Successful installation of VMware Workstation 12 and above
2019-08-08T08:45:00Z
I was recently made aware - thank you @dalto - the AUR package had improved a lot and I have succeed in getting my Workstation 12Pro running on Manjaro.
VMware - can I use it still applies and should be considered as Arch and Manjaro are not on the list of VMware supported operating systems but made available throught tiredless efforts of dedicated Arch users.
To build version 12
pamac build vmware-workstation12
Version 14
pamac build vmware-workstation14
Current version
pamac build vmware-workstation
My earlier statements and frustration with the package on Manjaro is gone at the moment. The notes below is kept for historical reason and for eventual trouble shooting.
Conclusion
Thank you @dalto for bringing this to my attention 
Old notes
Summary
Please note that some of the notes maybe outdated so handle with care as they were created for the VMware 12Pro release
- VMware Workstation Pro 12.5.x (commercial evaluation)
- VMware Workstation Player Pro 12.5.x (free for non-commercial use)
init.d
VMware relies on the init.d folder which is not a part of Manjaros requirements so before you start your vmware installer create the folder
sudo mkdir /etc/init.d
Kernel headers
Ensure you have headers installed for your kernel e.g. kernel49
sudo pacman -S linux49-headers
VMware installer
Download the latest installer from vmware.com - substitute the filename with the actual bundled installer
chmod +x VMware-Player-VERSION-ID.ARCH.bundle
sudo ./VMware-Player-VERSION-ID.ARCH.bundle
systemd
For vmware product to launch it is required to load vmware daemon. This is done by executing
sudo /etc/init.d/vmware
This can automated by installing the vmware-systemd-services package from AUR
yaourt -S vmware-systemd-services
When installed start the service and enable it to run at boot time
sudo systemctl start vmware
sudo systemctl enable vmware
Kernel modules
VMware needs modules compiled with your kernel headers. Normally this compilation is handled automatically when lauching the main vmplayer / vmware wrapper but in rare cases it has to be done manually.
sudo vmware-modconfig --console --install-all
Every time your kernel is updated you need the kernel headers for the new kernel. Manjaro normally takes care of that part.
Warning
Be aware that updating your kernel might break your VMware installation. Compatibility issues has been seen with several kernel updates.
Launch from terminal
VMware Workstation
vmware &
VMware Workstation Player
vmplayer &
Troubleshooting
Continued from VMWare Will not start
Symptoms versions 12.5.3 - 12.5.4 - 12.5.5
Vmware refuses to launch and services are not working
Starting VMware services:
Virtual machine monitor --------------------------------- failed
Virtual machine communication interface ------------ done
VM communication interface socket family ---------- done
Blocking file system --------------------------------------- done
Virtual ethernet --------------------------------------------- failed
VMware Authentication Daemon ------------------------ done
Vmware refuses to launch even all services running
# /etc/init.d/vmware stop
Stopping VMware services:
VMware Authentication Daemon done
VM communication interface socket family done
Virtual machine communication interface done
Virtual machine monitor done
Blocking file system done
# /etc/init.d/vmware start
Starting VMware services:
Virtual machine monitor done
Virtual machine communication interface done
VM communication interface socket family done
Blocking file system done
Virtual ethernet done
VMware Authentication Daemon done
Shared Memory Available done
Linker dynamic path
Source VMware Community
The dynamic linker cannot find the right version of libcurl.so.4
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libcurl.so.4:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH
vmware &
Adding it to your .bashrc or .zshrc script won't do any good as you can still not launch vmware from its desktop file.
Source Danish Technical University
Further research seems to indicate that a user-wide LD_LIBRARY_PATH should be avoided as it can pollute your environment. It seems vmware have 'forgot' the path to the linked library libcurl.so.4
The better approach is to edit the vmware / vmplayer wrappers and add the export in it. This approach will expose only to the wrapper the LD_LIBRARY_PATH
Edit vmware wrappers
$ sudo nano /usr/bin/vmware
$ sudo nano /usr/bin/vmplayer
edited content
#!/usr/bin/env bash
#
# Copyright 2005-2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.
#
# Wrapper for the real 'vmware' binary. Ensure that the
# binary will find all the shared libraries it needs. If a shared
# library is not available from any of the standard system-wide
# locations, we provide it from the location where the VMware software
# is installed.
#
set -e
ETCDIR=/etc/vmware
. $ETCDIR/bootstrap
# for for missing library
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/lib/vmware/lib/libcurl.so.4:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH
----------<snipped away
This works as of versions 12.5.3 - 12.5.4 - 12.5.5 and you can launch vmware / vmplayer from console and from desktopfile. Later releases from VMware might have their own solution to this issue.
