How to Achieve VMware Workstation Remove Encryption [Simple Steps]
Although VMware Workstation encryption can protect virtual machines, under some conditions need to remove encryption. This is a simple process but for data security, you need backup the virtual machine first.
VMware Workstation enables running multiple virtual machines on a single physical machine. One of its features is encrypting virtual machines, a process that provides additional security by password-protecting the contents of a virtual machine. However, there are situations where you may need to remove encryption from a virtual machine. Whether you want to streamline your workflow or troubleshoot a problem, removing encryption from VMware Workstation is very simple. This next article will show you how to remove encryption from VMware workstation.
How to Remove Encryption from VMware Workstation
VMware Workstation remove encryption is a simple process, you can follow the steps below to remove encryption.
Prerequisites
VMware Workstation: Ensure that VMware Workstation is installed on your system.
Virtual Machines: You must be able to access the encrypted virtual machine and know the password used to encrypt it.
Step 1. Shut Down the Virtual Machine
Before removing encryption, you need to make sure the virtual machine is powered off. Encryption settings cannot be changed while the virtual machine is running or suspended.
▶In the VMware Workstation, go to the left pane and select the encrypted virtual machine.
▶Right-click the virtual machine to select Power > Shutdown and then wait for the virtual machine to shut down completely.
Step 2. Unlocking the Virtual Machine
To remove encryption, the password is needed, or you will not be able to proceed with decryption.
✦Right-click the virtual machine in VMware Workstation and select Settings.
✦In the Setting window, go to the Option tab, and select Encryption from the list on the left.
✦Click Unlock, then you will be prompted for an encryption password. Enter the password that was set during the encryption process.
Step 3. Removing Virtual Machine Encryption
Once the virtual machine is unlocked, the next step is to remove the encryption.
★After selecting the virtual machine in the VMware Workstation window, go to Virtual Machines and select Settings from the drop-down menu.
★In the Settings window, navigate to the Options tab.
★Under Encryption, click Remove Encryption and enter the encryption password.
📌Note: You need to pay attention to the fact that you can’t remove encryption without the password. So, if you forget the encryption password, you cannot decrypt the virtual machine. Unfortunately, VMware Workstation does not provide a way to recover the encryption password. If this happens, the only way is to restore the virtual machine from a backup made before the encryption was applied.
Free and Efficient Backup and Restore Tool for VMware Workstation
While the process of removing encryption is usually safe, it's always a good idea to back up your VMs before making any major changes. Because there may be cases when you forget the encryption password, and at this time the problem can only be solved by restoring to the pre-encryption state. AOMEI Cyber Backup is a professional and provides you with a powerful backup solution, and you can also enjoy the following features:
Centralized Management: You can backup virtual machines from a central console without installing agents on each VM.
Scheduled Backup: It automatically backs up virtual machines regularly to continuously protect VMware workloads.
Instant Recovery: It can reduce business-critical downtime by instant recovering VMware to a normal state in the event of a VMware crash.
User-friendly Interface: With easy-to-use intuitive, you can create backup task with several clicks without installing any agents.
Easily Backup and Restore VMware Workstation VM
Step 1. Access the AOMEI Cyber Backup web client, navigate to Source Device > VMware > + Add VMware Device to Add vCenter or Standalone ESXi. Then enter Device Information and User Information and click Confirm.
Step 2. Navigate to Backup Task > + Create New Task, and select VMware ESXi Backup as the Backup Type. Then set the Task Name, Device, Target, Archive, and Schedule as needed.
- Task Name: You can change the task name or use the default name with an ordinal.
- Device: Batch backup multiple VMs on vCenter or standalone host within one backup task.
- Target: Select to back up to a local path, or to a network path like NAS.
- Archive: Select cloud storage like S3 buckets, easily archiving VMware backup to Amazon S3.
- Schedule: It can perform full, differential, or incremental backup, and automate execution according to the frequency you specified.
Step 3. Click Start Backup and select Add the schedule and start backup now, or Add the schedule only.
Step 4. Go back to Backup Task and click … > Restore on the left of the backup task to start setting up the virtual machine recovery task.
🎈While the free version of AOMEI Cyber Backup can meet most of your needs, you can upgrade to enjoy more features:
👉Backup Cleanup: It can automatically delete the old backup copies that exceed the retention period you specified.
👉Restore to new location: It will create identical new system data from the backup to the same or another server/host.
Conclusion
VMware Workstation remove encryption is a straightforward process. After the removal is complete, the virtual machine will no longer require a password to open, and the encrypted files will be restored to their original state. It is important to note that before removing encryption, please back up the VMware Workstation and have your encryption password ready to avoid losing data. You can then remove the encryption by following the steps provided in this article.