When you create virtual machines on your VMware ESXi hypervisor, you can access their console from the VMware ESXi web interface.
However, you can also access it remotely via VMware Workstation (which is chargeable) or from VMware Remote Console (VMRC) which is free.

1. Download and Install VMware Remote Console (VMRC)
2. Connect to a virtual machine from VMware Remote Console (VMRC)
3. VMware Remote Console (VMRC) features
4. Manage your virtual machine settings from VMware Remote Console (VMRC)
   1. Manage the virtual hardware of the virtual machine
   2. Manage virtual machine options

1. Download and Install VMware Remote Console (VMRC)

As you can see, by default, you can manage your virtual machine from a web console.

To download VMware Remote Console (VMRC), click on : Console -> Download VMRC.

Note : if your virtual machine is not started, the "Console" button will be grayed out.
In this case, click on: Actions -> Console -> Download VMRC.

Click the "Download Now" button for the Windows version of this software.

Important : a free account on the VMware site is required to download this software for free.

VMware will offer you a "VMware-VMRC-x.x.x-xxxxx.zip" file.

Unzip the downloaded zip file and run the "VMware-VMRC-x.x.x-xxxxx.exe" file located there.

The VMware Remote Console configuration wizard appears.
Click on Next.

Nothing special for the installation of this software.

Once VMware Remote Console is installed, click Finish.

2. Connect to a virtual machine from VMware Remote Console (VMRC)

To use a virtual machine of your VMware ESXi hypervisor using VMware Remote Console (VMRC), you must go through the VMware ESXi web interface.
Select the desired virtual machine, then click : Actions -> Console -> Launch remote console.

If your virtual machine is already powered on, you can click on : Console -> Launch remote console.

Depending on the web browser you are using, a confirmation may appear.

In the case of Mozilla Firefox, a "Allow this site to open the vmrc link?" message will appear.
In this case, check the "Always allow https://[IP address of your ESXi server] to open vmrc links" box and click on : Choose Application.

Then, if VMRC is installed on your computer, Mozilla Firefox will tell you that you can open the vmrc link with the "VMware Remote Console" application.
Check the "Always use this application to open vmrc links" box and click : Open Link.

If you have never changed the SSL certificate of your VMware ESXi server, an "Invalid Security Certificate" warning will appear since the one used by default is self-signed.
Check the box "Always trust this host with this certificate" and click on : Connect Anyway.

Wait while VMware Remote Console (VMRC) connects to the remote virtual machine.

As you can see, you will be able to use the virtual machine present on your hypervisor as if it were present on your computer.

3. VMware Remote Console (VMRC) features

With VMware Remote Console (VMRC), you will be able to manage your virtual machine the way you want, including its virtual hardware.

To begin with, in the "VMRC -> Power" menu, you can manage the power supply of your virtual machine :

• Power On : start your virtual machine
• Shut Down Guest : cleanly shut down the guest operating system
• Suspend : pause the virtual machine
• Restart Guest : restart the virtual machine cleanly by asking the guest operating system to shut down and then restart

In the "VMRC -> Removable Devices" menu, you can manage :

• CD/DVD drive 1: the virtual machine's CD/DVD drive
• Network adapter 1 : your virtual machine's network adapter

For each removable device, you will find a "Settings" option to access the relevant settings.

By clicking on this "Settings" option of the desired removable device, you will automatically arrive on the settings of this one.

By clicking on "VMRC -> Send Ctrl+Alt+Del", you can send this key combination to the guest operating system (without it being detected by the operating system of your physical computer).

In the "VMRC -> Manage" menu, you can :

• Reinstall VMware Tools : reinstall VMware Tools (and drivers) in the virtual machine
• Message Log : view warnings that would have occurred for this virtual machine
• Virtual Machine Settings : manage your virtual machine settings

By clicking on "VMRC -> Full Screen", you will be able to use this virtual machine in full screen (as its name suggests).

By clicking on "VMRC -> Preferences", you will be able to change the preferences of VMware Remote Console (VMRC).

In VMware Remote Console (VMRC) preferences, you will be able to :

• Check for product updates at startup : enable or disable automatic check for updates for VMware Remote Console (VMRC)
• Enable connection proxy for remote virtual machine : configure VMware Remote Console (VMRC) to use a proxy. This can be useful in companies, given that Internet access is often limited or impossible without going through a proxy created by the company's system administrator.
• Display Behaviors : choose whether to automatically resize the virtual machine and window or not when you resize the VMware Remote Console (VMRC) window
• Hardware acceleration : whether to use hardware acceleration or not to improve the performance of VMware Remote Console (VMRC)
• Join the VMware Customer Experience Improvement Program : choose whether or not to participate in the VMware Product Improvement Program. However, in business, you will surely uncheck this box for confidentiality reasons.

In the "VMRC -> Help" menu, you will find :

• Help topic : a link to the official documentation for VMware Remote Console (VMRC)
• Support - Online Community : alink to the official VMware forum for this VMware Remote Console (VMRC) software
• Support - Request Product Feature : a link to a VMware contact form to request a feature for this software
• Software Updates : allows you to view the download and installation of updates for this software or manually check for updates for this software
• Tips : allows you to reactivate all the tips of this software or to continue to display them
• About VMware Remote Console : allows you to find out the version of this software, as well as the name of your computer, its amount of RAM, the location of the log files, ...

At the top right, you will find a double arrow that you can click to be able to manage some components of your virtual machine.

You will be able to see these icons in particular :

• the virtual hard disk(s) of the virtual machine
• the virtual CD/DVD drive
• the virtual network adapter

By right-clicking "Settings" on one of these components, you can directly access its settings.
Note that for the virtual CD/DVD drive, you will be able to manage the insertion or removal of a virtual CD/DVD in it or the connection / disconnection of the CD/DVD drive from the host server (VMware ESXi) as virtual CD/DVD drive.