VMware Workstation is a desktop virtualization program for running separate operating systems on a Windows or Linux PC. Each virtual machine has its own guest system and applications, while the physical computer continues running its usual desktop. This lets developers, administrators, and students work with several computing environments without rebooting between them. The current Workstation Pro edition is free for personal, educational, and commercial use.
Virtual hardware
Workstation creates a computer in software, with virtual processors, memory, disks, and network adapters backed by the host’s resources. Its New Virtual Machine wizard accepts a guest operating system’s ISO image or installation disc, or creates a blank machine for later setup. You choose where its files are stored and how much disk space it can use.
Custom configuration exposes controls for processor allocation, memory, firmware, disk controllers, and networking. Virtual disks can grow as data is added or have their space allocated in advance. Virtual TPM and UEFI Secure Boot support also allow guest operating systems to use these security facilities within the virtual machine.
Snapshots
A snapshot preserves a virtual machine’s memory, settings, and virtual-disk state at a particular point. Reverting restores that saved state, including the disk contents, so changes made afterward are rolled back. For example, a snapshot taken before an application configuration change provides a baseline to return to if that change needs to be undone.
VMware Workstation’s Snapshot Manager lets you work with successive restoration points or branches from an earlier state. Branching lets several changes begin from the same starting configuration, with each branch representing a different application setup.
Full and linked clones
Cloning produces another virtual machine from an existing configured machine. The clone receives its own machine identity and network hardware address, and later changes made in one machine do not appear in the other. A prepared development environment can therefore become the starting point for several separate test machines.
A full clone is independent of its parent. A linked clone instead uses a snapshot and shares the parent’s existing virtual-disk data, recording its own changes separately to conserve storage. When files are moved or deleted, the linked clone still needs access to its parent, and the snapshot it depends on must remain available.
VMware Workstation networking
The network connection determines whether a guest joins the physical network, shares the host’s external connection, or communicates within the host computer. VMware Workstation supplies three common modes:
| Mode | Connection behavior |
|---|---|
| Bridged | Connects the guest to the physical network through the host’s network adapter. |
| NAT | Places the guest on a private virtual network and shares the host’s external network identity. |
| Host-only | Connects guests and the host through a virtual network contained within the computer. |
The Virtual Network Editor supports more complex arrangements with multiple virtual networks. Network simulation can introduce bandwidth limits, latency, and packet loss, allowing a local collection of VMs to represent connections with different conditions.
Guest integration
Workstation can transfer files and text between the host and guests, and shared folders make selected host files available inside a VM. Removable devices can also be connected to a guest, allowing its operating system and applications to work with an attached device.
Display controls let you change how a guest desktop appears within Workstation. DirectX and OpenGL graphics support lets compatible guest applications use accelerated 3D graphics.
OVF packages and remote vSphere servers
Existing virtual machines can be imported, including machines packaged in Open Virtualization Format. Workstation can also export a VM to OVF, so a configured environment can be packaged for transfer instead of reconstructed from its individual applications and settings.
VMware Workstation connects to remote vSphere or ESXi infrastructure to launch, control, and manage virtual machines. Uploading and downloading VMs connects desktop preparation with remote hosting: a machine can be configured locally and then transferred to a server, while remote power controls allow its running state to be managed from Workstation.
