VMware Workstation 12 Pro | 24 AUG 2015 | Build 2985596

Last updated: 8 SEP 2015

Check for additions and updates to these release notes.

What's in the Release Notes

The release notes cover the following topics:

About VMware Workstation Pro

VMware Workstation Pro enables technical professionals to develop, test, demonstrate, and deploy software by running multiple x86-based Windows, Linux, and other operating systems simultaneously on the same PC.

You can replicate server, desktop, and tablet environments in a virtual machine and allocate multiple processor cores, gigabytes of main memory and graphics memory to each virtual machine, whether the VM resides on a personal PC or on a private enterprise cloud.

For more information, see the broader VMware Workstation documentation or specifically the VMware Workstation 12 Pro Documentation Center.

What's New

The following support is new in Workstation 12 Pro:

  • Full support of Windows 10
    VMware Workstation Pro provides the following support for Windows 10:
    • Run Windows 10 as a virtual machine
    • Run Windows 10 as a host operating system
    • Windows 10 Auto Detect and Easy Install
    • Unity support for Windows 10
    • Migrate Windows 10 PC to a virtual machine
  • New guest operating systems support
    Support has been added for the following operating systems:
    • Ubuntu 15.04
    • Fedora 22
    • CentOS 7.1
    • RHEL 7.1
    • Oracle Linux 7.1
    • VMware Project Photon
  • Advanced graphics
    Support has been added for the following standards:
    • DirectX 10
    • OpenGL 3.3
  • Performance improvements for suspending and resuming encrypted virtual machines
  • Improved vCloud Air Integration (Workstation Pro on Windows only)
    • Power operation on remote virtual machines
    • Enhanced user experience
  • Support IPv6 NAT network
  • Tear away tabs
    You can drag open tabs out of the Workstation Pro window into new or already existing Workstation Pro windows.
  • Automatically suspend virtual machines upon host shutdown
  • Support 4K monitors with high resolution UI
  • Support for multiple monitors with different DPI settings
  • Echo cancellation for voice and video calls with Microsoft Lync and Skype
  • Added USB 3.0 support to Windows 7 virtual machines (with the latest Intel USB driver)
  • Improved standard installer
  • Added NAT network configuration in Virtual Network Editor on Linux hosts
  • Respect left-handed mouse setting on Windows host

The following features have reached end of life in Workstation 12 Pro and have been removed:

  • Unity mode on Linux guest and host operating systems
  • Integrated Virtual Debugger Visual Studio
  • Connection to the VMware vCloud Air subscription service (The VMware vCloud Air OnDemand service is still fully supported)

Known Issues

The following issues might occur in this version of VMware Workstation Pro.

  • Importing an OVF virtual machine to Workstation Pro fails on the first attempt
    When you attempt to import an Open Virtualization Format (OVF) virtual machine, for example by selecting File > Open and selecting the .ovf file, the process fails with a message explaining that the file did not pass the appropriate conformance or compliance checks. This issue only occurs with the Workstation 12.0 hardware version and only with .ovf files.
    Workaround: Click the Retry button in the dialog box. The import process then completes.

  • A UAS device connected to a USB 3.0 port on a Windows 7 or later host might fail to successfully connect to the guest
    When a UAS device that is connected to a USB 3.0 port on a Windows 7 or later host is connected to the guest, the device might fail to successfully connect to the guest. The device might appear as connected in the removable devices list, viewable by selecting VM > Removable Devices, but the guest operating system might fail to recognize the device.

    Determine if the device is a UAS device by performing the following steps:

    1. On the host machine, navigate to the Device Manager dialog box.
    2. Click View > Device by connection.
    3. Identify your device by expanding the PCI bus and then each USB controller listed.
    4. After you locate your device, right click the device and select Properties.
    5. Select Driver and then Driver Details.
      If the driver loaded against the device is uaspstor.sys, your device is a UAS device
      .
    Workaround:
    1. Shut down the virtual machine.
    2. Add the following entry to the config file (virtual-machine-name.vmx) of the virtual machine, which has a default location of C:\Users\username\My Documents\Virtual Machines:
      usb.generic.keepStreamsEnabled = "FALSE"

      NOTE: This procedure makes the device function as a USB 3.0 mass storage device and not as a UAS device, which might result in a slight degradation in performance while reading and writing to the device.

  • In Workstation 12 Pro, a link to download a USB 3.0 driver might not work as intended for Windows 7 or Windows 2008 R2 guests on some Linux hosts
    In this situation, when you select VM > Settings and then select USB controller, the Virtual Machine Settings dialog box displays the following sentence:
    USB 3.0 driver for this virtual machine can be downloaded from here.

