Why VMWare Player missing the vmnetcfg.exe utility and where to get it?

Question

vmnetcfg.exe is required when you want to configure multiple network interfaces (e.g. one local and one wireless) in the same machine.

But where is it?

UPDATE This question was originally for version 3.1.1 but apparently VMWare still hasn't fixed this, as recently as version 7.x. Updated answers are found below my original one.

Solution 1

UPDATED: 8/22/2018

The VMware Player 14 doesn't contain vmnetcfg.exe. You need to extract it from the VMware Workstation 14 full version. The folder names and location of it has changed.

Firstly extract the MSI from the VMware-workstation-full-14*.exe:

1. Launch your .exe file.
2. When you see the first prompt do not click anything in this window and do not close it.
3. Open Windows Explorer, type %temp% in the address bar and press Enter.
4. Sort the files in the folder by the modification date. The newest file on the list should be the .msi file you are looking for.
5. Copy the MSI file to a safe location before you close the exe or window.

Secondly extract workstation.cab from this MSI using 7zip:

6. Right-click on the .MSI file and from the shortcut menu choose 7-Zip > Open Archive.
7. Extract Workstation.cab
8. Copy the vmnetcfg.exe and place into your VMware player installation folder. (C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware Player)

Solution 2

A bug in the installer prevents the installation of the tool vmnetcfg.exe

Run setup again like this from Command Prompt (CMD):

VMware-player-3.1.1-282343.exe /e .\vmplayer

In vmplayer subdir you will find network.cab - extract it in explorer or 7zip, then find vmnetcfg.exe and copy to c:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware Player

I ran into this problem several times before and found the answer in some obscure forum. Figure I'd post the answer here for others and also for me in case I need it again :)

Solution 3

Update (VMWare Player 12):

It's possible to extract vmnetcfg.exe from the VM Workstation installer using 7Zip File Manager.

1. Install 7Z (http://www.7-zip.org/a/7z1604-x64.exe)
2. Download VMWare Workstation Installer (something like VMware-workstation-full-12.5.2-4638234.exe)
3. Using 7z File Manager, open the installer (right-click, "open inside").
4. Now open Core.cab
5. There lies vmnetcfg.exe. Extract it to C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware Player

Solution 4

For the VMware7 version you need to use VMware-workstation-full-11.1.x where the last number is the same of your VMplayer7.

I found a way in this guide:

http://www.blasterspike.it/2015/10/07/use-the-virtual-network-editor-in-vmware-player-7/

the files are iside of 'vmwareworkstation.msi' that appear like an application but it's an archive.

From the guide:

Open a prompt command, go to the directory where you have the installation package and extract the content with

VMware-workstation-full-12.0.0-2985596.exe /extract .\vmware

All files will be extracted into a vmware directory. Inside here you will find a package called vmwareworkstation.msi.
Extract it using 7-Zip. Enter the extracted directory and extract Core.cab.
Go inside the extract directory and you will find vmnetcfg.exe
Now copy this file into your VMware Player diretory, like

C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware Player

Now you can open it and edit your interfaces.

Solution 5

UPDATED: 30/JUN/2015

• For VMware Player 6.x, you need both vmnetcfglib.dll and vmnetcfg.exe
• For VMware Player 7.x, you only need vmnetcfg.exe.
• You may follow this "step-by-step" tutorial, which also includes download links, in order to further simplify the explanation.

View more solutions

Comments

[Clinton Pierce]

In 4.0.2 the network.cab file has 0 length.

[Gabe Moothart]

Worked for me, using 4.0.2

[sascha]

Tried with 4.0.2 and it does not start for me ... on Win7 x64

[q-codes]

To be clear, you need to download VMWare Workstation Pro. The 'free version' does not have vmnetcfg.exe (you do have to register for pro, but its free to download as well).

[Nagev]

For VMWare Workstation 14 the file now resides in Workstation.cab

[Mustafa]

With Workstation version 15 the msi file can be found ini a folder under %temp%. in My case it was {431EEEDD-6D71-4269-8F7F-836CFAF69A17}~setup but it could vary.

[Mustafa]

Then extract Workstation.cab to find vmnetcfg.exe

[FranzHuber23]

Just one question: Copy vmnetcfg.exe to the installation folder before running the msi installer or after?

[FranzHuber23]

I got this error: abload.de/img/fehlerbpjyc.jpg. Any ideas before I try to use VirtualBox?