How to Install Ubuntu 23.10 & 22.04 on VMware Workstation 17

In this professional guide, we will examine how to install Ubuntu 23.10 & 22.04 on a virtual machine using VMware Workstation 17 Pro. It doesn’t matter whether you are just starting with virtualization or want to test this system on your existing Windows 10 & 11 system!

With our experienced content, I will show you the process of creating and configuring a VM (virtual machine) for the best Ubuntu experience. Let’s take a detailed look and discover how to run Ubuntu 23.10 & 22.04 seamlessly alongside your primary operating system using VMware Workstation.

How to Set Up Ubuntu 23.10 & 22.04 on a Virtual Machine with VMware Workstation 17 Pro

VMware Workstation is the most popular Hypervisor Type 2 virtualization program developed by the VMware company. With this software, you can run multiple operating systems on your PC virtually. For example, installing Ubuntu on a virtual machine without a dual-boot installation can be helpful on the first try.

So, What’s New in Ubuntu 23.10 & 22.04?

Ubuntu 23.10 is great if you want to try out the newest technologies and software updates. Thus, it comes with the latest features and supports newer hardware.

Ubuntu 22.04 LTS is an excellent choice for users who need long-term support and stability. So, it’s perfect for businesses and long-term projects.

How to Create a New Virtual Machine for Ubuntu

After installing VMware on your Windows 10 host computer, you can virtually install and run any version from Windows, Linux, or macOS operating systems distributions. Suppose you are considering installing a Linux system on your physical computer, and you are new to this business. In that case, you can gain experience by installing it on a virtual machine.

Step 1

After running VMware Workstation 17 Pro, click Create a Virtual Machine. Then select Custom (Advanced) in the new virtual machine creation window and click Next.

Step 2

Configure the hardware compatibility setting of the virtual machine as Workstation 17.x.

Step 3

In the Guest Operating System Installation window, select “I will install the operating system later” and click the Next button.

Step 4

In the Guest OS selection window, select the Linux / Ubuntu 64-bit version and click Next.

Step 5

If your physical computer has high storage capacity, you can install your virtual system in the default location. However, if you have a mechanical disk, we recommend installing your system on an external SSD storage device. Because mechanical disks are weaker in terms of performance, storing VMs on a USB 3.0/3.1 portable disk will provide you with extra performance.

Step 6

You should allocate additional virtual processors and adjust the core value according to the hardware capabilities of your computer. In short, you have the option to increase the performance of your Ubuntu virtual machine.

Step 7

Pick how much memory your Ubuntu virtual computer needs based on how much your computer can handle. Click the blue arrow in the VM’s Memory window to set the most memory it can use automatically.

Step 8

You can configure the network adapter settings of the virtual machine that will run on VMware according to your personal preferences or your project. Select the default NAT for the network adapter and click Next.

Step 9

Continue with the LSI Logic option selected by default in the I/O Controller window.

Step 10

In the Disk Type window, select NVMe instead of the default SCSI type and continue.

Step 11

To make a new virtual disk, choose “Create a New Virtual Disk” in the disk setup. If you already have a virtual disk you want to use, select “Use Existing Virtual Disk.”

Step 12

If you pick “Store virtual disk as a single file,” you’re choosing to save the whole virtual hard disk as one file. This makes backing up easier because all the disk data is in just one file. In addition, after configuring the maximum disk size for the Ubuntu VM, you can allocate disk space on your host disk as much as the disk size you specified by checking the Allocate all disk space, which is now an option for even more disk performance. This option increases the performance of the guest machine much more on the mechanical disk.

If you’re installing the virtual machine just for testing, you can choose a smaller disk size. The maximum size allocated here means your host computer will allocate space as needed for the guest machine.

Step 13

In the Specify Disk File window, leave it as default to back up the virtual disk to the location where you will install the guest machine.

Step 14

Click Customize Hardware to add the ISO file to the Ubuntu VM and configure some hardware settings.

Step 15

In the Hardware window, click on the processor device and enable the virtualization feature by ticking the Virtualize Intel VT-x/EPT or AMD-V/RVI, Virtualize CPU Performance Counters, and Virtualize IOMMU (IO Memory Management) options in the Virtualization Engine section. You see on the right.

