VMware Fusion Documents articles

Script to check if all remnants of VMware Fusion are gone from your Mac

Technogeezer — Sun, 08 Oct 2023 19:32:11 GMT

The documented method of removing Fusion from a Mac only removes the Fusion application. There are other files that will remain on the system that sometimes can cause issues when upgrading or re-installing Fusion.

There is a VMware KB article that discusses how to manually remove these Fusion files from your Mac: https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/1017838

But what if you want to run a quick check to see if any of these files are still there?

The script is_fusion_installed.sh (zipped and attached to this article) is based on the above KB article and provides a quick way to tell if any of the Fusion files are still remaining on your Mac.

The script:

does not require admin privileges
does not locate any virtual machines you have installed
does not touch any of your virtual machines
does not delete any files (sorry, you'll need to do that yourself)

Instructions:

Download the attached zip file
Extract the file (either using the command line unzip utility or the macOS Archive Utility). The script (is_fusion_installed.sh) should be extracted.
In a Finder window, find the script.
Open a Terminal window, and drag the script from the Finder window into the Terminal window,
Type return in the Terminal window and the script will execute.

You should see something like this if you have any Fusion files installed (in this example, I have Fusion fully installed)

% /xxxxxx/is_fusion_installed.sh

This script checks to see if files belonging to VMware Fusion are installed
using information from VMware KB article https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/1017838

Checking for VMware Fusion application

[WARNING] VMware Fusion application still exists

Checking for other Fusion files...

[WARNING] Fusion folder "/Library/Application Support/VMware/VMware Fusion" still exists
[WARNING] Fusion file "/Library/Application Support/VMware/Usbarb.rules" still exists
[WARNING] Fusion folder "/Library/Preferences/VMware Fusion" still exists
[WARNING] Fusion folder "~/Library/Application Support/VMware Fusion" (full path "/Users/xxxxxx/Library/Application Support/VMware Fusion") still exists
[WARNING] Fusion folder "~/Library/Caches/com.vmware.fusion" (full path "/Users/xxxxx/Library/Caches/com.vmware.fusion") still exists
[WARNING] Fusion folder "~/Library/Preferences/VMware Fusion" (full path "/Users/xxxxxx/Library/Preferences/VMware Fusion") still exists
[WARNING] Fusion file "~/Library/Preferences/com.vmware.fusion.plist" (full path "/Users/xxxxxx/Library/Preferences/com.vmware.fusion.plist") still exists
[WARNING] Fusion file "~/Library/Preferences/com.vmware.fusionStartMenu.plist" (full path "/Users/xxxxxx/Library/Preferences/com.vmware.fusionStartMenu.plist") still exists

Your Mac has files from a Fusion installation.
Please delete them manually to clean your Mac of all traces of Fusion

VMDKMounter for VMware Fusion Professional Version 12.2.5

HMJ6 — Fri, 07 Apr 2023 16:49:32 GMT

VMware Fusion Professional Version 12.2.5

I am trying to mount vmdk files in Finder on my iMac. I had VMDKMounter in an older version of Fusion but cannot find it anywhere online. I have read and tried everything in this old post but nothing works:

Fusion 4: no VMDKMounter - VMware Technology Network VMTN

Is there still a VMDKMounter or similar that can allow me to do this?

w11arm_esd2iso - a utility to create Windows 11 ARM ISOs from Microsoft ESD releases

Technogeezer — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 02:23:25 GMT

End of life update: This utility will be removed for download on 2023-11-15. At that time this article will be updated with a link to a new generic version of the utility that will be found on GitHub.

Final version: 4.0.4 (2023-10-05)

With the release of Fusion 13.5 and the integrated tool to download Windows 11 ARM from Microsoft, this utility is no longer necessary. I've made the decision to freeze all development on this utility. I hope that everyone has found it useful during the time that it was needed.

I am leaving the tool available for download until 2023-11-15. You are free to continue to use it as-is. However I will no longer reply to any problem reports or how-to-use posts. You are strongly encouraged to stop using the versions of Fusion that require the use of w11arm_esd2iso to obtain a Windows 11 ARM ISO. Install Fusion 13.5, where the process is built-in and supported by VMware.

