Install Windows 11 on a Virtual Machine in Workstation

Installing Windows 11 on a virtual machine is similar to installing Windows 11 on a physical computer. When you create a virtual machine with Windows 11 as the guest operating system, Workstation Pro adds vTPM (virtual Trusted Platform Module) to the virtual machine.

You create a new virtual machine on the local host system by running the New Virtual Machine wizard.

Note: After you complete the installation of the Windows 11 operating system, we recommend that you do not remove the encryption or the vTPM device from the virtual machine for a seamless experience of using Windows 11.

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

Prerequisites

Verify that you have the information the New Virtual Machine wizard requires to create a virtual machine.
See the VMware Guest Operating System Installation Guide for information about the guest operating system that you plan to install.
If you are installing the guest operating system from an installer disc, insert the installer disc in the CD-ROM drive in the host system.
If you are installing the guest operating system from an ISO image file, verify that the ISO image file is in a directory that is accessible to the host system.
If the virtual machine will use a physical disk or unused partition on the host system, perform the appropriate preparation tasks.

Procedure

Start the New Virtual Machine wizard.

Option	Description
Windows host	Select File > New Virtual Machine.
Linux host	Select File > New Virtual Machine.

Select the configuration type and click Next.

Option	Description
Typical	The wizard prompts you to specify or accept defaults for basic virtual machine settings. The typical configuration type is appropriate in most instances.
Custom	You must select the custom configuration type to make a different virtual machine version than the default hardware compatibility setting, specify the I/O adapter type for SCSI adapters, specify whether to create an IDE, SCSI, SATA, or NVMe virtual disk, use a physical disk instead of a virtual disk, use an existing virtual disk, or allocate all virtual disk space rather than let disk space gradually grow to the maximum disk size.

Option

Description

Typical

The wizard prompts you to specify or accept defaults for basic virtual machine settings. The typical configuration type is appropriate in most instances.

Custom

You must select the custom configuration type to make a different virtual machine version than the default hardware compatibility setting, specify the I/O adapter type for SCSI adapters, specify whether to create an IDE, SCSI, SATA, or NVMe virtual disk, use a physical disk instead of a virtual disk, use an existing virtual disk, or allocate all virtual disk space rather than let disk space gradually grow to the maximum disk size.

If you selected the Custom option, select a hardware compatibility setting.
The hardware compatibility setting determines the hardware features of the virtual machine.

Select the source of the guest operating system.

Option	Description
Installer disc	Select the physical drive where you inserted the installation disc.
Installer disc image file (iso)	Type or browse to the location of the ISO image file for the guest operating system.
Install the guest operating system later	Create a virtual machine that has a blank disk. You must install the guest operating system manually after you create the virtual machine.

Select the guest operating system as Windows 11 x64, and then click Next.
Type a name for the virtual machine, specify the location of the directory for the virtual machine files, and then click Next.
Select an encryption type, enter a password for the encryption, and then click Next.
You can choose to encrypt all the files, or only the minimum needed files to support the vTPM device.
Note: You can specify a password of your choice or select the Generate option to automatically generate a password. To copy the password to the clipboard, click Copy. You can also select the option to remember the encryption password. For a Windows host operating system, Microsoft Credential Manager stores the password. For a Linux host operating system, GNOME libsecret library stores the password.
Follow the prompts to configure the virtual machine.
If you selected a typical configuration, the wizard prompts you to configure the virtual disk size and specify whether the disk should be split into multiple files. If you selected a custom configuration, the wizard prompts you to configure the firmware type, virtual machine processors, memory allocation, networking configuration, I/O controller types, virtual disk type and mode, and virtual disk.
Note: For the firmware type, if you select UEFI and if the guest operating system supports UEFI Secure Boot, you can select the option to enable UEFI Secure Boot.
(Optional) Click Customize Hardware to customize the hardware configuration.
You can also modify virtual hardware settings after you create the virtual machine.
(Optional) Select Power on this virtual machine after creation to power on the virtual machine after you create it.
This option is not available if you are installing the guest operating system manually.
Click Finish to create the virtual machine.

Results

The virtual machine appears in the library.

What to do next

Workstation Pro creates the new virtual machine and user can install the operating system by following the installation instructions.