VMware Workstation and Player
VMware is a commercially developed application with a limited list of supported operating systems.
This guide is a courtesy to the forum don’t expect any support on VMware related issues.
Supported operating systems
Version 16 and 17 - Expand this to se the list and link to VMware KB
| OS Vendor | OS Release | Workstation 16.0 | Workstation 16.1.0 | Workstation 16.2.x | Workstation 17.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canonical | Ubuntu 22.04 | - | - | Yes | Yes |
| Canonical | Ubuntu 20.10 | - | Yes | Yes | - |
| Canonical | Ubuntu 20.04 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Canonical | Ubuntu 18.04 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Canonical | Ubuntu 16.04 | Yes | Yes | Yes | - |
| Linux Mint 21 | - | - | - | Yes | |
| Linux Mint 20 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Centos | CentOS 7.x | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Debian | Debian 11.x | - | - | - | Yes |
| Debian | Debian 10.x | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Debian | Debian 9.x | Yes | Yes | Yes | - |
| Microsoft | Windows Server 2022 | - | - | - | Yes |
| Microsoft | Windows Server 2019 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Microsoft | Windows Server 2016 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Microsoft | Windows Server 2012 R2 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Microsoft | Windows 10 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Microsoft | Windows 11 | - | - | Yes | Yes |
| Microsoft | Windows 8.1 - Update 3 | Yes | Yes | Yes | - |
| Red Hat | Fedora 36 | - | - | - | Yes |
| Red Hat | Fedora 35 | - | - | - | Yes |
| Red Hat | Fedora 34 | - | - | - | Yes |
| Red Hat | Fedora 33 | - | Yes | Yes | - |
| Red Hat | Fedora 32 | Yes | Yes | Yes | - |
| Red Hat | Fedora 31 | Yes | Yes | Yes | - |
| Red Hat | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.x | - | - | - | Yes |
| Red Hat | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.3 | - | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Red Hat | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.2 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Red Hat | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.x | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Red Hat | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.x | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| SUSE | SUSE Linux Enterprise 15 SP3 | - | - | - | Yes |
| SUSE | SUSE Linux Enterprise 15.x | Yes | Yes | Yes | - |
| SUSE | SUSE Linux Enterprise Server/Desktop 12 SP5 | - | - | - | Yes |
| SUSE | SUSE Linux Enterprise Server/Desktop 12 SP3 | Yes | Yes | Yes | - |
| SUSE | openSUSE 15.3 | - | - | - | Yes |
| SUSE | openSUSE 15.x | Yes | Yes | Yes | - |
If you install it manually - using the download provided from VMware - you will most likely run into library incompatibilities and you will need to compile the kernel modules by hand and this you will have to do with every subsequent kernel update.
You could be that bravehearted fearless Linux user who do not fear the depths of the kernel modules subtree and do not fear the patches you need to apply to get it working with Manjaro - and in this case - just dive in …
Disclaimer
As you have seen - Archlinux and derivatives are unsupported platforms for running VMware products and as such it is unsupported on Manjaro.
So while it is possible to install and run VMware on Manjaro - do not expect support on configuration of virtual machines or system issues arising from your VMware installation. You must have the required level of troubleshooting skills to solve these when they arise - and they will.
- If you need help configuring vmware virtual machines
- consult the VMware documentation.
- If you need help troubleshooting installation issues
- use the comment section for the AUR PKGBUILD
- Manjaro uses different kernels than Arch
How to install VMware
Enable CPU virtual extensions in your system’s firmware.
To install vmware on Manjaro you will have to resort to a PKGBUILD script.
There is a lot of AUR helpers and they all mimic what you should do manually - the Arch way is usually the best way.
Important kernel precaution
The AUR PKGBUILD is created for Archlinux and therefore the kernel headers dependency must be solved manually on Manjaro. Archlinux only have two kernel versions - linux and linux-lts.
Archlinux kernels follow the release schedule on kernel.org and on Manjaro you will need to use the same kernel version.
2023-12-15T23:00:00Z
- Linux 6.6.x (stable) (LTS)
Using other kernels will most likely fail.
Building steps
- Update your system and Install the necessary build tools
sudo pacman -Syu git base-devel --needed - Then check your kernel version(s) - example - remember to use the same version as Arch
Currently running: 6.6.7-1-MANJARO (linux66) The following kernels are installed in your system: * linux66 - Then install the headers for your kernel(s) and dkms (use the kernels listed from your system)
sudo pacman -Syu $KERNELXYY-headers dkms - Clone the PKGBUILKD script
expect output like thisgit clone https://aur.archlinux.org/vmware-workstation.gitCloning into 'vmware-workstation'... remote: Enumerating objects: 498, done. remote: Counting objects: 100% (498/498), done. remote: Compressing objects: 100% (239/239), done. remote: Total 498 (delta 307), reused 439 (delta 258), pack-reused 0 Receiving objects: 100% (498/498), 256.62 KiB | 3.21 MiB/s, done. Resolving deltas: 100% (307/307), done. - Familiarize yourself with the content - it is all text files and you should read them and verify what they are doing.
ls ~/vmware-workstation - When you are satisfied - cd into the folder and run makepkg to install dependencies, build and install the package.
cd ~/vmware-workstation makepkg -is
The post install message reads
==> Before using VMware, you need to reboot or load vmw_vmci and vmmon kernel modules (in a terminal on root: modprobe -a vmw_vmci vmmon)
==> You may also need to enable some of the following services:
- vmware-networks: to have network access inside VMs
- vmware-usbarbitrator: to connect USB devices inside VMs
These services can be activated during boot by enabling .service units or only when a VM is started by enabling .path units.
Choose either of the options - not both
- To start and enable vmware network and usb service at boot
sudo systemctl enable --now vmware-networks.service sudo systemctl enable --now vmware-usbarbitrator.service - To start and enable vmware network and usb on demand
sudo systemctl enable --now vmware-networks.path sudo systemctl enable --now vmware-usbarbitrator.path
Either reboot your system or load the kernel modules by hand
sudo modprobe -a vmw_vmci vmmon
Because the resulting build is using dkms - you won’t have to rebuild the kernel modules on system update - dkms will take care of this.
Enjoy - while it lasts - some members has run VMware for years with only minor issues - you may be a lucky one too 
Revision
- 2023-06-18T22:00:00Z
Updated supported OS and supported kernels - 2021-10-23T06:43:00Z
Added comment on CPU virtual extensions - 2021-09-26T08:08:00Z
revised post installation matching the PKGBUILD