Thank you.

Paul Rockwell (@Technogeezer)

The attached zip file contains a utility that is designed to simplify the process of creating ISO installation media for Windows 11 ARM on macOS. The utility downloads an ESD file directly from Microsoft and builds the ISO.

This utility runs on Apple Silicon Macs running macOS 13 or later (tested on Sonoma 14.0 GA).

Contents of the attached zip file:

README - contains more info on the script, including a man(1) like reference
w11arm_esd2iso
w11arm_esd2iso_manpage.pdf (documentation)
doc/ (additional documentation)
bin/ (bundled open-source utilities)
lib/ (bundled open-source utilities)

It is strongly recommended that you review the README and documentation pdf files before using this tool. It provides information on what the script does and how it works. The pdf file has been enhanced with examples that should help you.

Can't enable the shared folders with Fusion 13 Player (free)

AlexKRI — Fri, 02 Dec 2022 07:18:17 GMT

I installed Fusion 13 Player (MacBook on M1 CPU) and obtained a free license. I can't locate the 'shared folders' menu item. I used Fusion 12 for years before, and there was no such problem with it.

Is this a problem with a free license? But according to the comparison table, shared folders must be available.

The Unofficial Fusion 13 for Apple Silicon Companion Guide

Technogeezer — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 02:06:47 GMT

Using inspiration from (and with apologies to) David Pogue's 'Missing Manual" series, I humbly present:

The Unofficial Fusion 13 for Apple Silicon Companion Guide
Version 23, 2023-11-01

The manual that VMware didn't publish and the one that you will need...

Important: This version of the Companion Guide has been updated for use with Fusion 13.5. Upgrade to Fusion 13.5 before using the material in this guide. (There's no good reason not to upgrade!)

Changes in Version 23:

Added information on the Ubuntu Desktop 23.10 release for Lenovo X13s Gen 1, which will install on a Fusion VM with some modifications to the boot arguments of the installer ISO.
Modified the procedure to “convert” Ubuntu Server to Ubuntu Desktop. For Ubuntu 23.10, the procedure to install a minimal version of the desktop applications is added. This is equivalent to the minimal installation option available in the “real” Ubuntu Desktop 23.10 installer.
Added warning and workarounds for incompatibility between macOS Sonoma VoiceOver feature and Fusion VMs.
Added procedure to work around the failure of the new Fusion 13.5 GUI tool to download Windows from Microsoft when the macOS system language is set to a language other than English.
Removed procedure for installation of VMware Tools on Windows 11 ARM because they are now mostly identical to those for Windows x64. Tips are included to note where there are differences.
Added a workaround for screen flickering/blanking issues that occur when Windows 11 VMs are upgraded from Fusion 13 to Fusion 13.5.
Added information on VMware Tools update that addresses 2 security issues.

------

The Companion Guide contains tips and techniques that were provided through the experiences of the broader Fusion community while running the Tech Preview releases on Apple Silicon Macs. It can save you searching the forum for frequently encountered issues.

The Companion Guide may answer many questions that aren't covered by reading the VMware Fusion documentation. Take a look at it before you start creating VMs - you might find something that will make your life easier. If you have a question that you're thinking about posting in the forum, check out the Companion first - it may already contain an answer to your question.

Of particular interest to Windows users is the section on Windows 11 on ARM. This section is chock full of information, procedures, and screen shots that should help you be successful in the installation of Windows 11 on Fusion 13..5

For you Linux users, you haven't been left out. There is plenty of content to help you as well, especially if you are an Ubuntu or Fedora user.

This document will be updated as the community experience with Fusion 13.5 grows and is discussed in the forums.

Enjoy and please post any comments or questions about the Companion to the Fusion forums.

Running Fusion on an Intel Mac and upgrading to an M1/M2 Mac? Read this first.

Technogeezer — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 18:05:16 GMT

Helpful information about what's possible and what isn't if you're making the jump to the an M1 Macs.

