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đź“Ą Import from VMware Fusion

Bring a Windows or Linux virtual machine from VMware Fusion into VirtualProg, with its apps, files and settings. VirtualProg copies the VM's disks into a new VM of the same kind; the Fusion VM is only read and stays as it is. VMware Fusion doesn't need to be installed.

Import from VMware Fusion

These Fusion VMs can be imported:

Fusion VM Becomes
Windows 11 (ARM) A Windows VM
Linux (ARM64) A Linux VM

VMs made on an Intel Mac can't be imported. On a Mac with Apple silicon, Fusion doesn't run macOS VMs.

Before you import

  • The import is tested with VMs made in VMware Fusion 26. If a VM was made with an earlier version, open it in the latest Fusion first, so that it is updated, to avoid import problems.
  • In Fusion, shut the VM down. A VM that is running or suspended can't be imported safely.
  • Windows: if BitLocker (device encryption) is on, have the recovery key ready, or turn BitLocker off in Windows first. You find the key at aka.ms/myrecoverykey. Make sure you know your Windows password: the PIN and fingerprint stop working after the import.

Import

  1. Choose Tools → Import from VMware Fusion… in the Control Center, or right-click a VM and choose Import From → VMware Fusion….
  2. Select the .vmwarevm VM. The window opens in Fusion's folder (~/Virtual Machines). To import several, select them all, or select the folder that holds them.
  3. Check the name, and change the processors and memory if you like. With several VMs, each has a row; untick the ones to leave out. VMs that can't be imported are listed with the reason.
  4. Read the notes.
  5. Choose the Disk Type (macOS 26 or later; older macOS offers only Fixed):
    • Dynamic (recommended): an ASIF disk, like new VMs get. It takes only the space the VM uses.
    • Fixed: a raw disk. It only grows, even when the VM frees space.
  6. Check the free space line below the disk types, then click Import.

Only the used part of the disk is copied, so the new disk takes about as much space as it did in Fusion. Disks split into several files are imported like single-file disks.

Importing several VMs

Several VMs are imported one after another, each row showing its progress. If one fails, the others still import. Cancel stops the VM being copied and skips the rest; the VMs already imported stay. When the import ends, each row shows its result, and Try Again imports the VMs that failed or were skipped.

After the import

Windows

  1. Start the VM. If Windows asks for the BitLocker recovery key, enter it.
  2. Sign in with your password, then set up the PIN and fingerprint again in Settings > Accounts > Sign-in options.
  3. Install Guest Tools: click Attach Disks in the VM window's toolbar, choose Install Guest Tools, then run install.cmd on the VirtualProgTools drive. Networking works only after this step.
  4. If you like, uninstall VMware Tools in Settings > Apps > Installed apps.
  5. If Windows says it isn't activated, follow Settings > System > Activation.

Linux

Start the VM. It gets the default (NAT) network with a new adapter, so the network interface has a new name; desktop distros connect on their own. If a server install uses a fixed interface name in /etc/netplan or similar, change it to the new one (ip link shows it).

What is imported

Imported Not imported
The disks, as they are now (single or split VMDK) CD/DVD images
Processors (up to your Mac's), memory TPM contents (Windows sees a new TPM)
The distro, from the guest OS type or EFI partition (Linux) Shared folders, USB and display settings
The network adapter's MAC address (Windows) The network adapter (Linux gets a new one)
Fusion's EFI variables (.nvram)

Limitations

  • Only ARM64 VMs made on a Mac with Apple silicon can be imported.
  • A Linux VM needs the fallback boot loader EFI/BOOT/BOOTAA64.EFI on its EFI partition. If it's missing, run sudo grub-install --removable in the VM in Fusion, shut it down, then import it again.
  • VMs with snapshots and linked clones can't be imported. Delete the snapshots in Fusion (Virtual Machine > Snapshots) first; your changes stay in the VM.
  • Fully encrypted VMs can't be imported. Windows 11 VMs that encrypt only the TPM files (Fusion's default) can.
  • Compressed disks (as in exported OVA files) and disks outside the .vmwarevm can't be imported.