Some Linux distributions do not grant a virtual machine access to the lp and parport devices by default. If this is the case on your Linux host system, you must add the VMware user to the group that has permission to access those devices.

Procedure

  1. On the Linux host system, use the ls command to determine the owner and group for the device.
    For example: ls –la /dev/parport0
    The third and fourth columns of the output show the owner and group, respectively. In most cases, the owner of the device is root and the associated group is lp.
  2. To add the user to the device group, become root and open the /etc/group file in a text editor.
  3. On the line that defines the lp group, add the Workstation Pro username.
    For example: lp::7:daemon,lp,workstation_username

Results

The changes take effect the next time the user logs in to the host system.