Step 4: Go to Menu in bottom left of your Linux Mint 21 PC and select VMware WorkStation and go through the various install prompts to launch the virtualization software. 100%Īlthough there was no need to do so, I now did a reboot of my Linux Mint 21 system. Step 2: Next, I went to to my Downloads folder (where I had downloaded Workstation 16 Pro) and ran the below command: gcc was already on my computer but build-essential was not. Step 1: I made sure I had installed gcc (GNU C compiler) and build-essential. These are the five steps I followed in installing and testing VMware Workstation 16 Pro on my Linux Mint 21 computer: You can download a 30-day free evaluation copy of VMware Workstation 16 Pro or buy the software outright from VMware or resellers.Īfter downloading Workstation 16 Pro, make sure you do a sha256sum check to ensure file integrity of the download. VMware offers two locations to download Workstation 16 Pro software for Linux: So I opted for VMware Workstation 16 Pro (a Type-2 hypervisor) unlike VMware ESXi, which is a Type-1 hypervisor aka bare metal hypervisor for my Linux Mint 21 computer.īy the way, VMware Workstation 16 Pro is also available for Windows. VMware ESXi is overkill for my requirements and its installation is also more complex. VMware ESXi is for the enterprise while Workstation 16 Pro and Workstation Player do the job well in smaller outfits.

If you ask me, VMware is to virtualization what Cisco is to networking gear.

While Virtualbox may cut it for hobbyists, VMware is the numero uno vendor when it comes to virtualization. Understanding the basics of virtualization is a good skill to possess in an age when it seems like everything is going virtual or to the cloud.

Vmware 16 pro