Also, depending on your usage, you can achieve more efficiency and performance by removing the printer and sound card devices from the VM.

Step 16

Download the Ubuntu 23.10 & 22.04 ISO file to your computer from this link, and then click Browse to add the ISO file to the CD/DVD device and specify the location.

Step 17

Change the USB Compatibility option to 3.1 in the settings of the USB Controller device.

Step 18

In order to better process 3D graphics in the virtual machine in the Display settings, enable the 3D feature and set the graphics memory size in accordance with the graphics card specifications of your host.

Step 19

After creating your Ubuntu guest machine, review the summary hardware information and click Finish.

Step 20

To start installing Ubuntu on VMware Workstation, click “Power on” for this virtual machine.

How to Install Ubuntu

After running the Ubuntu guest machine, you can complete the installation steps as if you were installing on a physical computer.

Step 1

Press Enter on the Ubuntu option to run the system on the GNU GRUB version 2.04 screen.

Step 2

Wait while Ubuntu boots up.

Step 3

When the installation wizard opens, click the Install Ubuntu button to start the installation. If you only want to open and test the system once, you can click Try Ubuntu.

Step 4

Please choose the keyboard layout that you are most comfortable with and then click on the ‘Continue’ button to proceed.

Step 5

In the Updates and other software window, you can continue by choosing either Normal Installation or Minimal Installation. The difference between the two options is the installation of essential tools and more advanced applications only.

Step 6

To do a fresh install, choose “Erase disk and install Ubuntu,” then click “Install Now,” and finally, click “Continue” to confirm the changes to the disk.

Step 7

After marking the location you live in on the map, click Continue.

Step 8

Type your username for your Ubuntu virtual system and continue after creating a strong root password.

Step 9

Wait while Ubuntu is installed on the virtual computer you created. At this stage, some files will be downloaded and installed automatically from the Internet.

Step 10

After the installation wizard has copied the Ubuntu system files and installed the necessary software, restart your system.

Step 11

When you see the “Please remove the installation medium, then press Enter” warning on the screen to enable the system to boot, continue by pressing the Enter key.

Step 12

Type the root password you created to log in, and press Enter.

Step 13

After logging in, the system configuration wizard will appear. Suppose you want to log in to Google, Microsoft, or other services in Ubuntu. In that case, you can do so by typing your personal information in the Online Accounts window.

If you prefer to configure your account later, click the Skip button.

Step 14

Check “Yes, send system info to Canonical” to help develop Ubuntu and click Next.

Step 15

If you want to allow the applications you use to access your location information, enable Location Services.

Step 16

In the final step, click ‘Done’ in the window that says you can use the software to install sample programs on your Linux virtual machine.

How to Install VMware Tools

Under normal conditions, when installing a guest operating system with VMware on your host computer connected to the Internet, VMware Tools is automatically installed. If you are going to connect your VM to the Internet later, you should temporarily install VMware Tools on VMware.

VM Tools is installed automatically in Ubuntu 19.10, 20.04, 20.10, 21.04, and 22.04 versions. However, you have to do this manually in old versions of 18.04, 18.10, and 19.04.

VMware company recommends using open-vm-tools or open-vm-tools-desktop to install your VMware Tools.

Step 1

Open Terminal in your Ubuntu virtual system and execute the command sudo apt install open-vm-tools-desktop. After this process, press the Y key and then Enter to confirm the additional disk space usage and continue.

sudo apt install open-vm-tools-desktopCopy

Step 2

After installing VMware Tools on your Ubuntu system, execute the sudo reboot command and restart your system.

sudo rebootCopy

Step 3

After restarting your virtual system, you can transfer a file from your host system’s desktop location to your VM by dragging and dropping or using the Ctrl + C / Ctrl + V keys.

If you are encountering the Drag and Drop is not Supported error while copying the file, you can fix this problem by installing Extensions and Nemo file manager on your system.

