VMware Workstation is a software that is used for virtualization. Using a virtual machine, you can operate multiple operating systems on a single host computer. VMware workstation pro is used to create a single instance for Windows or Linux simultaneously. The concept of virtualization is useful not only for individuals also important for enterprises and organizations.
In this article, we will explore how to install the latest version of VMware workstation on CentOS 8. At that time writing this article, VMware workstation Pro 15.5.2 is the latest version is available for installation. It is necessary that your system must support virtualization.
We have run different commands and steps on the CentOS system to install the VMware workstation Pro 15.5.2.
Installation of VMware workstation on CentOS 8
To install VM ware workstation Pro 15.5, you need to install some build kernel modules on CentOS 8.
Install dependencies
To install all needed build tools on your system CentOS 8, open the terminal using ‘Ctrl + Alt + t’ keys and you will use the following command:
$ sudo yum groupinstall "Development Tools"
You will press ‘y’ to download and install the all required build tools.
Further, it will take some time to automatically download and install all packages through the Yum package manager, and in a while, you will see the complete status on the terminal window.
One more package is known as ‘elfutils-libelf-devel’ necessary for building the kernel module. So, you can install this package from the official repository of CentOS 8 as follows:
$ sudo yum install elfutils-libelf-devel
You will press ‘y’ and hit ‘Enter’ to confirm the installation. After a while, ‘elfutils-libelf-devel’ package will install on your system CentOS 8.
Download VMware Workstation from the VMWare website
You will visit the official website and download the latest VMware version Pro 15.5.2 from here https://www.vmware.com/in/products/workstation-pro.html. As the page loads you will click on the ‘Download now>>’ as follows:
Once you click on ‘download now’ the following window will appear from where you will select ‘Workstation 15.5 Pro for Linux’ for download as follows:
Your browser will prompt a dialog box where you will select ‘Save File’ and then click on ‘Ok’ as follows:
Now, the workstation VMware pro 15.5.2 binary installer will start to download on your system. It will take time to complete the download process.
Installation of VMware Workstation Pro
Once the file is downloaded, now you will navigate to the ~/Downloads where the downloaded file is saved. For this purpose, type the following command:
$ cd ~/Downloads
You can view the binary installer of VMware pro 15.5.2 using the following command:
$ls –lh
Now you will add the executable permission on the workstation VMware Pro 15.5.2 binary installer. Type the following command to set permissions:
$ chmod +x VMware-Workstation-Full-15.5.2-14665864.x86_64.bundle
It’s time to run the binary installer of VMware workstation Pro 15.5.2 on your system with the following command:
$ sudo ./VMware-Workstation-Full-15.5.2-14665864.x86_64.bundle
It will take some time after that VMware workstation Pro 15.5.2 to be installed on your system CentOS 8.
Launch VMware Workstation Pro
Now, you can launch the VMware workstation Pro 15.5.2. To do so, click on ‘Activities’ and type ‘VMware’ in the application launcher on CentOS 8. You will see the icon of the VMware workstation in the search results. Click on it to further proceed.
Next, you will accept the license agreement. To do so, mark on ‘I accept the terms in the license agreement’ and click on ‘Next’ button.
In the next screen, it will ask you that either you want to install updates or not. You will select ‘Yes’ if you are interested to install updates on each start of VMware workstation Pro and click on the ‘Next’ button.
Now, you will select ‘Yes’ If you are interested to join VMware Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP), Otherwise, you will select No. Then, click on the ‘Next’ button.
In the next screen, you need to type the username which you want to use for share VMware connection. By default, it will take you a login username. Like ‘kbuzdar’ here and click on ‘Next’.
Now, you have to select the location where the shared VMs will be saved. You can change otherwise, select the default location, and click on ‘Next’.
In the next screen, you will select the port number using which can access the VMs shared environment remotely. By default, it is ‘443’ that is ok and then click on ‘Next’.
If you don’t have a VMware workstation Pro license then you will select for trial for 30 days and click on ‘Next’.
In the next screen, you need to type the login password for authentication as follows:
Now, VMware workstation Pro has been started. Click on ‘Ok’ and now you can use it as follows:
Conclusion
In this article, we have demonstrated the complete procedure of VMware workstation Pro 15.5 installation on CentOS 8. I hope this article would be useful for you. In case of any queries please contact us via comments in the comment box.