https://gns3.com/community/discussion/gns3-doesn-t-work-on-vmware-play

swered Question
GNS3 doesn’t work on VMWARE player 15 ?

Hi guys,

today I try to install GNS3 on new VMWARE player 15 with VIX 1.17 but it doesn’t work.

This is the error:

Can you help me ?

Thanks you very much!

Operating System: Windows 10
GNS3 Software Version: 2.1.11
1 Person likes this
BY Lorenzo Ognibene
October 3rd, 2018
By Vishal Mane
October 3rd, 2018

1. Make sure that GNS3 VM starts automatically as soon as you open GNS3 software. If not start GNS3 VM manually from vmware player and then open GNS3 software.

2. Check proper IP host binding address in preferences.
   1 person likes this
   By Lorenzo Ognibene
   October 3rd, 2018

I have tried but it doesn’t still work…
By Jeremy Grossmann
October 4th, 2018

You must install VIX version 1.17: https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/details?downloadGroup=PLAYER-1400-VIX1170&productId=734
2 people like this
By Lorenzo Ognibene
October 4th, 2018
Hi Jeremy,
I’m sorry but I have installed VIX 1.17
By Jeremy Grossmann
October 4th, 2018

What do you see when you run vmrun.exe from cmd.exe? The version should be seen in the output:

“C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware VIX\vmrun.exe”

Then try to start the GNS3 VM using vmrun:

“C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware VIX\vmrun.exe” -T player start “C:\Users\OGNLOR\Documents\Virtual Machines\GNS3 VM\GNS3 VM.vmx”
By Lorenzo Ognibene
October 4th, 2018

I see “Unable to connect to host” Error: the specified version was not found"
By Jeremy Grossmann
October 4th, 2018

What is the content of “vixwrapper-config.txt” in the VIX install directory (C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware VIX) ?
By Lorenzo Ognibene
October 4th, 2018
#@Version-Info

VixAllProducts revision mapping

This file translates product version specifications into the appropriate Vix

implementations.

Each @Version-Info line has 5 white-space seperated entries:

provider-type: ws, esx, viserver, etc

apiVersion: the apiVersion supported, as passed in from VixHost_Connect()

ipc-type: none, vmdb, vmodl, cim

product-version: the product version string

implementation-directory: the path to the library that implements the

version described by the first 4 parameters

The configuration is based on the first 4 fields, which describe

the product. The 5th field is the location. To force it to try

multiple location, the same configuration can be repeated. Note that

list is built in LIFO order, so the latest entry in the configuration

will be the first used. If for some reason that value fails, it will

continue through any other matches.

Workstation 14.0.0

ws 19 vmdb 14.0.0 Workstation-14.0.0
player 19 vmdb 14.0.0 Workstation-14.0.0

latest un-versioned

ws 19 vmdb e.x.p Workstation-14.0.0
player 19 vmdb e.x.p Workstation-14.0.0

EOF

By Jeremy Grossmann
October 4th, 2018

Looks like VIX is stuck on VMware 14… Try to uninstall both VIX and VMware player. Then reinstall VMware player and finish with VIX.
By Lorenzo Ognibene
October 4th, 2018
I try but it doesn’t change. I try to modifiy the file as yours but it doesn’t work.
By Jeremy Grossmann
October 4th, 2018

What is the content of open_source_licenses.txt in VIX install directory? I just need the first few lines.

Thanks!
By Lorenzo Ognibene
October 4th, 2018
open_source_license.txt

VMware VIX API 1.17.0 GA
By Lorenzo Ognibene
October 4th, 2018
I have uninstalled VMware Player and VIX also files with regedit and then I reinstalled all but it doesn’t change
By Jeremy Grossmann
October 4th, 2018

I have installed VMware Player and VIX from scratch and now I get the same issue as you. I can see these entries in vixwrapper-config.txt.

Workstation 14.0.0

ws 19 vmdb 14.0.0 Workstation-14.0.0
player 19 vmdb 14.0.0 Workstation-14.0.0

latest un-versioned

ws 19 vmdb e.x.p Workstation-14.0.0
player 19 vmdb e.x.p Workstation-14.0.0

It looks like the standalone VIX 1.17 version doesn’t support VMware Workstation Player 15 😦

However when I install VMware Workstation Pro 15, a VIX directory is also installed which contains a directory named “Workstation-15.0.0” and the correct entries in vixwrapper-config.txt. The open_source_license.txt files also shows VMware VIX API 1.17.0 GA. My guess is that this is a completely different build that the standalone version. Thanks to VMware to make our like easier!

