Ubuntu is one of the leading Linux distribution many people like to get hands-on experience. It has desktop and server versions. In this guide, I will show how to install the latest Ubuntu 19.10 on VMware workstation with working VMware tools and setting up a VMware shared folder between the guest OS and host Windows 10 OS.
Installing another OS such as Ubuntu Linux on a Windows 10 computer by using virtualization software like VMware is the best way to experiment with any kind of new OS. You do not need to install on the physical hard disk or modify the Windows 10 boot loader to have Linux OS with Windows.
Also, VMware’s ‘Easy Install’ feature makes this installation super easy. You can find more about ‘Easy Install’ from the official VMware site.
This guide is divided into 4 parts:
- Install Ubuntu on VMware by using the ‘Easy Install’ method. This step will also install the VMware tools provided you have the working internet on the host computer.
- Guide to install VMware tools manually.
- Setup and test the VMware shared folders between host and guest computer.
- The download link of the pre-installed Ubuntu 19.10 VMware image that I used in this guide.
Part 1: Installing Ubuntu 19.10 on VMware Workstation
1) Download the latest desktop version of Ubuntu from the official site. It is an ISO file.
2) Make sure you have the newest version of VMware workstation. If you have VMware player, you may not find some of the options, but it works well for this purpose.
3) Create a new virtual machine and browse the ISO file. VMware will detect the OS type from the ISO file and show that it can use ‘Easy Install’.
‘Easy Install’ is like an unattended method of installing a new OS. Once we provide the required details, it will do all steps during the installation process and finalize the OS installation without any user intervention.
4) Provide user account details that will be used in Ubuntu Linux VM.
5) I always prefer to store the virtual hard disk as a single file. Before completing the setup and powering on the VM, click the Customize Hardware button.
6) Set enough processor cores and memory for the VM. I configured 4 processor cores and 4GB of RAM.
7) Power on the VM now. Make sure you have working internet on the host computer. The installation will use the internet to download the latest packages for Ubuntu 19.10 OS and install VMware tools. It will create the partitions and do all the necessary steps to install the OS properly. Once everything installed automatically, you will get the login screen after a few minutes.
8) Typing the same password you set while configuring the virtual machine will let you log in.
9) To verify whether the VMware tools installed successfully during the ‘Easy Install’, check the full-screen mode, and change the VMware console screen to different sizes, the VM will adjust and work on fit-to-screen view. That confirms the proper working VM tools. Also, you will feel the smoothness inside the VM while working.
Part 2: How to Install VMware tools manually on Ubuntu 19.10
Let’s assume for some reason you need to install the VMware tools manually. Then, follow these steps:
10) After powering on the VM, click on ‘VM’ from the menu and select the ‘Install VMware Tools’ option. This will mount the installation ISO file inside the VM.
11) Access the CD drive from the Ubuntu Linux VM, and copy the VMware Tools file to the Desktop (or any location). It is a compressed file; we need to extract it. You can open this gzipped compressed file by double-clicking it. Then select the content and extract as shown below. In this example, I’m extracting to the same Desktop folder.
Now you will see the extracted folder on the desktop.
12) Open Terminal and browse the extracted folder.
13) Type sudo ./vmware-install.pl -d
You need to re-enter your password which has root access to allow the installation.
14) Reboot the VM once the installation completed. Now we have successfully installed the VMware tools manually on Ubuntu 19.10. These methods are applicable for any desktop or server version of Ubuntu.
Part 3: Setup VMware Shared folders between Ubuntu & Windows 10 (or any versions)
15) Setting up shared folders between Linux and Windows machines is super easy nowadays. Once the VMware tools installed successfully, go to the settings of the virtual machine and click the options tab.
Here you can add a folder or partition from the Windows 10 host computer. I’m adding a partition in this example.
16) Enable the share and select the ‘Read Only’ option if you do not need to write anything from the Linux guest OS to this Windows share/partition. Most of the time, we do not need to select the ‘Read Only’ option.
Press OK to save the settings.
17) Now inside the VM, go to Computer –> mnt -> hgfs folder. Here you will find the share which is coming from the Windows host computer.
If you haven’t selected the ‘Read-only’ option, now you should be able to write/modify folders/files on this share.
This method helps to transfer and share folders and partitions between guest and host computers without setting up a network.
Part 4: Download link of the pre-installed Ubuntu 19.10 VMware image
If you need to avoid the installation and update process, you can download the latest Ubuntu 19.10 pre-installed image for VMware below. It is in 7zipped format. You need to extract the file to get the VMDK file. Then create a new Linux Ubuntu virtual machine from a VMware workstation, player, or even on the vSphere and attach this VMDK file instead of creating the new virtual hard disk.
| Ubuntu 19.10 | |
| More Information: | Username: sysprobs Password: sysprobs123 Plaftform: 64Bit OS Update: Installed (as on 07/03/2020) VMware Tools: Installed Minimum VM Config: 2 VCPU, 2GB RAM Language: US English |
Hi Dinesh
I am a new user of Ubuntu. Please tell me how to install ubuntu 10.10 in Windows.
Mano France
Hi
I installed ubuntu 10.10 on vmware 3.1.1, after installation when i go to Virtual Machine->Install VMWare Tools… it doesn’t load the ISO image, instead it tries to download from the internet… can i manually do this, because the PC i’m using is not connected to the internet?
