VMware Workstation Pro 17.6

VMware Workstation Pro

VMware Workstation provides a seamless way to access all of the virtual machines you need, regardless of where they are running. Remotely connect to virtual machines running on VMware vSphere, ESXi or another copy of VMware Workstation. Workstation’s web interface lets you access local and server hosted virtual machines from your PC, smart phone, tablet or any device with a modern browser. Run applications on multiple operating systems including Linux, Windows and more at the same time on the same PC without rebooting. Evaluate and test new operating systems, applications and patches in an isolated environment.

Take Your Productivity to the Next Level

Run applications on multiple operating systems including Linux, Windows and more at the same time on the same PC without rebooting.
Evaluate and test new operating systems, applications and patches in an isolated environment.
Demonstrate complex software applications on a single laptop in a repeatable, reliable manner.
Consolidate multiple computers running web servers, database servers, etc. onto a single machine.
Build reference architectures for evaluation before deploying into production.
Simply drag and drop to move your virtual machines from your PC to vSphere, or the cloud.

VMware Workstation Pro 17.6 changelog:

Introducing vmcli

vmcli is a command-line tool included with VMware Workstation Pro, enabling users to interact with the hypervisor directly from a Linux or macOS terminal, or the Windows command prompt. With vmcli, you can perform a variety of operations such as creating new virtual machines, generating VM templates, powering on VMs, and modifying various VM settings. Additionally, you can also create scripts to run multiple commands sequentially. For more information, see Using VMware Workstation Pro.

New Guest Operating System Support

Windows Server 2025
Windows 11 Version 23H2
Ubuntu 24.04
Fedora 40
New Host Operating System Support
Windows Server 2025
Windows 11 Version 23H2
Ubuntu 24.04
Fedora 40

Product Support Notices

Legacy VMTools ISOs are no longer included by default but are available for download.
Bluetooth hub passthrough support has reached its end of life and has been removed from VMware Workstation.
Physical host parallel ports support has reached its end of life and has been removed from VMware Workstation for Windows.
Unity mode has reached its end of life and has been removed from VMware Workstation.
The Enhanced Keyboard driver has reached its end of life and has been removed from VMware Workstation for Windows.

Known Issues

CentOS 9 Stream with kernel versions later than 5.14.0-432 is not supported on Workstation Pro 17.6 as a host
Inline product upgrade from versions earlier than 17.6 will not be automatic for Workstation Pro on Windows Host
Due to the migration from VMware services to Broadcom, Workstation Pro cannot automatically apply this upgrade.
Workaround: Refer to the KB368734 article for downloading and installing Workstation Pro from the Broadcom support portal.
The multi-monitor feature might not work correctly in specific topologies
In specific situations, based on different hardware and topologies, the multi-monitor feature does not work as expected. You might see issues like reverting the topology to a single screen, or not cycling through monitors.

Resolved Issues

VMware KVM crashes while running the 'vmware-kvm --preferences' command
VMware KVM crashes when you try to open its Preferences dialog by using the 'vmware-kvm --preferences' command.
Virtual machines run unusually slowly on Windows hosts
Running virtual machines on Windows hosts as a non-administrator user might result in high host CPU usage and poor guest performance.
Workstation installation fails on Linux hosts with a compilation error
If you try to install Workstation on Linux hosts with kernel version 6.8, you receive a compilation error. For details, see this article.
Security Issues

Security Issues