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I am looking for a free Vmware ESX to install on my Ubuntu 14.04.3 LTS on my laptop.

I want to install another Ubuntu Server, or Windows Server Operation System on VmWare.

What is a stable, and free version of Vmware that I can install on Ubuntu desktop?

I really appreciate your answer.

February M

February M
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  • ESXi is a server NOT a desktop solution. There is no free VMware for a desktop that lets you run multiple VMs at once. Is VirtualBox not an option for you? It's not VMware but it does the same thing - virtualization on a desktop. – Thomas Ward Dec 24 '15 at 20:31
  • So, I will Install VirtualBox on my Ubuntu desktop. Then if I find a trial version of VmWare ESXi, Can I install VmWare ESXi in one of my empty VM on my VirtualBox? I know the performance will not be good, but I just want to be familiar with its menus, and how does it work. – February M Dec 24 '15 at 22:19

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VMWare ESXi is a bare-metal hypervisor. What this means in practice is that you install the software on an Intel based PC - usually of a server type specification such as a Xeon Processor. The software is NOT designed to co-exist with anything else on that PC. Thus you are unlikely to be able to dual boot ESXi and Ubuntu on the same PC.

The software does not have a GUI per-se and is not designed to be installed within another virtualisation solution such as virtualbox or Windows Hyper-V.

To create and install virtual machines you require another PC such as your laptop with VMWare vSphere client installed connected in a TCPIP local network to the ESXi hosted PC. There is no Linux variant of the full vSphere software. If you want to control ESXi via a Ubuntu desktop you need to control via a browser and VMWare Web Client.

ESXi is "free" but you need to obtain a license from VMWare themselves to keep running the software beyond the evaluation period.

The other type of software offered by VMWare is a type-2 (non-bare metal) virtualisation software called VMWare Workstation and VMWare Player.

There is no such thing as a "free" VMWare Workstation - you need a license and pay lots of money to VMWare.

If you want to use the "free" VMWare Player you should be aware that you can only use this in a non-commercial environment - i.e. home-use. For a business you need to buy a license from VMWare themselves.

The "free" virtualisation software VMWare Player is available from VMWare themselves. This software is installable on Ubuntu. Thus - if you are looking to install a VMWare virtualisation solution within Ubuntu - you should consider either VMWare Player or VMWare Workstation.

Both products are downloadable from the VMWare website.

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fossfreedom
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  • And don't forget the free and already available VirtualBox for type-2 virtualization! :P works more like VMware Workstation than one would think. – Thomas Ward Dec 25 '15 at 00:04
  • Thanks Thomas. This information would help me a lot when I have my lab environment at home! – February M Dec 25 '15 at 13:00