[Question] How to set virtual machine running Windows 95/98 with 256 colors

jay_xiaohan — Mon, 04 May 2020 03:55:45 GMT

Hi!

I have 3 virtual machines: Windows 3.1, Windows 95, and Windows 98.

I, by chance, downloaded an atlas program that seems to require 256 colors or more.

The problem is, the aforementioned virtual machines all support up to only 16 colors.

Is there a way to change the 16 available into 256 colors?

Thanks in advance!

I am using VMware Fusion Professional Version 10.1.6

fusion 11.5.1 on macOS 10.15.2 not showing content of VMware Shared Folders and...

advatis — Wed, 18 Dec 2019 10:49:44 GMT

Hello,

i have the problem with the above configuration with VM macosSierra 12.6, that the content of the shared is not displayed

and that i cannot change the screen resolution. Only the resolution 1024x768 is displayed.

Does anyone have a solution for me ?

Thanks.

VMware Fusion Problem Report 2018-10-15 at 17.29.52.zip

Twittawit — Tue, 16 Oct 2018 00:48:37 GMT

Here is the file you requested. Thanks for your help.

Error when installing windows

lekararik — Thu, 23 Nov 2017 16:51:24 GMT

I have VMWare Fusion 10 and when I try to install Windows 10 (version 1709) I get the error in the screenshot during the installation.

I have a MacBook Pro 2017 with macOS High Sierra.

What is happening?

Thank you.

vm-12-07-14.45801.zip

zuber1077 — Sun, 15 Oct 2017 01:53:29 GMT

Unable to open file "/Users/air/Documents/Virtual Machines.localized/Window 10.vmwarevm/Virtual Disk.vmdk":

The system cannot find the file specified

Can't delete file in Mac when use VMware

zzDaniel — Thu, 27 Jul 2017 17:30:07 GMT

Hello! I'm Daniel William. I have problem with file in mac when I use VMware.
I'm start Mac with file .vmdk about 8Gb. I keep use it and file .vmdk grow to 26Gb, I delete some file about 10Gb by Delete Immediately and empty trash, I tried bot of them. but when I shutdown Mac and comeback use windown, I see file .vmdk is 26Gb. it is such not change anything. in Mac those file exactly be deleted because I delete by Delete Immediately. fiction, in future it can be take many Gigabyte in my disk. it's very terrible.

I don't understand and have no idea for this problem. Please help me!

Unable to open file "/Users/johnk83776/Library/Application Support/VMware Fusion/Virtual Machines/Boot Camp/Boot Camp 3.vmwarevm/Boot Camp 3.vmdk"

johnk83776 — Sun, 11 Dec 2016 00:46:48 GMT

My old Mac died, so I loaded my new Mac (Sierra) with everything from Time Machine. Everything works fine except my WMware Fusion Version 6.0.6 (2684343).

It says:

Unable to open file "/Users/johnk83776/Library/Application Support/VMware Fusion/Virtual Machines/Boot Camp/Boot Camp 3.vmwarevm/Boot Camp 3.vmdk"

I have everything listed there, except the last "/Boot Camp 3.vmdk"

Can I get that somewhere?

Thanks.

johnk83776

Unable to click on exist operating system

Amittiti — Wed, 02 Nov 2016 11:32:07 GMT

Why can't I choose them?

help please.

tnx ahead

Old OS X Installers Will Not Install - Expired Apple Certificate

vmxmr — Sun, 06 Mar 2016 22:24:00 GMT

If you downloaded an OS X installer before 14 February 2016, it will no longer work to create new virtual machines. If you use an old installer to create a new OS X virtual machine guest, the installation will appear to proceed as you expect, (e.g., copying files to the hard drive...). Eventually an error message will appear, informing you that the installation is invalid or corrupt.

