VMware Workstation/Fusion Comprehensive Cheatsheet

1. Installation and Licensing

Editions

• Workstation:
  • Workstation Pro (Free for personal use; paid commercial subscription)
• Fusion:
  • Fusion Pro (Free for personal use; paid commercial subscription)

Note: As of late 2024, Broadcom unified the product line. The separate "Player" SKU is discontinued — Workstation Pro and Fusion Pro are now the only editions, with free personal-use licensing and a paid commercial subscription tier. Perpetual licenses are no longer sold; commercial use requires a subscription via the Broadcom support portal.

Installation Steps

Windows/Linux (Workstation Pro)

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# Download from support.broadcom.com (Broadcom account required)
# Run installer with admin privileges
# Select: Personal Use License or enter commercial subscription key
# Linux: .bundle installer — sudo sh VMware-Workstation-Full-*.bundle

macOS (Fusion Pro)

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# Download .dmg from support.broadcom.com
# Drag to Applications folder
# First launch: approve system extension in System Settings > Privacy & Security
# Select Personal Use License or enter commercial subscription key

Licensing Activation

• Personal use: select the free personal-use option at first launch (no key required)
• Commercial use: enter subscription key obtained from the Broadcom support portal
• License keys are managed under your Broadcom account, not the legacy my.vmware.com portal

2. Interface Overview and Navigation

Main Window Components

• Virtual Machine Library / sidebar
• Create New Virtual Machine button
• Virtual machine status indicators (power state, snapshot indicator)
• Configuration and settings access
• Dark mode UI (Fusion 13+, Workstation 17+)

Keyboard Shortcuts

3. Virtual Machine Creation and Configuration

VM Creation Wizard

1. Select installation method:

   • Install from disk/ISO image
   • Install later (build a blank VM)
   • Easy Install (automated unattended setup for supported OSes)
   • Import existing VM / OVF / OVA

2. Hardware Configuration:

   • Memory allocation
   • Disk size and provisioning type
   • vCPU count and cores per socket
   • Network adapter type
   • Firmware: BIOS or UEFI (with optional Secure Boot)
   • TPM 2.0 (virtual; required for Windows 11)

Best Practices

• Use UEFI + Secure Boot + vTPM for modern guests (Windows 11, recent Linux)
• Thin-provision disks unless I/O latency is critical
• Allocate 4 GB RAM minimum for modern desktop guests; 2 GB for minimal Linux
• Do not over-allocate vCPUs beyond the host's physical core count
• Store VM files on SSD/NVMe for best performance

4. Operating System Installation Best Practices

General Guidelines

• Use the latest installation media (ISO)
• Install VMware Tools / open-vm-tools immediately after first boot
• Disable unneeded guest services and visual effects
• Configure guest automatic updates
• For Windows 11 guests: enable vTPM and UEFI Secure Boot before install

OS-Specific Considerations

• Windows 10 / 11: Pro or Enterprise recommended; vTPM + Secure Boot required for Windows 11
• Linux: open-vm-tools is preferred over the legacy VMware Tools tarball
• macOS: Only supported in Fusion on Apple hardware. On Apple silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4), only macOS guests built for Apple silicon are supported; Intel macOS guests are not.

5. VMware Tools Installation

Purpose

• Improved graphics and display resizing
• Seamless mouse/keyboard integration
• Shared clipboard and drag-and-drop
• Time synchronization
• Guest quiescing for snapshots

Installation Methods

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# Windows guest
# VM menu > Install VMware Tools, then run setup.exe

# Linux guest (preferred)
sudo apt install open-vm-tools open-vm-tools-desktop      # Debian/Ubuntu
sudo dnf install open-vm-tools open-vm-tools-desktop      # Fedora/RHEL

# macOS guest (Fusion)
# Tools are integrated/automatic for supported guest versions

The bundled VMware Tools tarball for Linux is deprecated; use the distro-packaged open-vm-tools instead.

6. Virtual Hardware Configuration

CPU Configuration

• Expose virtualization extensions (VT-x/EPT, AMD-V/RVI) for nested virtualization
• Set vCPU count and cores per socket
• IOMMU (vIOMMU) exposure for supported guests
• Performance counters / side-channel mitigations toggles

Memory Management

• Static reservation per VM (Workstation/Fusion do not balloon as aggressively as ESXi)
• Set host memory fit policy (fit all in RAM / allow swap)
• Avoid host memory overcommit on laptops

Storage Options

• Controllers: NVMe (recommended for modern guests), SATA, SCSI (LSI/Paravirtual), IDE (legacy)
• Thin vs thick (preallocated) provisioning
• Split or single-file VMDK
• Raw disk / physical disk mapping (Workstation)

Network Adapters

• NAT
• Bridged
• Host-only
• Custom (VMnet)
• LAN segments (Workstation Pro) for isolated multi-VM networks

7. Snapshot Management and Cloning

Snapshot Workflow

• Create, revert, and delete snapshots from the Snapshot Manager
• Manage the snapshot tree (branches)
• Keep snapshot chains short — long chains degrade performance

Cloning Techniques

• Full clone (independent copy)
• Linked clone (shares base disks; smaller footprint)
• Template-based workflows via OVF export/import

8. Shared Folders and Drag-and-Drop

Configuration

• Enable shared folders in VM Settings > Options > Shared Folders
• Set per-folder read-only or read/write permissions
• Drag-and-drop and clipboard sharing require VMware Tools / open-vm-tools-desktop
• On Linux guests, shared folders are exposed via the vmhgfs-fuse mount (open-vm-tools)

