VMware Workstation is the base product of VMware that enables the virtualization of operating systems.
With the VMWare Player, you can playfully configure virtual machines. The software is also widely used in the personal area. If you are using Debian 11 Bullseye Linux, then we learn how to install VMware Player on it.
With the help of Virtualization, we can install multiple operating systems on one computer, without paying anything on free software such as VMware Player and VirtualBox. They are software that provides an easy virtual environment under Linux and Windows. For example, you can try out Linux or ChromeOS quickly and easily get rid of them quickly if you don’t like them. You can also run other Windows operating systems on it.
Once VM is created, the “VMware Workstation Player” forwards the hardware of the computer to the virtual system, for example, the built-in memory or the network cards. If the host is online, the virtual machines used also come onto the Internet immediately.
VMware Workstation is available in two versions one is a free Player with basic features (for personal use) whereas the paid one is VMware Workstation Pro.
Steps to install VMware Workstation Player on Debian 11 Bullseye
1. Open a web browser
On your Debian 11 Linux, open firefox or any other web browser you are using. Because we need to download the installation setup.
2. Install required dependencies
Before going further let’s install some packages that should be on your system for the proper working of Vmware Player.
sudo apt install build-essential linux-headers-$(uname -r)
2. Download Vmware Player for Debian 11 Linux
Just like VirtualBox, Vmware workstation Player is also not available in the Debian base repository. Hence, we have to download it manually from the official website of this Virtualization software. Use this link and visit the website.
Click on the “Download Now” button given for Linux.
3. Make Workstation bundle executable
Once you have the Vmware player installation setup on your Debian 11, switch to the Downloads folder.
cd Downloads
Check the file is there or not
ls
Now, let’s make it executable:
chmod +x VMware-Player-Full-*.bundle
4. Install VMPlayer on Debian 11 Bullseye
Finally, run the command for executable bundle file with sudo rights to start the unattended installation process. It will take a few seconds and configure the VMware Workstation free player to work properly on your Debian 11 or 10 Linux.
sudo ./VMware-Player-Full-*.bundle
5. Accept Terms and Conditions
After the installation is completed and you run the VMware for the first time, it will ask you to accept the company’s Terms and Conditions.
If you want the software to check for updates every time you start it, let the “YES” option be selected and then click on the “Next” button.
As we are using VMware Player for personal usage, not for commercial, it will be free for use. Hence, let the default option “Use Vmware Player 16 for free for non-commercial use” selected and click on the Next icon.
6. Start Creating your Virtual Machines
Now, you can create your first virtual machine using the ISO file of your favorite operating system on this virtualization tool. If you want to know how then see this tutorial to get an idea: How to install Rocky Linux on VMware Player virtual machine
7. Install Open VM Tools
Also, don’t forget to install Open VM Tools after installing any Linux virtual machine. Run your virtual machine and then run the command in that as per your Linux.
• If you are using Debian based Virtual machine, the command will be:
sudo apt install open-vm-tools-desktop
• For RPM-based Linux such as RedHat, Oracle, AlamLinux, or Rocky Linux…
sudo yum install open-vm-tools-desktop
2 Ways to Install Open VM Tools on Debian 11 Bullseye or Ubuntu
8. Uninstallation or Remove VMware Player Linux
If you don’t like it and want to uninstall this virtualization tool from your Debian 11 Linux, then here is the command:
sudo vmware-installer --uninstall-product vmware-player