The fix is to download a new copy of the OS X installer from the App Store. This article explains it all:

Previously Downloaded OS X Installers No Longer Work‌

This document was generated from the following discussion: Old OS X Installers Will Not Install - Expired Apple Certificate

Procedure to Automatically Launch a Virtual Machine at Mac Startup

vmxmr — Sun, 06 Mar 2016 22:15:24 GMT

I have headless Mac mini computers that operate as "servers". They automatically launch VMware Fusion virtual machines at startup. Here is how I configured it.

Procedure for Automatically Launching a VMware Fusion Virtual Machine at Mac Startup

Login to your Mac using your admin account.
Set the Mac so that it automatically restarts if there is a power failure. Go to System Preferences, Energy Saver.
Create an account for automatic login at startup. I create the same set of accounts in the same order on all of my Macs, so that Unix user IDs match. On my Macs, I named the automatic login account "<Lastname>Server". In this procedure, let us call the account, "ServerUser"
Set the ServerUser account to login automatically. Go to System Preferences, Users & Groups, Login Options, and select the ServerUser account from the pulldown menu. You will be prompted for the ServerUser account password.
If you will be running your Mac as a headless machine with no keyboard or mouse (like my Mac mini computers), disable "Open Bluetooth Setup Assistant at startup if no keyboard is detected" and disable "Open Bluetooth Setup Assistant at startup if no mouse or trackpad is detected". You will probably want to configure some type of remote access so that you can control your Mac from another system. See Remote Access Notes, below.
Logout from your admin account.
Login to the Mac under the ServerUser account.
Launch VMware Fusion in the ServerUser account. Enable the desired virtual machine to "Start automatically when VMware launches" in the chosen virtual machine's VMware Settings, General.
Reboot the Mac. It should automatically login to the ServerUser account, launch VMware Fusion, and then VMware Fusion will automatically start the virtual machine.
You may want to run a power failure test to verify that the virtual machine launches automatically after a power failure. This test has risks. See Power Failure Test, below.

Security Notes

Automatic restart on power failure won't work if you have FileVault enabled.
Security Risk: If you configure automatic login on your Mac, the password is stored in a file that only root can access. The password is encoded, but not really encrypted. If someone can get physical access to your Mac itself, they could gain access to any file on your Mac, including the virtual machine itself, the ServerUser password file, etc. That is because you cannot enable FileVault if you want the virtual machine to launch automatically.
Security Risk: Your Mac is configured to login automatically at startup. If someone steals your Mac, they can connect a keyboard, mouse, and monitor to it and then boot it. It will be logged in to your ServerUser account. (That is one reason why you do not use your admin account for automatic login.) You can mitigate some of the risks by:
- Set the ScreenSaver in the ServerUser account to start after 1 minute. System Preferences, Desktop & Screen Saver, Screen Saver tab, Start after (pulldown menu). Set the System Preferences, Security & Privacy, General tab, Require password "immediately" after sleep or screen saver begins.
- Better solution for experts: In addition to the above, you can configure your Mac to display the login prompt immediately after startup, even though the ServerUser account is logged in and the virtual machine is running.
  - Create a small application that locks the screen and displays the OS X login prompt. See: Terminally Geeky: use automatic login more securely
  - I converted the shell script above into a Mac application, and added it to the ServerUser Login Items list.
  - I found that it didn't work on a headless Mac, unless I fooled the Mac into thinking that a display was attached. I made a little "VGA Dummy Plug". See: https://rumorscity.com/2013/12/06/how-to-create-dummy-plugs-for-your-graphics-cards/
  - Additional Note: One of the Mac's is running Windows Server 2012 R2 in its virtual machine, which has bridged networking. For some reason, it would not receive external network connections if the login prompt was displayed on the Mac screen. I had to remove the application from the Login Items list and rely on the Screen Saver lock above. Someday I will troubleshoot this to see if I can make it work.

