topic Re: VMware inside WSL2 issue in VMware Workstation Pro Discussions

VMware inside WSL2 issue

asalari — Fri, 25 Nov 2022 14:56:42 GMT

Hello,

I have a VMware workstation installed on Windows 10 whose license works well.
I’m trying to access the binary files through WSL2 (Ubuntu 20.4).

So, I created symbolic links to those VMware executable files (e.g. “/mnt/c/Program\ Files\ \(x86\)/VMware/VMware\ Workstation/vmware.exe”).
The mounted files work, but getting this error that “VMware Workstation does not appear to be licensed. Please license it.”

I’m wondering if there’s a way that I can use those licensed executables on the Windows host from WSL.

If not, shall I request a separate VMware software with a license to install on WSL Ubuntu?

Thanks,

Ali

Re: VMware inside WSL2 issue

Technogeezer — Fri, 25 Nov 2022 19:06:18 GMT

Just off the top of my head after it's spinning trying to figure out why you would want to do such a thing...

It sounds to me like you're trying to use a Windows executable on a Linux VM (that's what WSL is). It probably won't work. My opinion is that you'd need to install Workstation for Linux in the WSL image.

You may not be able to make it work anyway because WSL2 is a lightweight form of Hyper-V, which has issues with nested virtualization.

Re: VMware inside WSL2 issue

asalari — Fri, 25 Nov 2022 20:57:27 GMT

Thanks for your reply.
This is a part of the automated development process to build OVA using Packer.

When I use Packer on the host Windows it stuck on building vmx file.
Nothing happens afterward, it's just hanging at this step.

==> vmware-iso: Configuring output and export directories...
==> vmware-iso: Creating required virtual machine disks
==> vmware-iso: Building and writing VMX file

and I think this response is probably the case for that:

If you're running packer on a corporate machine, you may have a security suite installed that interferes with vmrun and prevents it from returning.

and I don't have any kind of administration over Antivirus tools on windows to disable it.

So, I ended up using WSL2 to solve this issue.