Download and Generate Windows 11 ISO Using the Command-line Interface

You can now download the Windows 11 ESD file and generate a Windows 11 ISO file via the command-line user interface using the vmw_esd2iso tool bundled with Fusion.

You can use this feature for both x86-based Mac and Apple Silicon Mac. You can use the command with the following syntax to get a desired output:

<File name with path for the vmw_esd2iso file> [command] [options]

For example, if you have the vmw_esd2iso file located at /Applications/VMware\ Fusion.app/Contents/Library/, use the following command to get the URL for downloading the ESD file:

[~/Documents]$ /Applications/VMware\ Fusion.app/Contents/Library/vmw_esd2iso getesdurl

The following table lists the commands you can use with vmw_esd2iso tool:

Table 1. vmw_esd2iso Commands

Command	Description
getesd	Download the Windows 11 ESD file from the Microsoft website
getesdurl	Get the url to download the Windows 11 ESD file from the Microsoft website
generateiso	Generate the Windows 11 ISO file from a Windows 11 ESD file

Note: Fusion does not support creating a Windows 11 guest operating system on a remote virtual machine.

Prerequisites

To use this feature, you must have Fusion Pro or Player version 13.5 and onward.

Procedure

1. On your Mac, open a terminal window.
2. To download the Windows 11 ESD file, run the ./vmw_esd2iso getesd command in the following format:

   vmw_esd2iso getesd --edition <Microsoft Windows 11 Edition> --lang <language code>

   The following example illustrates the command:

   [~/Documents]$ /Applications/VMware\ Fusion.app/Contents/Library/vmw_esd2iso getesd --edition "Professional" --lang "en-us"

   The vmw_esd2iso tool downloads the Windows 11 ESD file in your current working directory.

   Note: Ensure that you have sufficient privileges to write on the current folder to avoid any error while downloading the file.
3. To generate the Windows 11 ISO file from the ESD file you downloaded, run the ./vmw_esd2iso generateiso command in the following format:

   vmw_esd2iso generateiso --esd <path to the downloaded ESD file> --drivers "<absolute path of the driver 1>,<absolute path of the driver 2>"
   

   After you run the command, vmw_esd2iso tool generates the Windows 11 ESD file into an ISO file and saves it in your current working directory.

   Note: Ensure that you have sufficient privileges to write on the current folder to avoid any error while generating and saving the ISO file.