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​

Introducing vmcli

vmcli is a command-line tool included with VMware Workstation Pro, enabling users to interact with the hypervisor directly from a Linux or macOS terminal, or the Windows command prompt. With vmcli, you can perform a variety of operations such as creating new virtual machines, generating VM templates, powering on VMs, and modifying various VM settings. Additionally, you can also create scripts to run multiple commands sequentially. For more information, see Using VMware Workstation Pro.

New Guest Operating System Support

• Windows Server 2025

• Windows 11 Version 23H2

• Ubuntu 24.04

• Fedora 40

New Host Operating System Support

• Windows Server 2025

• Windows 11 Version 23H2

• Ubuntu 24.04

• Fedora 40

Product Support Notices​

• Legacy VMTools ISOs are no longer included by default but are available for download.

• Bluetooth hub passthrough support has reached its end of life and has been removed from VMware Workstation.

• Physical host parallel ports support has reached its end of life and has been removed from VMware Workstation for Windows.

• Unity mode has reached its end of life and has been removed from VMware Workstation.

• The Enhanced Keyboard driver has reached its end of life and has been removed from VMware Workstation for Windows.

Prior Releases

Features and Known Issues from prior releases of VMware Workstation 17 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 17.5.2 Pro
• VMware Workstation 17.5.1 Pro
• VMware Workstation 17.5 Pro
• VMware Workstation 17.0.2 Pro
• VMware Workstation 17.0.1 Pro

Known Issues

• CentOS 9 Stream with kernel versions later than 5.14.0-432 is not supported on Workstation Pro 17.6 as a host

  Workaround: None

• Inline product upgrade from versions earlier than 17.6 will not be automatic for Workstation Pro on Windows Host

  Due to the migration from VMware services to Broadcom, Workstation Pro cannot automatically apply this upgrade.

  Workaround: Refer to the KB368734 article for downloading and installing Workstation Pro from the Broadcom support portal.

• The multi-monitor feature might not work correctly in specific topologies

  In specific situations, based on different hardware and topologies, the multi-monitor feature does not work as expected. You might see issues like reverting the topology to a single screen, or not cycling through monitors.

  Workaround: None.

Resolved Issues  

• VMware KVM crashes while running the 'vmware-kvm --preferences' command

  VMware KVM crashes when you try to open its Preferences dialog by using the 'vmware-kvm --preferences' command.

  This issue is resolved.

• Virtual machines run unusually slowly on Windows hosts

  Running virtual machines on Windows hosts as a non-administrator user might result in high host CPU usage and poor guest performance.

  This issue is resolved.

• Workstation installation fails on Linux hosts with a compilation error

  If you try to install Workstation on Linux hosts with kernel version 6.8, you receive a compilation error. For details, see https://knowledge.broadcom.com/external/article?legacyId=80807.

  This issue is resolved.

• Security Issues

Security Issues​

• OpenSSL has been updated to 3.0.14

• Expat has been updated to 2.6.2

• 7zip has been updated to 23.01