Execute the “sudo apt install gnome-shell-extension-prefs” command in the Terminal, find the extension in the start menu, and run it. Disable Desktop Icons NG (DING) in the Extensions window.

sudo apt install gnome-shell-extension-prefsCopy

To install the Nemo file manager after turning off desktop icons, execute the “sudo apt install nemo” command in the Terminal, open Startup Applications Preference, and click the Add button to enable the file manager at startup.

sudo apt install nemoCopy

Fill in the Name, Command, and Comment fields in the Add Startup Program window as below and click the Add button again. Then, after rebooting your Linux system, you can now use drag-and-drop file transfer between the host and your VM.

• Name: Nemo Desktop
• Command: nemo-desktop
• Comment: Nemo Desktop

Step 4

You can also use your Ubuntu guest machine in full-screen resolution.

How to Enable and Configure Shared Folder

Another method of transferring files between your host computer and your Ubuntu virtual computer is to use the Shared Folder feature.

Step 1

Click VM / Settings from the tool menu to enable and configure Shared Folder in Ubuntu.

Step 2

After clicking the Options tab in the virtual machine settings, select Shared Folders and then tick Always Enabled. Click Add to specify a folder path from your host system in the Folders section.

Click Next when the Add Shared Folders Wizard opens.

Step 3

Click the Browse button in the Host Path section, and then select the folder you specified.

Step 4

After selecting the folder on your host, make sure Enable This Share is checked and close the wizard.

Step 5

Close the settings of your Linux virtual machine.

Step 6

Create one or more text documents in the folder you shared.

Step 7

To access the Shared Folder from your Ubuntu guest system, go to Home > Other Locations > Computer > mnt > hgfs and view the shared folder.

Step 8

Execute the below command in the Terminal to create a shortcut to the desktop location for UbuntuSharedFolder.

sudo ln -s /mnt/hgfs/UbuntuSharedFolder/ ~/DesktopCopy

Step 9

When you restart your Ubuntu virtual system, you can see that the Shared Folder shortcut is Broken. You can’t access the public folder right away because it doesn’t mount automatically. To fix this problem, first, run the command below in the Terminal and reactivate the shared folder.

sudo mount -t fuse.vmhgfs-fuse .host:/ /mnt/hgfs -o allow_otherCopy

Step 10

Execute the “sudo nano /etc/fstab” command in the Terminal to edit the fstab file and automatically mount the public folder.

sudo nano /etc/fstabCopy

Step 11

After opening the fstab file, type the command below, press CTRL + X, press Y, and then enter to save the file.

.host:/UbuntuSharedFolder /mnt/hgfs/UbuntuSharedFolder fuse.vmhgfs-fuse allow_otherCopy

How to Use USB Flash Memory

In order to use your USB 3.0/3.1 flash memories in your Ubuntu system, make sure to change the current 2.0 value in USB compatibility, then insert your flash memory into your host system and change the file system of your device to FAT32 or ExFAT.

Step 1

Create a folder named BACKUP in your USB flash memory that you have inserted in your host.

Step 2

To add your flash memory to your virtual computer, click on VM / Removable Devices / Name of your USB / Connect (Disconnect from Host) from the VMware tool menu. However, if the Connect option is grayed out and inactive, as in the image below, close your guest system and open the VMX file.

Step 3

Change usb.restrictions.defaultAllow = “FALSE” to “TRUE” in Ubuntu 23.10 & 22.04.vmx file and save the file.

usb.restrictions.defaultAllow = "TRUE"Copy

Step 4

After turning on your virtual computer again, connect your USB flash memory to your Linux system.

Step 5

You can now use your USB 3.0/3.1 flash drives or storage devices on your Ubuntu guest machine without any problems.

Video

Installing Old Versions

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Conclusion

As a result, you can install Ubuntu 23.10 & 22.04 on a virtual machine using VMware Workstation 17 Pro. This gives you an easy and risk-free way to get used to a new operating system. With all the steps I have provided in this article, you can use Ubuntu without any problems, especially if you are starting. In short, it helps you create and configure a virtual machine. Moreover, it allows you to explore its features and functions without affecting its primary systems.

Adopting virtualization technology doesn’t just make learning easier. Plus, it also gives you the opportunity to try different operating systems in a controlled environment. You can start your virtualization journey with the detailed information I share here.