vmware

This MCP server exposes a large set of tools to automate VMware Workstation Pro using REST API, vmrun, and vmcli. It consolidates virtual machine management (list, create, delete, update), network configuration, shared folders, port forwards, and a broad suite of VM operations via vmrun and vmcli. The REST API tools provide points like vm_list, vm_get, vm_power_get, vm_portforward_set, and more for remote automation, while vmrun and vmcli tools offer deeper control for guest operations, disk and chipset adjustments, snapshots, cloning, and guest file and process management. To use it, ensure the VMware REST service (vmrest) is running, then authenticate with VMware credentials via the provided environment variables so the underlying tools can perform actions against your Workstation Pro instances.

After starting the MCP server, you can invoke the REST API endpoints to manage your VMs programmatically. The vmrun-based tools enable powerful host-level actions such as starting, stopping, cloning, and taking snapshots, while vmcli tools give you inside-guest control for file operations, process management, and guest network/device configurations. This combination provides a comprehensive automation surface for VMware Workstation Pro environments.

Prerequisites:

• VMware Workstation Pro 17+
• Python 3.10+
• vmrest service running (for REST API tools)

Installation steps:

1. Clone the repository: git clone https://github.com/ZacharyZcR/vmware-mcp.git
2. Install dependencies in editable mode: cd vmware-mcp pip install -e .
3. Ensure vmrest REST service is configured and running:
   • Initial setup (on Windows): "C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware Workstation\vmrest.exe" -C
   • Start service: "C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware Workstation\vmrest.exe"
4. Run the MCP server: Assuming you have the environment variables for VMware credentials set, start the server using: python -m vmware_mcp
5. Register the MCP with Claude Code (optional example): claude mcp add vmware-mcp
   -e VMWARE_USERNAME=your_username
   -e VMWARE_PASSWORD=your_password
   -- vmware-mcp

Tips and considerations:

• Ensure vmrest is accessible from the MCP server host; network connectivity between MCP and VMware Workstation Pro is required.
• Use environment variables VMWARE_USERNAME and VMWARE_PASSWORD to avoid hard-coding credentials in scripts.
• The MCP supports a large range of tools across three sources (REST API, vmrun, vmcli). Review the tool list in the README to determine which tool you need for a given task.
• For complex automations, consider combining REST API calls (for high-level VM management) with vmrun/vmcli calls (for deep guest/host operations).
• If you encounter permissions issues on Windows, ensure the user running the MCP server has sufficient rights to execute vmrest and access VMware Workstation binaries.