Step-By-Step Procedure To Install CentOS Linux On VMWare Workstation

Let’s start with the acronym. CentOS stands for Community ENTerprise Linux Operating System, a well-known open-source Linux distribution managed by the RedHat Community. CentOS was first released back in May 2004 as CentOS v2. Later in January 2014, it was officially joined RedHat while staying independent from RHEL. However, now CentOS is recognized as an RHEL without official product support. You can use CentOS as an alternative to RHEL as both CentOS and RHEL share the same source code. Those who want to try RHEL can try CentOS. Before giving it a try, you should install it on your local machine. Instead of directly installing CentOS on your machine, we recommend installing CentOS Linux on VMWare Workstation.

CentOS Stream vs. CentOS Linux

In February 2021, RedHat made a big announcement on CentOS. Which led to some confusion within the Linux community for some time. RedHat announced that it would discontinue CentOS Linux as downstream to RHEL. Instead of that, it would continue the CentOS stream which is the upstream version of RHEL. This made some people presume that CentOS will no longer be available.

Both CentOS Linux and CentOS Streem are open-source Linux distros and part of the overall enterprise Linux ecosystem. CentOS is going to be the open-source development platform for upcoming releases of RHEL. Where CentOS Linux is the same open-source development platform derived from the source code of RHEL.

According to RedHat, the open-source development cycle of RHEL is:

Prerequisites To Install CentOS Linux On VMWare Workstation:

To install CentOs Linux on VMWare Workstation you just need a physical machine, VMWare Workstation Pro or Player, and CentOS ISO image.

How To Install CentOS Linux On VMWare Workstation?

Anyway, from the user front, if you just want to deploy CentOS, you really need to worry about either CentOS Linux or CentOS Stream. It’s just a matter of release time frame. Considering that we have created this post for those who want to try CentOS by installing it on VMWare Workstation. Let’s get started.

Step 1: Fier up VMWare Workstation

Download the VMWare Workstation application for your host operating system and install it on your machine. The installation procedure is pretty simple and straight. Read the documentation for more details. Open the app after installation. Create a new Virtual Machine.

Step 2: Select Custom Configuration Wizard

You can choose either Typical or Custom Wizard. We recommend selecting Custom if you want to install with all the configurations. If you are okay with default configurations then go ahead with Typical configurations.

Step 3: Select Virtual Machine Hardware Compatibilityrkstation

Go with the default option if you don’t have the choice.

Step 4: Select the Operating System Media

Select ‘I will install the operating system later’ for an interactive installation.

Step 5: Select Guest Operating System

Step 6: Name the Virtual Machine Name and location

Type a name and give the location details.

Step 7: Allocate the Processors

Assign the processors, Calculate the processor required to run the host machine. Assign the leftover resources to the virtual machine.

Step 8: Allocate the Memory for the Virtual Machine

Memory allocation calculation is the same as the processor allocation. Leave sufficient memory for the host system and allocate the remaining memory for the virtual machine.

Step 9: Choose the Network Configuration

Select any one of the network configurations as per your requirement.

Step 10: Select the I/O Controller Type

Step 11: Select Disk Type

Step 12: Select Virtual Disk

Select the Virtual Disk if you have or create one.

Step 13: Select Disk Capacity

Select the disk size. Selecting a single disk will increase the performance. However, selecting a split disk will help in the disk transfer scenario.

Step 14: Specify Virtual Disk File

Step 15: Create a Virtual Machine

Step 16: Supply centOS ISO Image to Virtual Machine

Download CentOS image. Edit the CD/DVD settings and import the downloaded Ubuntu image.

Step 17: Install CentOS on the VMWare Workstation

Step 18: Power On the Virtual Machine

Press the Play button to power on the Virtual Machine.

Step 19: Welcome the CentOS Virtual Machine

After initiating the installation. You will be treated with a welcome screen on which you will see the option to select the language. Select your language and click Continue.