    Where the word "here" is a link to the following URL:
    https://downloadcenter.intel.com/product/65855/Intel-USB-3-0-eXtensible-Host-Controller-Driver

    When you left click the link "here," or right click it and select an open-link option, the intended page might fail to open.

    Workaround:
    If you encounter this issue, right click the link, select a copy-link option, and paste the link in a browser to open the page.

  • Manually installing a virtual machine with the Ubuntu 15.04 guest might result in a black screen
    When you manually install an Ubuntu 15.04 virtual machine, after you perform the required restart by clicking Restart Now, the virtual machine might become unresponsive as the screen goes black.
    Workaround:
    Power the virtual machine off and on again. The virtual machine powers on and functions properly.

  • The Network Connection drop-down menu of a remote virtual machine cannot display the name of the distributed virtual switch port group
    When the remote virtual machine is configured to connect to a distributed virtual switch, the Network Connection drop-down menu cannot obtain the name of the distributed switch port group and therefore shows a blank entry item.
    Workaround: To determine which distributed switch port group the remote virtual machine is using or to configure the remote virtual machine to use a different distributed port group, use vCenter Server.

  • A Workstation 12 Pro installation might fail with an error message about privileges
    During installation, Workstation 12 Pro might issue the following error message as the installation fails:
    Service 'VMware Authorization Service' (VMAuthdService) failed to start. Verify that you have sufficient privileges to start system services.
    Workaround:

    1. Cancel the Workstation 12 Pro installation.
    2. Delete all files under the %TEMP% directory.
    3. Reboot the host.
    4. Install Workstation 12 Pro again.

  • Powering on a virtual machine after an upgrade to Workstation 12 Pro results in a vmci-driver-related error message that leaves the virtual machine unresponsive
    When you power on a virtual machine after upgrading to Workstation 12 Pro, you might encounter an error message, such as the following:

    Could not get vmci driver version: The handle is invalid. You have an incorrect version of driver 'vmci.sys'. Try reinstalling VMware Workstation. Module 'DevicePowerOn' power on failed. Failed to start the virtual machine.

    Workaround: Uninstall VMware Workstation Pro and install VMware Workstation Pro again.

  • On a Windows 7 virtual machine with a single processor core assigned, Word 2013 might hang when you insert tables

    Workaround:
    • The workaround for this issue after it occurs is to terminate the Word 2013 process manually in Task Manager.
    • The workaround to prevent the issue from occurring is to increase the number of processor cores.

  • When you run an application which requires OpenGL 3.X in a Linux virtual machine, the images appear blurry or an error message prevents the application from running
    When the kernel video driver (vmwgfx) version of the virtual machine is older than version 2.9, applications with OpenGL 3.x demands might display blurred images or present an error message informing you that the OpenGL version is too old.
    Workaround: Install vmwgfx version 2.9.

  • When you use a Windows 8.1 virtual machine on Workstation 12 Pro with an earlier hardware version, Microsoft office PowerPoint 2013 might not run smoothly
    This issue occurs on Workstation 12 Pro when you do not use the default hardware version, version 12, but use an earlier version, such as hardware version 10 or 11. After you install the VMware Tools bundle and reboot the system, you might encounter problems using Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2013 on an existing Windows 8.1 virtual machine. PowerPoint might respond slowly and display corrupt images.
    Workaround:
    Perform either of the following workarounds, according to your need and preference:

    • Upgrade the virtual machine to use hardware version 12.
    • To continue using the earlier hardware version, shutdown the virtual machine and disable 3D:
      1. Select VM > Settings.
      2. Click Display.
      3. Uncheck Accelerate 3D graphics.

  • After installing VMware Tools version 10.0.0 on a FreeBSD 10.x virtual machine, the guest might not shut down properly when performed from the Workstation Pro or Fusion interface
    When you install VMware Tools version 10.0.0 on a FreeBSD 10.x virtual machine, the VMware Tools service, vmtoolsd, might not launch. The VMware Tools service runs in the background and is responsible for a variety of operations. A symptom you might encounter is that the guest operating system does not shout down as intended when performed from the Workstation Pro or Fusion interface. For example, the first attempt to shutdown the guest from the interface might fail while the second attempt from the interface is converted into a virtual machine power off operation instead of a graceful shutdown.
    Workaround: Use the VMware Tools version included with a previous version of Workstation Pro or Fusion.

  • New Uploading a virtual machine larger than 10GB to VMware vCloud Air might fail
    Attempts to upload a virtual machine that is larger than 10GB to VMware vCloud Air might take several hours before failing, resulting in an error message.
    Workaround: None

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