C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware Workstation>vmrun.exe

vmrun version 1.17.0 build-10134415

What is your build number?
By Arjun Bhandari
November 19th, 2018
I am having the same problem. Please help!
By Jeremy Grossmann
October 4th, 2018

For information, here is the content of my vixwrapper-config.txt file (I have Workstation Pro 15 installed)

#@Version-Info

VixAllProducts revision mapping

This file translates product version specifications into the appropriate Vix

implementations.

Each @Version-Info line has 5 white-space seperated entries:

provider-type: ws, esx, viserver, etc

apiVersion: the apiVersion supported, as passed in from VixHost_Connect()

ipc-type: none, vmdb, vmodl, cim

product-version: the product version string

implementation-directory: the path to the library that implements the

version described by the first 4 parameters

The configuration is based on the first 4 fields, which describe

the product. The 5th field is the location. To force it to try

multiple location, the same configuration can be repeated. Note that

list is built in LIFO order, so the latest entry in the configuration

will be the first used. If for some reason that value fails, it will

continue through any other matches.

Workstation 15.0.0

ws 19 vmdb 15.0.0 Workstation-15.0.0
player 19 vmdb 15.0.0 Workstation-15.0.0

latest un-versioned

ws 19 vmdb e.x.p Workstation-15.0.0
player 19 vmdb e.x.p Workstation-15.0.0

EOF

By James Allez
October 11th, 2018
Hi is it possible if you could help me solve my similiar problem of this over Teamviewer sometime? I’ve been trying for days to resolve my issue. Would much appreciate it.
By Arjun Bhandari
November 19th, 2018
Solved! I uninstalled Workstation Player 15 and installed 14 and VIX 1.17. It’s working now.
By Trent Lawrence
December 19th, 2018
Support over Teamviewer? Is there a premium support package that includes remote support by the GNS3 developer that I wasn’t aware of?
By Jeremy Grossmann
October 4th, 2018

This is the VMware VIX directory I get when installing VMware Workstation Pro 15:

One solution could be for you to install the trial version of VMware Workstation Pro 15, backup the VIX directory and vmrun.exe (in the Workstation directory), then uninstall the Pro version and install Player + VIX and finally copy backed up files to the standalone VIX directory.
4 people like this
By Lorenzo Ognibene
October 4th, 2018
Thank you very much Jeremy!
This is the correct solution for my problem ! Now It works.
By Peter Bass
October 19th, 2018
I did not have this issue but I have another issue with GNS3 (the latest version) and VMware pro 15. I am not able to get my VMs imported into GNS3 work with my network devices. Network devices and ping each other, I downloaded a windows appliance from GNS3 and that would ping network devices fine but VMware VMs would not.
By Ryan Emfinger
October 21st, 2018
I recently also ran into the problem with the VMware Workstation player not working, but after following the above example my VM loaded with GNS3 like it’s supposed to and now I can finally start using this software for Labs. So thanks for the Workaround, Jeremy!
By izzinwa izzinwa
October 24th, 2018
when you copy the VIX directory and vmrun.exe to the VMWARE VIX folder, are you replacing the files already in there?
please clarify on the copying “finally copy backed up files to the standalone VIX directory”

thanks
By Ernest Louie
November 1st, 2018
I just installed VMware Player 15 and VIX 1.15 and am getting same type of error:
Error while saving settings: GNS3VM: Error while executing VMware command: vmrun has returned an error: Unable to connect to host.
Error: The specified version was not found

Now… I believe the VMware Pro is NOT free, correct?
By G. T.
November 2nd, 2018
Hello Jeremy,

so I tried this method back and forth and I couldn’t get it to work. Is there anything else you did to make it work? @Ernest: You are absolutely right! VMware Pro 15 is NOT free, yat interestingly it is working like a charm… It´s something about the VIX API wich is preventing VMware Player from working. Anyone else have an idea?
By Ernest Louie
November 3rd, 2018
@G.T. : Yes, I resolved my issue by:

1. Uninstalling VMware Player 15.
2. Unistalled VIX.
3. Downloaded VMware Player 14 and installed it.
4. Downloaded VIX 1.17 (per the link that Jeremy provided above [You must install VIX version 1.17: https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/details?downloadGroup=PLAYER-1400-VIX1170&productId=734].
5. Player 15 may have worked as well, because the VIX version I had initially installed was v1.15 instead of v1.17 that is recommended by Jeremy. BTW - Thanks Jeremy for all you do!!!