Remote Access Notes

If you are running your Mac as a headless machine, you will probably want to configure some type of remote access that that you can control your Mac from another system. You will want to install Apple security updates on your headless Mac, for example.
Some people attach a keyboard, mouse, and monitor when needed, but it can be a lot of trouble over time.
I still use Timbuktu Pro to remotely operate headless Macs. Unfortunately, Timbuktu Pro is no longer supported or available.
Others may try Apple Remote Desktop or another solution. I do not know whether LogMeIn, TeamViewer, GoToMyPC, or similar products are viable solutions. I found this in a quick web search: http://www.geekersmagazine.com/remote-access-mac-applications.html
You may also want remote access to your running virtual machine:
- If your virtual machine runs Windows, it may support Windows Remote Desktop. One of my virtual machines runs Windows 2012 R2 Server, and I connect to it from my Mac using Microsoft Remote Desktop (free from the App Store).
- If your virtual machine run Linux, you can connect to it using VNC. Your Mac comes with a basic VNC client called "Screen Sharing.app" in /System/Library/CoreServices/Applications/. It is very basic, and the VNC connections it makes are not secure. There are other VNC applications for your Mac that you may want to consider.
  - If you are Linux guru, you can configure your Mac to tunnel VNC through SSH.
  - If you are Linux guru, why use VNC, which is slow? Why not run a remote X-session directly on your Mac?

Power Failure Test

First, please read the important note, below.

Shutdown the virtual machine.
Disconnect power from the Mac.
Reconnect power from the Mac.
The Mac should boot, login under your ServerUser account, launch VMware Fusion, and start your virtual machine.

Important Note about the risks of a Power Failure Test:

Disconnecting power from your Mac when it is running poses a risk to your system. You may corrupt files or cause other damage to the file system on your Mac's hard drive. OS X is designed to withstand occasional power failures, but you do not want to run this test more than necessary. I ran it once only. Since then, there have been several power failures over the years that have done the same thing - and the Macs have handled them correctly.

This document was generated from the following discussion: Procedure to Automatically Launch a Virtual Machine at Mac Startup

Deploying F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition in VMware Fusion 8

Chaseabbott — Wed, 18 Nov 2015 21:44:42 GMT

At F5's DevCentral Community and at several VMware user groups we've had a lot of interest in deploying BIG-IP Virtual Edition using Developer Lab licensing. Some people at VMworld asked if we would write/update our Fusion guide and any additional information so here they are:

Deploying F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition on VMware Fusion @ devcentral.f5.com
How to get a F5 BIG-IP Virtual Edition Developer Lab License @ devcentral.f5.com (CDW offers USD and CAD pricing)

Using the Developer license with the BIG-IP Virtual Edition, I can create multiple personal dev environments on my workstation easily simulating north/south traffic patterns with external client linux devices and internal lamp hosts. And with other VMware environments, you can take the setup and easily migrate to an ESX environment for further SDLC development. It's fantastic and everyone is loving using Fusion for BIG-IP "playgrounds" at F5. If you have questions please let me know and I'll respond accordingly.

Hope this help everyone who asked about this.

-Chase Abbott

Fusion 6.0.5 y Yosemite

JulioEBallesta — Mon, 20 Oct 2014 17:47:03 GMT

Compre hace años Fusion para instalar una maquina virtual en Mac, y verdaderamente funciona bien . El mayor de mis problemas es que cada vez que actualizo una versión de Mac (gratis) , tengo que gastarme el dinero en la ultima versión de Fusion (40_50 Euros ), y ya estoy cansado: Como es posible que teniendo la versión 6.0.5 de Fusion no pueda instalar Yosemite, como es posible que no se disponga de soporte en España.

Parece ser que me equivoque vmware no es la empresa que yo creía , si vmware no soluciona mis problemas , los tendré que solucionar yo. CAMBIARE DE SOFWARE lo antes posible.

Julio (Spain )

dump

HPReg — Thu, 18 Sep 2014 15:54:11 GMT

Tool to dump some values to assist with debugging iMessage issues.

Use WANem to create a great adjustable WAN simulator in 10 minutes!

Arie — Sat, 03 May 2014 11:21:20 GMT

I thought I’d write something up as I was looking for a WAN simulator tool to pass some VM traffic between to determine impacts on a few scenarios. As I don't have a web site and I'm using VMWare Fusion this seems like a logical place to put it.

