14 Pro on Debian 9.

Step:1) Install required dependencies for VMware Workstation

Open the terminal and execute the beneath commands to install all the required dependencies for VMware workstation

[email protected]:~$ sudo apt update
[email protected]:~$ sudo apt install gcc build-essential linux-headers-4.9.0-3-amd64 -y
[email protected]:~$ sudo reboot

Note: Change linux-headers version as per your system existing kernel.

Step:2) Download VMware Workstation bundle for Linux

From your debian 9 system, open the Web browser and download the VMware workstation bundle for linux.

https://www.vmware.com/go/tryworkstation-linux-64

Step:3) Start the VMware Workstation 14 installation from the terminal

Once the VMware workstation bundle file is downloaded, set the executable permissions on it with the below chmod command,

[email protected]:~$ chmod a+x VMware-Workstation-Full-14.0.0-6661328.x86_64.bundle

Now starts the installation by executing the bundle file, example is shown below

[email protected]:~$ sudo ./VMware-Workstation-Full-14.0.0-6661328.x86_64.bundle

Accept the End User License Agreement

Click on Next

Disable Product Updates on startup

Specify the User Name which will have rights to connect to VMware workstation, in my case I using ‘linuxtechi‘ as user name

Click on Next to Proceed further

In the next window select the path or directory for storing the files of shared virtual machines. You can also keep the default path. In my case I am also keeping the default directory.

Specify the HTTPs port or keep default one.

Enter the License key in case you have already buy its license, else you can leave it blank.

In the next window, click on ‘Install‘ option to start its installation

Installation has been started and is in progress

Once the Installation is successful, we will get the below window.

Step :4) Now access VMware Workstation 14

Click on 「VMware Workstation」 Icon

Enter the license Key or you can use it for 30 days on trial version.

In the next window we will get Workstation 14 dashboard

Now start creating machines and network for the VMs, this conclude the installation steps of VMware Station on Debain 9

If you are done with VMware Workstation and don’t want to use it and also want to remove from your system completely then refer the following steps,

Remove / Uninstall VMware Station 14 Pro

Open the terminal and execute the following command,

[email protected]:~$ sudo vmware-installer -u vmware-workstation

It will prompt us to remove configuration files of VMWare workstation during the installation.

Click on Next to start uninstalling VMware Workstation

Once the uninstall process is completed, we will get the next window something like below,

This concludes our article, if these steps helps you to install or remove VMware Workstation 14 on debian linux then please do share your valuable feedback and comments.