System Requirements​

• A compatible 64-bit x86/AMD64 CPU launched in 2011 or later.

• Please refer to the vendor's recommended processor requirements for specific Host Operating Systems (HOS):

  • For Microsoft-specific HOS, refer to the Microsoft documentation

  • For Linux-specific HOS, refer to the Linux Vendor-specific documentation

What's New​

• New Security Enhancement

  This release introduces new security enhancement by providing an improved encryption scheme (XTS instead of CBC) for maximum protection with a reduced performance overhead. Please see https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/93071 for more information.

• This release resolves CVE-2023-34044. For more information on these vulnerabilities and their impact on VMware products, see VMSA-2023-0022.

• Control Virtual Machines using the VMRUN Commands

  You can now control virtual machines using the VMRUN command line utility in Workstation Pro. You can use commands to perform various guest operations such as power on or off, capture snapshots for data backup, manage network adapters, run an executable program, manage files and directories, manage processes running on the operating system, and so on.

• Import and Export Virtual Machines with vTPM device

  You can now import or export a virtual machine with a vTPM device enabled using the OVF Tool. You can export a virtual machine with vTPM device into an OVF file, and then use the OVF file to import the virtual machine with a vTPM.

• Manage Power Operations of Encrypted Virtual Machines using VMREST API

  You can now power on/off, suspend, pause, unpause, or retrieve the state of an encrypted virtual machine using the VMREST API service.

• VMware Hardware Version 21

  • Support for up to 256 NVMe devices: 4 controllers and 64 devices per controller

  • Support for NVMe 1.3 in the following guest operating systems:

    • Microsoft Windows 11

    • Microsoft Windows Server 2022

Prior Releases

Features and Known Issues from prior releases of VMware Workstation 16 Pro are described in the release notes for each release. To view the release notes for a prior release, click the appropriate link:
 

• VMware Workstation 17.0.2 Pro
• VMware Workstation 17.0.1 Pro

Resolved Issues  

• The cursor does not appear in the VNC client while remotely controlling a virtual machine

  When you configure a virtual machine as a VNC server, the VNC client does not correctly show the mouse cursor for the virtual machine you control.

  This issue is resolved.

• Unable to decrypt or re-encrypt a virtual machine after changing the disk split value

  After you change the value of a disk split for an encrypted virtual machine, you cannot decrypt or re-encrypt the virtual machine.

  This issue is resolved.

• Linux-based guest operating system boots slowly with the default RAM and CPU for a virtual machine

  When you install the following Linux-based guest operating system, the virtual machine might boot slowly or fail to boot:

  • Fedora

  • AlmaLinux

  • Debian

  • SLES15

  • Oracle Linux

  • Photon OS

  This issue is resolved.

• The mouse cursor offsets from the point of event in Visual Studio

  When you use Microsoft Visual Studio on a Windows 10/11 guest operating system, the mouse does not click where the mouse pointer is positioned.

  The issue is resolved.

• Virtual machine shows BSOD when USB is enabled

  When you enable USB in Workstation Pro, the virtual machines fail to start with a BSOD error.

  This issue is resolved.

• Cannot downgrade the hardware compatibility of a virtual machine

  On Workstation Pro 17.0.1 or above, a user cannot downgrade the hardware compatibility version of a Windows 95/98 VM without VMware Tools installed.

  This issue is resolved.

• Cannot access an encrypted virtual machine with remember password option enabled

  While creating an encrypted virtual machine with Windows guest operating system, if you check the option to remember the password, the virtual machine might prompt you to enter the password again when you try to log in.

  This issue is resolved.

• Wireless bridge connection might not work on a Windows host with DHCP configured

  If you use Workstation 17.0.1 or above on a Windows host with DHCP mode configured, a wireless bridge connection might not work on the host operating system.

  This issue is resolved.

• Cannot start an encrypted virtual machine using VMRUN

  Unable to start an encrypted virtual machine using VMRUN command without nogui

  This issue is resolved.

• Security Issues

Security Issues​

• Pixman has been updated to 0.42.2

• LibTIFF has been updated to 4.5.1

• SQLite3 has been updated to 3.42.0

• curl has been updated to 8.3

• OpenSSL has been updated to 3.0.10