By G. T.
November 6th, 2018
Hello again,
after trying for about a week I finally decided to actually buy VMware Worstation Pro 15 (I can put it to good use in other projects). As I said before, I have tested VMware Workstation Pro 15 trial in GNS3 2.1.11 and it worked like a charm. The suggested method of backing up the VIX directory from VMware Pro and using it with VMware Player and VIX API 1.17 didn’t work. So the solution is either to downgrade to VMware Player 14 or to upgrade to the Workstation Pro version. At least for now…
By Liam Eastwood
November 14th, 2018
I’ve spent countless hours trying to fix what seems like a simple problem. What worked for me was to:

1. Download and install VMware Workstation Pro.
2. Open file location of the program and go back to the VMware folder and copy VIX that was installed alongside Workstation Pro to the desktop.
3. Uninstall Workstation Pro and install Workstation Player 15.
4. Install VIX 1.17 and open file location.
5. Copy over VIX files from desktop folder to the recently installed VIX and opt to replace any already existing files and then proceed to set up GNS3.
   By Jamaal Bailey
   January 8th, 2019
   Thank you all for your feedback. I was finally able to get GNS3 to work with VMware Player 14 after about 2 days of messing around with it by uninstalling version 15 and making sure to have Vix 1.17 installed along with it. Thanks again.
   By Kirill Orlov
   April 15th, 2019
   Thank you so muuuuch!!! you saved my night!!
   By Michael Audet
   November 24th, 2018

Workstation Player 14:
https://my.vmware.com/en/web/vmware/free#desktop_end_user_computing/vmware_workstation_player/14_0|PLAYER-1415|product_downloads

VIX: 1.17.0
https://my.vmware.com/en/web/vmware/free#desktop_end_user_computing/vmware_workstation_player/14_0|PLAYER-1415|drivers_tools

Note:
The original VIX tools URL that is recommended is not correct as it only shows version 15 (not 17 which is required with player 14):
https://www.vmware.com/support/developer/vix-api/

4 people like this
By OYEDELE OYELEYE
December 30th, 2018
I had the same problem and i followed the instructions. It worked like magic. Thanks
By Kirill Orlov
April 15th, 2019
Thank you! Works great!
By Ryan Caputo
May 24th, 2019
You can also use vix 1.17.0 with Workstation Player 15 by changing the vixwrapper-config.txt
from

ws 19 vmdb 14.0.0 Workstation-14.0.0
player 19 vmdb 14.0.0 Workstation-14.0.0

latest un-versioned

ws 19 vmdb e.x.p Workstation-14.0.0
player 19 vmdb e.x.p Workstation-14.0.0

to

ws 19 vmdb 15.1.0 Workstation-14.0.0
player 19 vmdb 15.1.0 Workstation-14.0.0

latest un-versioned

ws 19 vmdb e.x.p Workstation-14.0.0
player 19 vmdb e.x.p Workstation-14.0.0
By Camilo Castro
July 1st, 2019
Thank you Ryan Caputo, when using 15.1.0 with VIX 1.17; changing the vixwrapper-config.txt to:

ws 19 vmdb 15.1.0 Workstation-14.0.0
player 19 vmdb 15.1.0 Workstation-14.0.0

latest un-versioned

ws 19 vmdb e.x.p Workstation-14.0.0
player 19 vmdb e.x.p Workstation-14.0.0

Worked for me, Kudos!!

Thank you again.
By A Tafilaj
July 3rd, 2019
instaled a fresh copy of gns3 2.2.0b3 with WMware workstation 15 player 15.1.0 build-13591040.
Instaled VIX version 1.17
changed vixwrapper-config:

Workstation 15.1.0

ws 19 vmdb 15.1.0 Workstation-15.1.0
player 19 vmdb 15.1.0 Workstation-15.1.0

latest un-versioned

ws 19 vmdb e.x.p Workstation-15.1.0
player 19 vmdb e.x.p Workstation-15.1.0

Renamed the folder:
C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware VIX\Workstation-14.0.0
to
C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware VIX\Workstation-15.1.0

Working now
By Pranav Tilekar
November 26th, 2018
Hello All,

Workstation Player 15 worked for me with the above approach. But when I restarted PC or switched on PC next day. GNS3VM starts when I start GNS3, but GNS3 VM remains greyed , does not turn to green.
By Adam Knutson
November 30th, 2018
Once again, GNS3 proves painful to install. I was getting my hopes up because the install instructions seem to have improved.

Liam Eastwood’s solution for this VIX/VMware problem worked for me.
By Trent Lawrence
December 19th, 2018
“Once again, GNS3 proves painful to install.”