Basically this will give you a few subnets with a fake WAN in between which will allow you to; increase latency, added jitter, reduce bandwidth, etc.

I’ve made the following assumptions, which you can change as you see fit -

1. I’m a Mac user so this is written with VMWare Fusion in mind, though Workstation would be pretty much the same

2. LAN 1 has the subnet 10.1.1.0/24 (you can change these or even use IPv6)

3. LAN 2 has the subnet 10.1.2.0/24

4. LAN 3 has the subnet 10.1.3.0/24

5. LAN 4 has the subnet 10.1.4.0/24

6. This VM interfaces will be configured as private (Private to my Mac)

7. VMWare’s DHCP is disabled on private (KB102651)

Okay, lets get started…

We’ll be using WANem - http://wanem.sourceforge.net/

Note that are instructions on the net about setting up WANem but most require you to add default routes on the guest OS’s, I think it’s better to use gateways.

I’m using version 3 beta 2. You’ll need the ISO for this, so download that and unzip it. Create a VM with the following specs -

A. OS - Other Linux 3.x kernel

B. 1 vCPU

C. 256MB of RAM (more might be needed if you're pushing heavy data loads through)

D. 4x NIC’s (less or more is fine, whatever you think you’ll need)

E. IDE HDD with 3GB of space (more might be needed if you intend to push heavy data loads through)

F. Disable as much as possible - audio, BT and USB, Printer, etc.

Attach the ISO to the CD Drive and boot. You’ll notice as it’s booting it won’t find any DHCP and will throw a few errors - thats expected.

Once it’s started you should be presented with a web browser and the Network Connections configuration page. Close that page and the browser.

Click on the icon to the bottom left, select Preferences, WANem HD Install. Click Accept through the next few windows.

Select Disk use whole hard disk. Select the disk which should be around 3GB and OK. Select Yes and let it install. You should get a good message. You’ll be asked to select a disk again, select the top item which should be /dev/sda2 with around 2GB of space and click OK. It should now be installing.

Next up you’ll be prompted to configure the boot loader grub. Click OK. Go with the default top option mbr and click OK. Click Yes to install. Click OK to the success message and finally click Yes to restart.

Do as it says - disconnect the CD ISO image and hit return.

Once WANem restarts you’ll be at the WANem prompt. At this point WANem is installed, any configuration changes you make will now stick where as before you were booting a LiveCD and each reboot would see the settings lost.

Almost there.

Type startx and press enter to get the GUI back.

Once the GUI starts you should be back to the web browser and Network Connections.

Click eth0 then click edit. Select the IPv4 (or v6) settings, change Method to Manual. Click add and enter 10.1.1.1 and press return. Being a class A address it will assume a /8 subnet mask, double click 8 and make it 24 then press return. Now click save.

Do the same for eth1, eth2 and eth3 using 10.1.2.1/24, 10.1.3.1/24 and 10.1.4.1/24. Close the Network Connections page.

Now would be a good time to shutdown and create a snapshot or copy the VM to a safe backup location. To shutdown select the icon in the bottom right.

Once it’s rebooted (or continuing on from above without a reboot) select Basic Mode in the web browser. As you can see here you can set the WAN speed and network delay for each interface or as you can think of them now virtual WAN links. You can also go more in depth in the Advanced Mode tab.

I’ll leave the rest up to you. From this point when you boot the VM it will start in a CLI, you can startx but you can also make changes using “help” but it’s easier in the GUI. For those advanced users keep an eye on top and swap usage and increase RAM as needed. For those who are worried about pushing big data loads through WANem simply give it a bit more RAM, at 128MB it does swap a little but at 256MB I haven't see it swap so 512MB would be very safe.

So now when you build a VM in one of those subnets you use the 10.1.x.1 IP as the gateway and adjust it’s WAN performance however you like.

Hope that helps anyone who’s after a lean WAN emulator that works really well. Thanks to TATA Consulting Services who make WANem, all credit to them for the great distro.

If I’ve made any mistakes let me know and I’ll update this post.

Cheers.