Software Update: VMware Workstation Player 15.5.5

VMware has released version 15.5.5 Workstation Player. Player is free software to create and run virtual machines. However, a fee is charged for commercial use. Simply put, it is a simplified implementation of other VMware products, such as Workstation Pro, Server, and ESX Server. Microsoft Virtual PC virtual machines and Symantec LiveState Recovery disks are also supported. In addition, several pre-installed virtual machines can be installed via this page are downloaded, such as Debian, Ubuntu, and Fedora. In version 15.5.5, support for Microsoft virtualization-based security has been added and some issues have been fixed.

What’s New

• Windows 10 host VBS support: VMware Workstation 15.5.5 now runs on Windows hosts with Hyper-V features (For example: virtualization based security) enabled.
  The followings are minimum requirement to run VMware Workstation on a Hyper-V enabled host:
  • CPU Requirements:
    • Intel Sandy Bridge or a newer CPU
    • AMD Bulldozer or a newer CPU
  • Supported Host Operating Systems:
    • Windows 10 20H1 build 19041.264 or newer
  • Support for new Guest Operating Systems:
    • Windows 10 20H1
    • Ubuntu 20.04
    • Fedora 32
  • Support for new Host Operation Systems:
    • Windows 10 20H1
    • Ubuntu 20.04

Resolved Issues

• The Windows Operation System stops working without any message and freezes when some USB devices is connected to the VM. This issue is now resolved.
• Using a multi-byte character Virtual Network name in the Virtual Network Editor, crashes the Workstation and the Virtual Network Editor UI and makes them un-launchable. This issue is now resolved.

Known Issues

• VMware Workstation 15.5.5 installation fails on a Windows Host which doesn’t have SHA-2 code signing support
  Workstation installation on a Widows Host fails with an error and the changes are rolled back. Microsoft have changed Windows driver signing to use the SHA-2 algorithm exclusively and starting from September 2019, legacy Windows systems without SHA-2 code signing support will fail the driver signature verification.
  For more information, see this article.
• Virtual machines with a bridged type network connection doesn’t bind its network to the host’s physical network adapter
  By deafult, the Workstation’s Bridged Network selects a host’s network adapter automatically to bind. If the host system has a virtual network adapter (For example: Microsoft Loopback Adapter, Hypver-V Virtual Ethernet Adapter, etc.), sometimes the Bridged Network will bind to these virtual network adapters instead of physical network adapter.
  For a standalone Player, disable automatic binding and assign the physical network adapter to the Bridged Network by performing the following steps:
  • Open the Virtual Machine Settings by navigating to Player UI > Manage > Virtual Machine Settings.
  • Click Network Adapter and select Bridged.
  • Click Configure Adapters and only select the check box next to the physical network adapter’s name.
  • Click OK to save.