As a VIRL subscriber, I’m appreciative of how easy and strait forward the installation process has been, and continues to be, particularly compared to the alternative. When I upgrade my version of VMware to 15, and the functionality breaks my installation, I’ll inform the few developers who work on this free project, of the issue, support them any way I can in pinpointing the bug by copying relevant configs. And then thank them for all their hard work in continuing to make GNS3 installation and operation smooth and well maintained.

But hey, that’s just me.
By MK IV
December 17th, 2018
Does this thread basically mean that it just doesn’t work in Player 15 at all? I’m having a different issue, there is no error or red text in GNS3 GUI, but the GNS3 VM stays grayed out and says “Starting” forever. VMWare Player does launch automatically when GNS3 launches, the VM even starts and makes it all the way to the splash screen that displays the VM’s IP Address, but in the GNS3 GUInothing ever changes. GNS3 VM stays grayed out and says that it is “starting.”

I tried doing it through the setup wizard, but then it infinitely cycles on “Waiting” when it tries to pull in the VM. I suppose I should just try it out with Player 14 and VIX 1.17.0?
By MK IV
December 17th, 2018
So I decided to just try it out rather than waiting for a reply. I got Player 14 and VIX 1.17 from the links Michael Audet provided above. Lo and behold less than 10 minutes later, good to go. Worked like a charm!

You should please update the GNS3 Documentation to reflect the correct versions of VMWare Player and VIX to install.

Thanks a bunch community!
By Jeremy Grossmann
December 21st, 2018

For those who want to buy Workstation Pro 15, we have a 20% discount just for GNS3 users: https://gns3.com/marketplace/software/workstation-pro-15

Please use VMware workstation Player 14 and VIX 1.17 if you want a completely free solution. VMware workstation Player 15 is NOT recommended at the moment because VMware hasn’t released a compatible VIX API version.
By ahmed alshawaf
December 27th, 2018
I think GNS3 is the most silly application I used , ensp for huawei is more reliable and fast
By Mark Ross
January 1st, 2019
Tried toggling the headless checkbox in preferences?

Also there is a related thread at https://communities.vmware.com/thread/601168

HTH
By Rob Bonney
May 27th, 2019
I spent a week installing and error checking…all I needed to do was use player 14! please could someone put that on the install guide. Thanks for the info. Now to learn about networking and not more VMware debug!
By Rich D
May 28th, 2019

I have GNS3 2.18 running with VMWare Player 15.1 but I had to use the Main Server option (local NOT enabled) with Auth and gns3/gns3 - rather than GSN3 VM. This option doesn’t use the VIX API AFAIK but I’m not sure if that makes a difference (if using main server). I’m new to using GNS3 so maybe it is only makes a difference with advanced use-cases? I know I have to manually start the VM before starting GNS3 but that is the only difference I know of.

I also just tried the 2.2a3 version with Hyper-V and again I had to make tweaks - i.e. I would get random IPs with “Default Switch” so I chose my own custom switch (external) so it used DHCP and I set a reserved IP. I then used Main server (using that reserved IP) with auth and gns3/gns3 and it works. I can save configs, reboot, and everything still works so I don’t know why using the GNS3 VM option is better.
By Braulio Cirilo
June 19th, 2019
Installed VMware 14 and VIx 1.17 and it fixed the same issue for me. thank you!
By Colin Buley
June 21st, 2019
Hi Guys [new poster] here…
I have been running vmware v15 / gns3 v2.1.21 / never touched VIX!!!
All working together like good little boys but still in noobie learning mode.

Regards Colin
By Jeremy Grossmann
June 22nd, 2019
VIX is only needed for VMware workstation player. Please let us know if we missed something 😉
By Colin Buley
June 24th, 2019
I am sorry for keep putting my foot in my mouth in these posts but since I have never used player I keep forgetting it exists for those that have used it from the beginning.

Regards Colin
By Jeremy Grossmann
June 24th, 2019
No worries 😃
This answers the question
By Rich D
June 25th, 2019
I never saw any replies to my post about using VMWare player 15.1 and the main server option (not local) and putting in the IP address. What functionality loss could I expect using that setup - other than having to manually start it, etc.? I haven’t had much time to spend with it yet and will probably even start working with V2.2 and Hyper-v as soon as it is out of beta.
By Jeremy Grossmann
June 25th, 2019
Hi,

There is no functionality loss using VMWare Player 15.1 and the main server option, I actually recommend it if you don’t need to run any node on your host OS. The only advantage of using the GNS3 VM feature in the preferences is the auto start/shutdown of the VM and also it is easier to share your projects with other users who use the GNS3 VM.

Regarding version 2.2, please note we currently have issues with Hyper-V when running IOU: https://github.com/GNS3/gns3-gui/issues/2815