VMware Workstation 17 Player was released last month. It comes with a lot of new features. It’s a must-have upgrade if you’re using VMware Workstation 16 Player.
The new features of VMware Workstation 17 Player are as follows:
- Windows 11 guest support
- Fast encryption of VMs (i.e. Windows 11) that uses vTPM
- Autostart support for VMs
- OpenGL 4.3 graphics support for VMs
- Support for new guest OSes. i.e. Windows 11, Windows Server 2022, Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, Debian 11, RHEL 9, SUSE/OpenSUSE 15
In this article, we will show you how to install the VMware Workstation 17 Player on Debian 11.
Table of Contents
- Downloading the VMware Workstation 17 Player on Debian 11
- Preparing the Debian 11 for Installing VMware Workstation 17 Player
- Installing the VMware Workstation 17 Player on Debian 11
- Opening the VMware Workstation 17 Player for the First Time
- Activating the VMware Workstation 17 Player
- Conclusion
Downloading the VMware Workstation 17 Player on Debian 11
To download the VMware Workstation 17 Player installer on Debian 11, open a browser of your choice and visit Download VMware Workstation Player | VMware.
Once the page loads, scroll down a little and click on DOWNLOAD NOW from the Try Workstation 17 Player for Linux section.
Your browser should start downloading the VMware Workstation 17 Player installer. It takes a while to complete the download.
The VMware Workstation 17 Player installer should be downloaded at this point.
Preparing the Debian 11 to Install the VMware Workstation 17 Player
For the VMware Workstation 17 Player dependencies to be resolved and the kernel modules to be compiled, you need to install the necessary build tools and kernel headers on Debian 11.
First, update the APT package repository cache with the following command:
The APT package repository cache should be updated.
To install the necessary build tools and kernel headers on Debian 11, run the following command:
To confirm the action, press Y. Then, press <Enter>.
All the required packages are being downloaded. It takes a while to complete the download.
The downloaded packages are being installed. It takes a while to complete the download.
At this point, all the required packages should be installed.
Installing the VMware Workstation 17 Player on Debian 11
The VMware Workstation 17 Player installer should be downloaded in the ~/Downloads directory of your Debian 11 machine.
Navigate to the ~/Downloads directory as follows:
You should find the VMware Workstation 17 Player installer here:
Add the execute permission to the VMware Workstation 17 Player installer file as follows:
Run the VMware Workstation 17 Player installer with root/superuser privileges as follows:
The VMware Workstation 17 Player is being installed. It takes a few seconds to complete the download.
The VMware Workstation 17 Player should be installed at this point.
Opening the VMware Workstation 17 Player for the First Time
To open the VMware Workstation 17 Player, search with the vmware[1] keyword and click on the VMware Player icon[2] from the Application Menu of Debian 11.
As you run the VMware Workstation 17 Player for the first time, you will see the following window. From here, you need to answer some questions.
Select I accept the terms in the license agreement and click on Next to agree to the VMware Player End User License Agreement.
Select I accept the terms in the license agreement and click on Next to agree to the VMware OVF Linux Tool End User License Agreement.
If you want the VMware Workstation 17 Player to check for updates when you open the VMware Workstation 17 Player, select Yes. Otherwise, select No.
Once you’re done, click on Next.
If you want to join the VMware Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP) which sends the usage stats to VMware so the VMware can improve its products, select Yes. Otherwise, select No.
Once you’re done, click on Next.
If you want to use the VMware Workstation 17 Player for commercial use, you have to activate it with a license key. You can buy a license key for VMware Workstation 17 Player from the official website of VMware.
To activate the VMware Workstation 17 Player, select Enter a license key to allow commercial use and type in the license key[1].
If you want to use the VMware Workstation 17 Player for non-commercial use (i.e. personal use), select Use VMware Player 17 for free for non-commercial use[2].
Once you’re done, click on Finish[3].
Type in your login password and click on Authenticate.
Click on OK.
The VMware Workstation 17 Player should be ready to use.
Activating the VMware Workstation 17 Player
If you want to activate the VMware Workstation 17 Player to use it later for commercial purposes, open the VMware Workstation 17 Player and click on Help > Enter License Key.
Type in a License Key and click on OK. The VMware Workstation 17 Player should be activated and ready to use for commercial purposes.
Conclusion
In this article, we showed you how to download and install the VMware Workstation 17 Player on Debian 11.
