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November 21, 2023
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Step-By-Step Procedure To Install CentOS Linux On VMWare Workstation


Step By Step Procedure To Install Centos Linux On Vmware Workstation

Lets 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:

  1. Fedora: The upstream project on which future Red Hat Enterprise Linux major releases are based.

  2. CentOS Stream: A preview of upcoming Red Hat Enterprise Linux minor versions.

  3. Red Hat Enterprise Linux: The official, hardened, and fully supported enterprise operating system product.

  4. CentOS Linux: A community-supported and -produced Linux distro derived from source code released by Red Hat.

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.

  1. A host system with minimum:

    • 8 GB of memory

    • A quad core CPU

    • 500 GB of Hard Drive

  2. VMWare Workstation Pro or Player application:0

  3. CentOS Operating System ISO image to install on VMWare Workstation.

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. Its 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. Lets 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 dont 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.

Step 20: Configure the required installation settings

Set the Keyboard, Language support Time and Date settings, Software package selections for installation, root password, Installation media, and disk partition information to proceed with the installation of CentOS.

Step 21: Partition the Disk

Select Erase the Disk for auto partition. Or Select the Advance option to create the custom partition.

Step 22: Set the root account password
Step 23: Begin Installation after setting up all the required settings

Step 24: Installation of CentOS is in Progress

Step 25: Reboot Virtual Machine

Reboot the machine after installation.

Step 26: Remove the installation media

Remove the installation media before rebooting.

Step 27: Read and accept the License Information and create a user account if needed.
Step 28: Create a user account.
Step 29: This will finish the configuration wizard

Click Finish Configuration to continue.

Step 30: Sign In with the user account
Step 31: Select Language

You will be treated with a screen to select the language. Select your language then click Next.

Step 32: Select your keyboard then click Next.
Step 33: Toggle Location Services either to ON or OFF as per your requirement.
Step 34: You can connect this VM to your online accounts. However, this is an optional step. We have skipped this in the demonstration.
Step 35: That’s all. Now, we are ready to go!!!
Step 36: Installation of CentOS is done on VMWare Workstation.

This is how you should install CentOS Linux on VMWare Workstation. We hope this tutorial post will help you install CentOS on the VMWare Workstation. Thanks for reading this post. Please share this post and help to secure the digital world. Visit our social media page on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Telegram, Tumblr, Medium & Instagram, and subscribe to receive updates like this.

Arun KL

Arun KL is a cybersecurity professional with 15+ years of experience in IT infrastructure, cloud security, vulnerability management, Penetration Testing, security operations, and incident response. He is adept at designing and implementing robust security solutions to safeguard systems and data. Arun holds multiple industry certifications including CCNA, CCNA Security, RHCE, CEH, and AWS Security.

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