Thanks in advanced
the last step: sudo ./*.pl requires the user to enter his own password not the root password!
Hi Dinesh,
Thanks for the tutorial. can’t wait to try it out. hopefully it works. but will have to wait a long time for ubuntu and vmware to download as i have a very slow internet spped 🙁 384kbps
The drag and drop isn’t working properly. I can get things out of the VM, but the add things inside, it is not allowed…. any suggestions?
VMware shared folders and drag and drop is an issue with this method.
Try this manual vmware tools installation steps, it works fine for me,
Its clearly explained here
https://www.sysprobs.com/install-vmware-tools-manually-ubuntu-11-04-vmware-shared-folders
yep.still happening to me.
Its probably the first post i have made in 3 years, and that is because the post helped me much in to getting up to speed with Linux env!
Thanks buddy.
I had a problem with the VMWare Tools installation because my CD-ROM drive had a different CD in it. When I started the installation of VMWare Tools, it showed the icon on the desktop, but showed no contents. (Clicking on the properties showed me the other CD’s name). I ejected the other CD and tried again, and it worked.
Wanted to share in case someone else has the same problem.
Thank you, very good this article!!!!!
Ubuntu 11.04 GUI is not loading!!! it says
“ubuntu tty1”
“ubuntu login:”
what should I do to get the GUI run??
sudo init 6
$sudo init 6
After installing cannot get eth0 to connect. Using bridged networking on VMWare.
didn’t work!
No different after doing the hand job — erhh .. manual install.
I’ve been searching for a solution to the sharing issue for hours to no avail.
I’m running OS 10.7 for the host and Ubuntu 11.04 as a guest OS via VMware Fusion.
I’ve installed VMware tools and followed the steps for sharing folders but when I go to /mnt/hgfs/ there is nothing there. In fact, I get “No such file or directory.”
The forums on VMware’s website seem to indicate that this problem was corrected with the newest version of Fusion, but I’m not convinced.
If there is no way to remedy this situation, does anyone know of another way to share between host and guest OS?
Thanks in advance
Thanks for posting this method. It almost worked. If I have an entry in /etc/stab, the boot fails on mount. however, if i mount the shared directory from a terminal window after ubuntu starts, the mount works. what’s up with that? again, thanks.
i have vmware installed on ubuntu and inside vmware windows, i did the sharing but i m not able to locate the folder in windows(running in vmware)… can you please help?
Nice post Dinesh.
Congratulations!
I get this error message no matter which way I try to install this.
/tmp/vmware-root/modules/vmhgfs-only/filesystem.c:69:26: error: ‘SPIN_LOCK_UNLOCKED’ undeclared here (not in a function)
make[2]: *** [/tmp/vmware-root/modules/vmhgfs-only/filesystem.o] Error 1
make[1]: *** [_module_/tmp/vmware-root/modules/vmhgfs-only] Error 2
make[1]: Leaving directory `/usr/src/linux-headers-3.0.0-12-generic’
make: *** [vmhgfs.ko] Error 2
make: Leaving directory `/tmp/vmware-root/modules/vmhgfs-only’
The filesystem driver (vmhgfs module) is used only for the shared folder
feature. The rest of the software provided by VMware Tools is designed to work
independently of this feature.
If you wish to have the shared folders feature, you can install the driver by
running vmware-config-tools.pl again after making sure that gcc, binutils, make
and the kernel sources for your running kernel are installed on your machine.
These packages are available on your distribution’s installation CD.
I have all those things installed already
I’m facing the same issue. This and the missing smp_lock.h header…. How can vmware be so stupid?
Thanks! This is the best vmware installation I’ve ever read for ubuntu on the net. It really work. Just follow the instructions provided!!!
I tried to install Ubuntu 11.10 on VM workstation 8.0.1. and stuck at step 5 – Install VMWare Tools. I wait for about 3 mins then started logging in and then wait … nothing happens.
As i read somewhere, version 8.0.1 fully supports Ubuntu 11.10. Does it need to download any update for the VMWare Tools before installing it ?
I also tried Cancel VMWare Tools Installation to manually install it later but my Ubuntu doesn’t continue to start up.
Could you please help ?
Sorry, this should have been in my previous post. As the VMWare Tools is not installed, each time i restart the VM, I stuck at step 5.
Is there a way to manually install VMWare Tools at that point ? There is no GUI as it’s shown in your steps of manually install the VMWare Tools.
Also, is it required to have the tool installed so Ubuntu can run ? Can I bypass this step ?
many thanks
It says art starup that is cant start and then it says cant stat?? Help please!!!!!! thank you!
Hi,
Please tell me how can I exchange files between my Windows volume (say C drive) and the guest OS (ubuntu) filesystem. Can I mount my C drive on ubuntu running as a guest OS on VmWare Player ?
you can run a samba/http/FTP server and use the IP address to access your folders. vmware also has an inbuilt capability to share folders just Google for it
Hi,
Today i installed windows 7 in vmplayer 4.0.1 as guest on on linuxmint host.I could not connect to update server to install vmware tools.can you tell me how to install vmware tools for windows7 Professional manually.
Thumps Up..worked like a MAGIC!!!..
Well, I could only access the sample music and sample pictures folders in the libraries while having a shared with option with everyone enabled in windows 7 in the users folder.
Now when I try to access the Users folder from Ubuntu it says “Could not Display smb://###/Users” and “file type unknown”. I’m stuck.