Knowledge Base

Note: The download for VMware Fusion is common for both Standard and Professional versions. The license key differentiates the products.

Downloading VMware Fusion

To download VMware Fusion:

1. Navigate to the VMware Fusion download page.
2. Click the Download button.
   
   If prompted, log in to your My VMware profile. If you do not have a profile, create one. For more information, see Creating a My VMware profile (2007005).
   
   
3. Review the End User License Agreement, and click Yes if you agree.
4. From the Download Page, click one of the links that reads Click here to download to download VMware Fusion.
   
   Note: There are two different versions of Fusion available for download: one version is complete, and a larger file to download; the other version is marked "light", and is a smaller download but does not include VMware Tools .iso files for Linux or the McAfee AntiVirus Plus software. For more information about the antivirus software, see McAfee's page http://home.mcafee.com/Store/PackageDetail.aspx?pkgid=277.
   
   Note: The preceding link was correct as of September 10, 2012. If you find the link is broken, provide feedback and a VMware employee will update the link.
   
   
5. If you are unable to complete the file download:
   
   
   1. Delete the cache in the web browser.
   2. Disable any pop-up blocker in the web browser.
   3. Try downloading from a different web browser application (for example, Safari instead of Firefox).
   4. Disable any local firewall software.
   5. Restart your Mac.
   6. Download the installer from a different computer or network.
      
      

Installing VMware Fusion

To install VMware Fusion:

Notes:

• You can only have one version of Fusion installed at once. In Fusion 3.x and earlier, installing a new version of Fusion uninstalls the previous version before installing the new version. Uninstalling Fusion does not affect existing virtual machines. If you are using Fusion 4.x, you must uninstall any previous version of Fusion before installing Fusion 4.x.
• If, at any point during the installation, you encounter an error, try restarting your Mac. If the error refers to a system extension, see Troubleshooting a .kext file error when installing VMware Fusion (1017768).
• You may want to verify the download. For more information, see Verifying the integrity of downloaded installer files (1537).

After the download completes, open the folder where the file was downloaded. The default location is the Downloads folder for the user account on the Mac (Finder > Downloads). Double click the downloaded file to start the installation.

Note: If you are unable to open the downloaded file, see The downloaded VMware software installer fails to open (1030501).

Fusion 5.x



Note: Installing Fusion 5.x automatically removes any older versions of Fusion and replaces it with Fusion 5.x.

1. Double-click the VMware Fusion icon or drag it to the Applications folder. This removes any older version and installs Fusion 5.x.
2. When you see the warning This is an application which was downloaded from the internet, click Open.
3. If an older version of Fusion is running, you may see a warning indicating this. Quit the older version of Fusion after shutting down all the virtual machines.
4. At the next prompt, enter your Mac OS administrator password for one-time setup.
5. After the initialization completes, you should see the license agreement. Agree to proceed.
6. Enter your license key (dashes included). If you do not have a license key, click the Get License Key button or request an evaluation key to use Fusion on a trial basis for 30 days.
7. Enter the Mac OS administrator password when prompted.

Fusion 4.x

1. If you previously have Fusion installed, double-click the application Double-click to upgrade from VMware Fusion 3.
2. Drag the Fusion 4 application onto the shortcut for your Applications folder.
3. Once the application has completed copying, open it from your Applications folder.
4. When warned that this is an application which was downloaded from the internet, click Open.
5. Enter your Mac OS administrator password.
6. Enter your license key (dashes included). If you do not have a license key, click the Get License Key button or request an evaluation key to use Fusion on a trial basis for 30 days.
   
   Note: If you receive an error about an invalid serial number, see Activating VMware Fusion fails with the error: Invalid Serial number (1011822).

Fusion 3.x and earlier

1. Double-click the Install VMware Fusion icon.
2. When warned that this is an application which was downloaded from the internet, click Open.
3. Click Continue to allow the installation verification to continue.
4. Click Continue to allow the installation to continue.
5. Read the license agreement, then click Continue to allow the installation to continue, and click Agree to accept the license.
6. Select your boot partition (usually this is called Macintosh HD), and click Continue.
7. For Fusion 2.x and OS X 10.5, if you have not installed Fusion before, you are presented with a dialog about installing a helper application called MacFUSE.
   
   
   1. Ensure that the box to install MacFUSE is selected, and click Continue.
   2. Enter your password.
      
      
   For Fusion 3.x or OS X 10.6, if you want to install MacFUSE:
   
   
   1. Click Customize.
   2. Ensure that both the MacFUSE and VMware Tools entries are selected. The VMware Tools are for guest operating systems. If you are planning on having either a Windows or Mac virtual machine, then it necessary to install VMware Tools on those virtual machines.
      
      Note: For more details on MacFUSE, see Mounting a virtual disk as a Mac OS volume (1010989).
      
      
8. Click Install to begin the installation.
9. Enter your Mac OS administrator password.
10. If you have previously installed Fusion on this computer, your serial number is filled in automatically. If this is your first time installing Fusion, enter your license key (dashes included).
    
    Note: If you receive an error about an invalid serial number, see Activating VMware Fusion fails with the error: Invalid Serial number (1011822).
    
    
11. Click Continue.
12. Click Close to close the Installer.

After installation

VMware Fusion has been installed in the Applications folder and can be started from there.

Warning: In Fusion 3.x and earlier, do not move VMware Fusion from the Applications folder. This causes Fusion to no longer work.

After installing Fusion, you need to create a virtual machine and install an operating system (such as Windows or Linux) inside that virtual machine. This installation must come from a physical CD/DVD or a disk image (.iso). It is not possible to use an .exe downloaded from Microsoft, as this .exe is meant to be run in an existing Windows installation.

For more information, see the video VMware Fusion 3 Install Microsoft Windows on Your Mac on VMware's YouTube channel, VMwareELearning.


Verifying the VMware Fusion download

If the installer presents an error and does not complete, try restarting your Mac and trying again. If the problem persists, check the MD5 sum value on the downloaded file. For more information, see Verifying the integrity of downloaded installer files (1537).