Install VMware on Ubuntu 18.04: Workstation Player Setup Guide

VMware Workstation Player is a mature, stable virtualization platform that lets you run multiple isolated operating systems on a single physical machine. You can create your own virtual machines or run virtual appliances from VMware’s Solution Exchange. Common uses include testing software on different operating systems, running Windows applications on Linux, and building development environments that match production servers without touching your main Ubuntu installation.

VMware Workstation Player is free for personal non-commercial use. A paid license unlocks the Pro features and commercial use rights. It is not open-source, if you need an open-source alternative, VirtualBox is a good option.

This guide explains how to install VMware on Ubuntu 18.04. The same steps work on Ubuntu 16.04 and other Debian-based distributions.

System requirements:

• 1.3 GHz or faster 64-bit CPU
• 2 GB RAM minimum (4 GB recommended)

<strong>Prerequisite:</strong>&nbsp;You need sudo access.

Install VMware on Ubuntu: Build Dependencies and Download

Install the build dependencies. VMware compiles kernel modules during installation and needs the Linux kernel headers and build tools:

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

Download the installer. Use wget with a browser user-agent string so the VMware download server recognizes the request:

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

Visit the VMware Workstation Player download page to check for a newer version before downloading. At the time of writing, the latest version is 15.0.0.

Make the downloaded file executable:

bashchmod +x getplayer-linux

Run the VMware Workstation Player Setup Wizard

Start the graphical installation wizard:

bashsudo ./getplayer-linux

The wizard walks you through five steps:

1. License agreement – Accept the terms to continue.
2. Product updates – Choose whether VMware checks for updates on startup.
3. CEIP – VMware collects anonymous usage data through its Customer Experience Improvement Program. Select No to opt out.
4. License key – Leave blank for the free personal version. Enter a key to unlock Pro features.
5. Install – Click Install. The process takes a few minutes while kernel modules compile.

A success screen confirms the installation is complete.

Launch VMware Player and Uninstall When Needed

Launch VMware Workstation Player from the Activities menu by searching for “VMware Workstation Player,” or start it from the terminal:

bashvmware

The first time it opens, VMware asks whether you want to use it for personal non-commercial use or enter a license key. Make your choice and click OK.

When creating a virtual machine, you can configure the amount of RAM, virtual CPUs, video memory, network adapters, and boot order. VMware supports both dynamically-allocated and fixed-size virtual disk images. These settings can be adjusted after creation through the virtual machine settings panel.

Uninstall VMware. To remove VMware Workstation Player completely:

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

The uninstaller asks whether to keep your configuration files. Type yes to preserve them or no to delete everything.

VMware Workstation Player is now installed on your Ubuntu 18.04 system. Visit the VMware Workstation Player documentation to learn how to configure virtual hardware, set up shared folders, and manage snapshots. Leave a comment below if you run into any issues.