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VMware Workstation on Manjaro

DISCLAIMER

Tip

Read the VMware Workstation 16 supported OS article.

VMware is a commercially developed application with a limited list of supported operating systems.

This guide is a courtesy to the forum don't expect any support on VMware related issues.

As you can see from above reference - Archlinux and derivatives are unsupported platforms for running VMware products and as such it is unsupported on Manjaro.

So even when it is possible to install and run VMware on Manjaro - **do not expect support** on configuration of virtual machines or system issues arising from your VMware installation. You must have the required level of troubleshooting skills to solve these when they arise - and they will.

If you need help configuring vmware virtual machines - your should look in the VMware documentation.
If you need help troubleshooting installation issues - use the comment section for the AUR PKGBUILD

How to use the AUR PKGBUILD

There is a lot of AUR helpers and they all mimic what you should do manually - the Arch way is usually the best way.

Important kernel precaution

The AUR PKGBUILD is created for Archlinux and therefore the kernel headers dependency must be solved manually on Manjaro. Archlinux only have two kernel versions - linux and linux-lts.

Archlinux kernels follow the release schedule on kernel.org and on Manjaro you will need to use the same kernel versions which - at the time of writing in March 2021 - is (check with https://kernel.org if in doubt)

Linux 5.10.x (LTS)
Linux 5.11.x (mainline)

Using other kernels - like 5.4LTS - will most likely fail.

Building steps

1. Update your system and install the necessary build tools

user $  sudo pacman -Syu git base-devel --needed COPY TO CLIPBOARD

2. Then check your kernel version(s) - example - remember to use the same version as Arch

user $  mhwd-kernel -li COPY TO CLIPBOARD

3. Then install the headers for your kernel(s) and dkms. Substitute $KERNELXYY with your currently running kernel

user $  sudo pacman -Syu $KERNELXYY-headers dkms COPY TO CLIPBOARD

4. Clone the PKGBUILKD script

user $  git clone  https://aur.archlinux.org/vmware-workstation.git ~/vmware-workstation COPY TO CLIPBOARD

5. Familiarize yourself with the content - it is all text files and you should read them and verify what they are doing.

user $  ls ~/vmware-workstation COPY TO CLIPBOARD

6. When you are satisfied - cd into the folder

user $  cd ~/vmware-workstation COPY TO CLIPBOARD

7. Run makepkg to install dependencies, build and install the package.

user $  makepkg -is COPY TO CLIPBOARD

The installer will write messages in the terminal on what to do next - follow the directions to load the kernel modules and enable vmware network service and usb service as needed.

user $  sudo modprobe -a vmw_vmci vmmon COPY TO CLIPBOARD

Optional services

There are three services that can be optionally be enabled:

vmware-networks.service: Provides network access inside VMs, most people will want this enabled
vmware-usbarbitrator.service: Allows USB devices to be connected inside VMs
vmware-hostd.service: Enables sharing of VMs on the network

To start and enable vmware network

user $  sudo systemctl enable --now vmware-networks.service COPY TO CLIPBOARD

To start and enable usb passthrough

user $  sudo systemctl enable --now vmware-usbarbitrator.service COPY TO CLIPBOARD

To start and enable the sharing of a virtual machine

user $  sudo systemctl enable --now vmware-hostd.service COPY TO CLIPBOARD

Installing Manjaro under VMWare

There are no special requirements to installing Manjaro on VMWare. open-vmware-tools is pre-installed. It should "just work"

Copy and Paste

Ensure you are using Xorg as Wayland has some limitations. See: https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/74671

If copy and paste does not work, you may need to install gtkmm3 and re-boot. vmware-user-suid-wrapper depends on gtkmm, but it's not a required dependency of the package. See: https://bugs.archlinux.org/task/43159