VMware Workstation Auto Deploy Script

PowerShell script that automatically downloads, extracts, configures, and registers VMware virtual machines — including powering them on — with a single command.

Included VMs

VM	RAM	Network	Source
Kali Linux 2026.1	4 GB	NAT	kali.org
bWAPP bee-box v1.6	2 GB	NAT	SourceForge

Prerequisites

Requirement	Notes
Windows 10 / 11	curl.exe must be available (built-in since Win 10 1803)
VMware Workstation	Tested with VMware Workstation Pro
Administrator PowerShell	Required to create C:\vmwares and register VMs

7-Zip is not required — the script downloads 7zr.exe automatically if 7-Zip is not installed.

Quick Start

# 1. Open PowerShell as Administrator
# 2. Allow script execution for this session
Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope Process -ExecutionPolicy Bypass

# 3. Run the script
.\Deploy-KaliLinux.ps1

What the Script Does

For each VM in the $VMs list, it runs the following pipeline:

Step 1  Download    BITS (direct URLs) or curl -L (SourceForge redirects)
Step 2  Extract     7-Zip with -mmt=on (all CPU threads)
Step 3  Configure   Patch .vmx: memsize, ethernet0.connectionType
Step 4  Register    vmrun registerVM
Step 5  Power On    vmrun start <vmx> gui   (if AutoStart = $true)

Each step is idempotent — re-running the script skips steps that are already complete (file already downloaded, folder already extracted, etc.).

Screenshots

Script Execution

VMware Workstation detected, C:\vmwares created, 7zr.exe downloaded, Kali download starting.

Extracted VM Files

Both VMs extracted to C:\vmwares — Kali Linux (.vmwarevm) and bee-box folders visible.

VMware Workstation — bee-box Registered

bee-box v1.6 registered and ready: 2 GB RAM, NAT network, pre-installed with bWAPP.

Adding More VMs

Edit the $VMs array at the top of Deploy-KaliLinux.ps1:

$VMs = @(
    @{
        Name            = "My VM"
        Url             = "https://example.com/myvm.7z"
        Archive         = "myvm.7z"
        ExtractedFolder = "myvm"      # folder name after extraction
        Memory          = 2048        # MB
        Network         = "nat"       # nat | bridged | host-only
        AutoStart       = $true       # power on after registration
        Downloader      = "BITS"      # BITS (direct) | Curl (SourceForge/redirects)
    }
)

Downloader Options

Value	Tool	When to Use
"BITS"	Start-BitsTransfer	Direct download URLs (supports resume)
"Curl"	curl.exe -L	SourceForge or multi-hop redirect URLs

File Layout

C:\vmwares\
├── _tools\
│   └── 7zr.exe                          # auto-downloaded if 7-Zip not installed
├── kali-linux-2026.1-vmware-amd64.7z    # downloaded archive
├── kali-linux-2026.1-vmware-amd64.vmwarevm\
│   └── *.vmx                            # configured and registered
├── bee-box_v1.6.7z
└── bee-box\
    └── *.vmx

License

MIT