9. Network Configuration

Network Types

1. NAT (default)
2. Bridged
3. Host-only
4. Custom (VMnetX)
5. LAN segment (Workstation Pro)

Advanced Networking

• Virtual Network Editor (Workstation) / network preferences (Fusion) for DHCP, subnet, NAT routing
• Port forwarding via NAT settings
• MAC address customization
• VLAN/jumbo frame support depends on host driver

10. USB Device Connectivity

Passthrough Methods

• Per-VM USB controller (USB 1.1, 2.0, 3.1)
• Auto-connect on plug-in
• Show all USB input devices toggle
• Bluetooth sharing (Fusion / Workstation)

11. Display Settings

Multi-Monitor Support

• Use multiple monitors / span across monitors
• Full-screen and Single Window modes
• HiDPI / Retina scaling
• 3D graphics acceleration:
  • Windows host: DirectX 11 and OpenGL 4.3 for guests
  • Linux host: Vulkan-backed renderer for Windows/Linux guests (Workstation 17+)
  • Fusion on Apple silicon: Metal-backed 3D for supported guests

12. VM Library Management

Organization Techniques

• Folder grouping in the library
• Favorites / pinned VMs
• Search and filter by name or OS
• Import/export VMs via OVF/OVA
• Encrypted VMs (full or VM-files-only encryption)

13. Unity / Single-Window Mode (Fusion-Specific)

Features

• Run individual Windows applications as macOS windows
• Application menu integration in the macOS Dock
• Per-app launchers
• Note: Unity is supported for Windows guests on Intel-based Macs. On Apple silicon Macs, Unity is not available — use Single Window mode instead.

14. Performance Optimization

Tuning Strategies

• Store VMs on SSD/NVMe
• Match vCPU count to workload, not to host's logical thread count
• Disable unused virtual devices (floppy, serial, parallel, sound)
• Use NVMe virtual controller for modern guests
• Disable side-channel mitigations only in trusted environments
• Keep host firmware, hypervisor, and VMware Tools current

Host Hypervisor Stack

• Windows host: Workstation 17+ runs on top of Microsoft's Windows Hypervisor Platform (WHP), so it coexists with Hyper-V, WSL2, Docker Desktop, and Windows security features (Credential Guard, Memory Integrity).
• Linux host: Workstation uses its own VMM with KVM acceleration on recent kernels.
• macOS host: Fusion uses Apple's Hypervisor framework; on Apple silicon, guest support is limited to ARM64 OSes.

15. Command-Line Operations (vmrun)

Common Commands

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# List running VMs
vmrun list

# Start / stop VMs
vmrun start  /path/to/vm.vmx
vmrun stop   /path/to/vm.vmx [hard|soft]
vmrun reset  /path/to/vm.vmx
vmrun suspend /path/to/vm.vmx

# Snapshots
vmrun snapshot       /path/to/vm.vmx SnapshotName
vmrun listSnapshots  /path/to/vm.vmx
vmrun revertToSnapshot /path/to/vm.vmx SnapshotName
vmrun deleteSnapshot   /path/to/vm.vmx SnapshotName

# Guest operations (require VMware Tools running)
vmrun -gu USER -gp PASS runProgramInGuest /path/to/vm.vmx /bin/ls
vmrun -gu USER -gp PASS copyFileFromHostToGuest /path/to/vm.vmx host.txt /tmp/guest.txt

REST API

Workstation Pro and Fusion Pro expose a local REST API (vmrest on Workstation, the built-in REST service on Fusion) for VM lifecycle, networking, and shared-folder management — useful for automation and CI.

16. OVF/OVA Import and Export

Conversion Process

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# GUI
File > Export to OVF...
File > Open...    # imports .ovf / .ova

# CLI via ovftool (bundled)
ovftool source.vmx target.ova
ovftool source.ova /path/to/output.vmx

17. Development Workflow Integration

Use Cases

• Isolated testing environments and reproducible dev VMs
• Cross-platform development and OS compatibility testing
• Local Kubernetes / container hosts (e.g., running a Linux VM for Docker or k3s)
• Nested virtualization for hypervisor and kernel work
• Legacy system support
• CI runner images via REST API or vmrun

18. Platform-Specific Features

Workstation Pro (Windows/Linux)

• Virtual Network Editor with LAN segments
• Multiple-monitor spanning
• Nested virtualization (VT-x/EPT, AMD-V/RVI passthrough)
• Encrypted VMs and restricted-VM policies
• Windows Hypervisor Platform integration (Windows host)

Fusion Pro (macOS)

• Native Apple silicon (ARM64) and Intel builds
• Metal-backed 3D graphics
• macOS guest support on Apple hardware
• Unity mode (Intel Macs, Windows guests only)
• Single Window / Full Screen modes

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

• Virtualization extensions disabled in firmware (VT-x / AMD-V / SVM)
• On Windows hosts: conflicts with older Workstation versions and Hyper-V / Memory Integrity — upgrade to Workstation 17+ which uses WHP
• Insufficient host RAM or disk space
• Networking conflicts with VPN clients or third-party firewalls
• 3D acceleration issues — update host GPU driver and VMware Tools
• Windows 11 guest fails to install — enable UEFI, Secure Boot, and vTPM in VM settings
• Apple silicon: attempting to run x86-64 guests is not supported

Pro Tips:

• Keep Workstation/Fusion and VMware Tools / open-vm-tools updated together
• Snapshot before OS updates or risky changes; collapse chains afterward
• Prefer NVMe + UEFI + vTPM for new VMs
• Use the REST API or vmrun for repeatable automation
• Encrypt sensitive VMs at rest

Recommended Resources:

• Broadcom support portal (product downloads and documentation)
• VMware Workstation and Fusion documentation
• VMware Technology Network (VMTN) community forums