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Downloading VMware products and troubleshooting issues with downloads

Symptoms

Cannot download a VMware product
Downloading a VMware product fails
When you click the Download link, you may see the error:

Sorry, at the moment you are not authorized to download <VMware product here>

Purpose

This article provides procedure to download VMware products and to troubleshoot download issues.

Resolution

Downloading VMware products from the VMware website

To download VMware products from the VMware website:

Note: You cannot download Datacenter Products (with the exception of VMware vCenter Converter) unless you are the Primary License Administrator or Secondary License Administrator and or Support Administrator for the contract attached to the license of the product you are trying to download.

Log in to the download portal at http://vmware.com/download/.
You see products available for download under Datacenter Downloads and Desktop Downloads. Click the product that you want to download.
Click the Download link next to the correct product name/update.

Note: Click View History to download older versions or updated of the product.
On the log in screen, enter the registered email address and password for downloading the software and click Login.
Read the EULA for downloading the software. Click Yes to accept the terms.
You see the download binaries available for download. Click on them to start the download process.

Note: You can select either Download Manager (Recommended) or the Web Browser under Download Options to download the software.

Installing and downloading VMware Tools

VMware Tools is a suite of utilities that enhances the performance of the virtual machine's guest operating system and improves management of the virtual machine. For more information see, Installing VMware Tools (340).

Downloading evaluation products from the VMware website

To download evaluation products from the VMware website:

Go to http://www.vmware.com/tryvmware/.
Select a product from the Datacenter Products section or Desktop Products section.
Note: Evaluation is not an option for obsolete products.
If you are a new customer, create an account with VMware. For more information, see Creating and updating a VMware Account (1021642).

If you are an existing customer, log in with the registered email address and password.

Note: Enterprise level software evaluations require that you use an email address that is not from a free domain. Use an organizational email address.
Complete the registration form, accept the terms and conditions, and click Register

Note: vSphere 4 products do not work with any evaluation license keys. You must enable the evaluation mode both on ESX and vCenter Server for activating the evaluation license.
Complete the registration form, accept the terms and conditions and click Register
You are redirected to the Evaluation center which has the download binaries, technical documentation, release notes and other resources. For Desktop products like VMware Fusion, VMware Workstation, VMware View, VMware ACE and VMware ThinApp you can view the evaluation license keys on this page. An automated activation email is also sent to you from donotreply@vmware.com.

Downloading the VMware Infrastructure Client / vSphere Client

The vSphere Client .exe is part of the ESX, ESXi, or vCenter Server download binaries.

You can download the vSphere Client from the Product downloads page at VMware ESX 4 Update 1 and VMware vCenter Server 4.1 Update 1 and modules.

Note: Log in with your VMware login credentials when prompted.

Troubleshooting download issues

The error Sorry, at the moment you are not authorized to download occurs if you try to download a Datacenter Product without being a Primary/Secondary License Administrator or Support Administrator for the contract attached to the license of the product. To resolve this issue, ensure you are added as one of the above mentioned administrators to the contract. For more information, see:

To troubleshoot errors when downloading binaries using Download Manager, see Akamai Download Manager FAQs. Try downloading the binaries manually using the web browser option if you have difficulties downloading the software using Download Manager and vice versa.

If you experience other download issues:

Clear the browser cookies and temp files.
Try using a different browser.

Note: If your problem persists after trying the steps in this article, file a support request with VMware Support. For more information, see How to Submit a Support Request.

Additional Information

For additional information, see:

For Fusion 3.0 licensing and upgrade related information, see Licensing VMware Fusion 3.x (1015444)
For Workstation 7.0 licensing, see Licensing VMware Workstation (1015481)
For ESX 3.5 host licensing, see Installing ESX Server Licenses (1001383)
For vSphere ESX host licensing, see Licensing ESX 4.0, ESXi 4.0, and vCenter 4.0 (1010839)
If you want to register your license key, see Registering a VMware License Key (1005522)

Notes:

To download VMware Player or VMware vCenter Converter Standalone binaries, register with VMware and click the activation link in the email that you receive to download the binaries.
Previous versions of VMware Infrastructure 3.0 have reached end of general support according to our published support policy. Visit our support center for further details. You can download documentation for previous versions of VMware Infrastructure 3.0 from our online support center.

Request a Product Feature

To request a new product feature or to provide feedback on a VMware product, please visit the Request a Product Feature page.

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