How to Install Rocky Linux 9 on VMware Workstation Pro (Step-by-Step Guide - 2026)

In this guide, we'll install Rocky Linux on VMware Workstation Pro to use it in a DevOps home lab environment.

What is Rocky Linux, and why is it in this series?

Rocky Linux is a community-driven enterprise Linux distribution that works the same as Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). It's designed for servers and business use, and runs the same software ecosystem as RHEL while being fully open-source. Think of it as a stable, no-cost replacement for CentOS.
Ubuntu Server is widely used, especially in cloud environments, startups, DevOps teams, and container-based workloads.
However, Rocky Linux is strongly preferred in organizations that require RHEL compatibility. It's often chosen as a CentOS replacement. So, it's a good idea to have hands-on experience with RHEL-based systems.

What to Expect from This Article

• Downloading Rocky Linux ISO from its official website

• Installing Rocky Linux inside VMware Workstation Pro

• Testing connection to the Rocky VM from the host system using SSH

Before You Begin

Make sure you have:

• Installed VMware Workstation Pro

• At least 20 GB of free storage

• At least 2 GB of free RAM

Downloading Rocky Linux ISO

For downloading Rocky Linux:

1. Head over to the official Rocky Linux Download Page

2. Select your system architecture.

3. Select Rocky Linux 9 under Default Images

Finally, click Minimal ISO. The download should begin in a few seconds. It's about 2.4 GB in size

Creating A New VM Inside VMware For Rocky

The VM creation process is the same as shown in the last article. The things that you have to change are

• Installer Disk Image File - Select this Rocky Linux 9 ISO

• Machine Name

• User Profile - username, password, hostname

Once the VM has been created, boot it up.

Rocky Linux Installation Procedure

Unless mentioned otherwise, you can safely proceed with the default settings throughout the installation.

Unlike the Ubuntu Server installer, the Rocky Linux 9 installer is GUI-based. Thus, navigation can be done with a mouse.

1. After selecting Install Rocky Linux Minimal 9.7, The installer will load

2. After selecting your language, you will be taken to a page like the one shown below
   Here we need to configure 3 things:

   • Installation Destination

   • Root Password

   • User Account
     Optionally, you can configure your date/time and keyboard layout

     

3. First, we will configure the installation destination, which is disk partitions. Click on Installation Destination. We won't be doing manual partitioning here. Make sure Storage Configuration is set to Automatic and click Done in the top left corner. That's it for the storage part

   

4. Now click on Root Password and create a password for root. Keep Allow root SSH Login and Lock root account unchecked

5. Now click on the User Account and enter details for the new user.
   Check both the checkboxes and then click done

   If you have username in your password too. You will have to click Done Twice

   

6. Great! Now just click Begin Installation and let the installer run. This should take about 3 to 8 minutes, depending on your system.

7. Once the installation completes, click Reboot System

8. After reboot, in case you don't see any login prompt, just press ENTER once. Log in with your user. You should be logged in

9. For a quick network check, run ping www.google.com and it should succeed

   

Accessing From Host Machine

Here we will access the VM from the host machine via SSH.
This will confirm two things:

• SSH inside the VM is working, and

• The host can access the VM

1. So log in to the VM and get its IP using ip a
   My Rocky has IP as: 172.17.18.128

   

2. Now launch a terminal on your host machine and try SSH to this IP using ssh <username>@<ip> where, <username> is the username you created and <ip> is the IP you obtained above

   

Quick Recap

In this article, we:

• Downloaded Rocky Linux ISO

• Installed it inside a new VMware Virtual Machine

• Connected to the Rocky VM from the host machine using SSH

Next, we will leverage Virtual Network Editor of VMware and will create a new virtual network, which will be used for host-to-host communication only. Connection to the internet will be blocked.

Series Roadmap

1. Download VMware Workstation Pro ✅

2. Installation Guide ✅

3. Creating Your First VM (Ubuntu Server 22.04) ✅

4. Installing Rocky Linux on VMware ✅

5. Setting up Internal Networks

6. Configuring Static IP on Ubuntu and Rocky

7. Building a Gateway VM for Multi-VM Lab Architecture

8. Multi-VM DevOps Lab Architecture